Walk of Fame in Rio de Janeiro Pays Tribute to 80 Martial Arts Icons

The rivalry that marked the Vale Tudo history in Brazil many years before the sport was called MMA was put aside on Wednesday when scores of practitioners of all martial art styles were united to participate to the opening ceremony of the walk of fame in Rio de Janeiro.

A total of 80 characters received a tribute, getting their names immortalized in 13 squares and 67 plates in a walk of fame of martial arts.

“Thanks to our struggle in the past the sport reached the level it is today,” said Eugenio Tadeu to Renzo Gracie after hugging his rival for a selfie.

During more than 3-hour ceremony, 25 honorees spoke on stage about the new monument. Clearly moved to see his plate next to his master, Marco Ruas, former UFC heavyweight Pedro Rizzo summarized the importance of the new spot for Rio.

“All Brazilians know the importance of Marco Ruas as the first man who showed real MMA to the world. If Dana White does not agree to put him in the Hall of Fame, now we have our own place to pay homage,” Rizzo said. “Nothing is more fair since Rio is the birth city of this sport.”

Royler Gracie, son of Helio Gracie and regarded as one of the best jiu-jitsu competitors in history, shared Rizzo’s sentiments.

“It’s amazing to see the success of MMA and jiu-jitsu all over today, but Rio having a tourist destination like this is important so people will always remember Conde Koma, my uncle, Carlos, and my dad.”

The new area, called Martial Art City, is located in the neighborhood of the Olympic Park, where Rio hosted the Olympics in 2016. Just like Carlson Gracie statue in Copacabana, inaugurated exactly one year ago, this monument will be managed by Rio de Janeiro´s city hall.

“Every year we will bring 10 new plates to the walk of fame. Actually on Dec. 20 we will bring more 40 names that we could not do this time,” said city councilor Marcelo Arar, a jiu-jitsu black belt and creator of the new space.

Squares
Jigoro Kano
Conde Koma
Gracie family
Monir Salomão (Jiu-Jitsu)
Luiz Alves (Muay Thai)
Fausto Brunocilla (Luta-Livre)
Pedro Gama Filho (Judô)
Santa Rosa (Boxing)
Walter Guimarães (Jiu-Jitsu)
Mestre Pastinha (Capoeira)
Nam Ho Lee (Tae Kwondo)
Yasutaka Tanaka  (Karate)
  Walk of Fame
Jiu-Jitsu - Robson Gracie – Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Hélio Gracie – In Memory
Jiu-Jitsu - Carlson Gracie – In Memory
Jiu-Jitsu - Rickson Gracie – Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Renzo Gracie - Fighter
Jiu-Jitsu - Kyra Gracie - Fighter
Jiu-Jitsu - Carlos Gracie - In Memory
Jiu-Jitsu - Carlos Gracie Jr. - Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Royce Gracie - Fighter
Jiu-Jitsu - Royler Gracie - Fighter
Jiu-Jitsu - Fernando Pinduka - Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Fábio Gurgel - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - Julio Cesar Pereira- coach
Jiu-Jitsu - André Pederneiras - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - Vinicius Amaral - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - Roberto Traven – ADCC absolute champion
Jiu-Jitsu - Zé Moraes - Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Muzio de Angelis – BJJ referee
Jiu-Jitsu - Murilo Bustamante - Fighter
Jiu-Jitsu - Cesar Guimarães - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - Wendell Alexsander - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - João Alberto Barreto - Grand Master
Jiu-Jitsu - Amaury Bitetti - coach
Judô - Flávio Canto – Olympic athlete
Judô - Aurélio Miguel – Olympic athlete
Judô - Geraldo Bernardes -  Olympic coach
Judô - Jucinei Gonçalves – Olympic coach
Judô - Rafaela Silva – Olympic athlete
Judô - Sarah Menezes – Olympic Athlete
Judô - Karla Cardoso – Olympic Athlete
Judô - Rogério Sampaio – Olympic champion
Judô - Willians Araújo – Olympic Athlete
Capoeira - Mestre Camisa - Grand Master
Capoeira - Mestre Hulk - Fighter
Capoeira - Mestre Arthur Emídio de Oliveira - In Memory
Boxe - Claudio Coelho - Grand Master
Boxe - Éder Jofre – World champion  
Boxe - Acelino “Popó” Freitas – World champion
MMA - Marco Ruas -  Fighter
MMA - Anderson Silva - Fighter
MMA - Wanderlei Silva - Fighter
MMA - Vítor Belfort - Fighter
MMA - José Aldo - Fighter
MMA - Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira - Fighter
MMA - Rogério “Minotouro” Nogueira - Fighter
MMA - Pedro Rizzo - Fighter
MMA - Thiago de Lima Santos “Marreta” - Fighter
MMA - Amanda Nunes - Fighter
MMA - Marcelo Alonso - Journalist
MMA - Osiris Maia – International referee
MMA - Lyoto Machida - Fighter
MMA - Gustavo “Ximu” Machado - Fighter
MMA - Fabrício Werdum - Fighter
MMA - Junior Cigano - Fighter
MMA - Maurício Shogun - Fighter
Luta Livre - Hugo Duarte - Grand Master
Luta Livre - Eugênio Tadeu - Grand Master
Luta Livre - Roberto Leitão - Grão-Mestre
Luta-Livre - João Ricardo - Grão-Mestre
Taekwondo - Yong Min Kim - Grão-Mestre
Wrestling - Antoine Jaoude – Olympic athlete
Wrestling - Gilberto Arbués - coach
Muay-Thai - Flavio Martins Molina - In Memory
Judo - Rosicleia Campos - coach
Jiu-Jitsu - Cassio Cardoso - Fighter
Cinegrafista - Osvaldo Paquetá - In Memory
MMA - Ricardo Arona – Fighter