Chute Boxe Trainer Dead

Current and former members of Brazil’s revered Chute Boxe Academy woke up on Tuesday to the news of trainer Osmar Dias’ untimely death.

According to Xicão Joly, a famous Brazilian announcer and close friend, Dias was shot three times while leaving the Chute Boxe Academy around 1 a.m. on Tuesday in Curitiba, Brazil. As a Chute Boxe instructor, Dias worked daily with some of the team’s best-known and most accomplished members, including Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Murilo "Ninja" Rua and, more recently, Fabricio Werdum and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos.

“We’ve heard it was an attempted assault, but right now, no one knows the details,” Joly said. “All I can say is that all Chute Boxe people are shocked. He left two kids, hundreds of students and thousands of friends. Osmar was a great person, one of the most important instructors of the team and also the promoter of Torneio Estimulo, which was launching a new generation of muay Thai and MMA.”

Promoted to black belt by Fabio Nogushi, a first-generation student under Chute Boxe founder Rudimar Fedrigo, Dias was welcomed into the academy in the 1990s. At the time, Fedrigo’s group was at odds with Luiz Alves’ Boxe Thai over the title of top muay Thai team in Brazil.

Pedro Paulo Peu, a member of the rival Boxe Thai team, was upset by news of Dias’ passing.

“We fought twice as fighters and many times as teachers,” he said. “Osmar always provided me with amazing fights. He was an amazing person, fighter and teacher. His death is an immense loss to the Brazilian muay Thai and MMA community.”

Dias’ funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Taruma, Brazil.