MMA-URLS

Back before they agreed to fight each other for the UFC heavyweight title, Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir were supposed to play a video game together. Specifically, they were supposed to play "UFC Undisputed 3" at the MGM Grand before the UFC 141 weigh-ins started, and it was supposed to be nothing more than a fun, yet forgettable public appearance, the kind UFC fighters are expected to make when their employer asks for a favor.But as I wrote in this Sports Illustrated story this week, the video game showdown never happened, though the story behind it offers some interesting insights into the personalities of both UFC 146 main eventers.When Mir was told he’d be playing against dos Santos, he did what any intensely competitive person would do: he made it his personal mission to get very, very good at the game. He’d played it before, he said, but only "light-heartedly" with some friends at the house. And for this, light-hearted wasn’t good enough, Mir said. "So I called up my youngest brother, who is an avid player of video games. I said, ‘Hey, come over and help me improve my skills a little bit.’ Of course I didn’t want to go up there and look silly."But once dos Santos thought about the UFC’s plan, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be a part of it. This was just a few weeks after Mir had snapped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm in Toronto, and as a result he wasn’t exactly Mr. Popularity in Brazil."It wasn’t that he beat [Nogueira]," dos Santos explained. "It was that he talked a lot of trash after that fight, saying things that the Brazilian fans considered very disrespectful. I didn’t really want to put myself in a situation that was going to be doing a public appearance with Frank where I knew we were going to be laughing and having a good time. Something like video games is just more of like a hangout scenario, and I thought it might be taken the wrong way by the Brazilian fans."So dos Santos asked the UFC to get someone else. What about Pat Barry? He liked Barry. Everybody liked Barry. He didn’t mean any disrespect to Mir, he explained, "but Frank Mir has a tendency to talk a lot around his fights," and some of the things he said after breaking Nogueira’s arm were still resonating with Brazilian fans.But the way Mir sees it, that was all a cover for the "nationalism" of Brazilian fight fans."Nogueira’s the one who chose not to tap," he said. "I didn’t tell Nogueira not to tap. And I made no real ill comments toward him. I’d be really curious to [hear] a quote of what I said about Nogueira after the fight that was so disrespectful. I think it’s just the Brazilians being nationalistic and the fact of an American beating a Brazilian at jiu-jitsu, and one of the legends of jiu-jitsu at that. I think that’s the part that stings."Mir thought he’d always represented jiu-jitsu well and given credit to the Brazilians where it was due, he said. He’d even entertained the idea of fighting down in Brazil, and didn’t think it would be a problem."Americans will still cheer for a Brazilian," he said. "They’ll cheer for Georges St-Pierre, who’s Canadian. I guess I realize now that if I went down to Brazil, it wouldn’t be the same there. ...After I realized that dos Santos couldn’t play with me because he didn’t want to upset the Brazilians I thought, wow, am I really that disliked?"Not by dos Santos, or so the UFC heavyweight champ said. He might not have cared for some of Mir’s comments, but he had nothing against the guy, he said. He claimed he didn’t even mean to insult him when he described him as someone who gives up easily when things aren’t going his way in a fight."I think Frank Mir is very good when he sees a chance, when he sees an opening. He knows how to capitalize on his opponents’ mistakes, and he’s a very dangerous fighter. But when he tries to go for a certain technique and it doesn’t work out, I think he gives up easily. That’s what I think. Whether it’s true or not, it doesn’t matter. That’s my opinion."Not surprisingly, Mir has a different take. "My last two losses -- to Brock [Lesnar] and Shane Carwin -- in the Brock fight I was losing the whole first round and I still came after him in the second round. I actually stunned him with a flying knee. I was still trying to win the fight, but I was just incapable of doing so. The Shane Carwin fight, that was a bad game plan on my part. I was trying to take him into the later rounds, which was an intelligent idea. I just went about it the wrong way, trying to stall and hang on and hoping that he would get fatigued and wouldn’t have the cardio to go on later. ...I don’t know where I quit. I just took three or four successive blows from Carwin when I was face down on the canvas, trying to go for a kimura. If you want to say Carwin doesn’t hit hard, then I guess you can make that assessment."For Mir, who turns 33 two days before the fight, this sudden title shot looks a lot like the last best chance at UFC gold. As the heavyweight division adds more fresh young talent, it’s difficult to say how long there will still be a place for guys who were doing this back when the UFC still insisted on naming each event (Mir’s debut, by the way, came at UFC 34: High Voltage, which reminds us how far the UFC has come in terms of graphic design).Just don’t tell that to Mir, who insists he’s nowhere near done, despite what fans who have been watching him for the past decade might think."I think the only reason people assume that is because I started out in the UFC when I was 22," he said. "Sorry, guys. I was successful at a young age and I’ve kept around the top ten now for quite a long time. I don’t see myself going anywhere any time soon."

Posted in: ufc, fight, mir, do, brazilian

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Recent happenings in the worlds of sambo, judo, Brazilian jiu jitsu, submission grappling and/or collegiate/freestyle wrestling. If it takes place on the ground and it's interesting, it should be here. Yes, I said Baku twice up in that title. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Not Aku. Or Aku Aku. The Azerbaijanis have been putting together extremely solid teams of grapplers in wrestling and judo for years. Their facilities for such competitions are world class and the fans are very enthusiastic for their national team representatives. Odd for us, but eminently worth learning about and covering here. First, we get into perhaps the best event recap I have ever seen out of any source on the Internets from Cupcake Armbar, the nom de guerre of a Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor/writer from Malaysia. She gives us seven posts on the 2012 Abu Dhabi World Pro competition complete with cute-as-heck pictures with awesome competitors, her own outlook on things and a very valuable look into the internal workings of grappling tournaments. Michelle Nicolini (second from right) with Cupcake Armbar (pink gi) and two other competitors. I strongly urge you to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7 of Cupcake Armbar's week in Abu Dhabi. This is not at all a simple listing of who won what, but rather the photo-essay story of the backstage happenings, the whirlwind pace, what it's like to be in Abu Dhabi with all these insanely talented and/or rich grapplers and more. Also in this issue are the results of the Brazilian Nationals for Brazilian jiu jitsu, some solid reviews of jiu jitsu gear by Sally Arsenault, Adam Saitiev's return to freestyle wrestling, Jason High's decision to compete at the Mundials and more. Also, badminton match fixing and Floyd Mayweather's connection to TRT, as well as the new trend of testosterone pellets being stuck in armpits to get that T waaaaay up. If you have any links of your own, questions or comments, leave them below or get word to me at DefGrappler on Twitter. Please let me know if I missed anything major and I will fix this, that and the other thing. A list of official crew Twitter accounts is right here for your pickings: BloodyElbow Twitter, Luke Thomas,Kid Nate, Brent Brookhouse, Stephie Daniels, Richard Wade, Chris Barton, Damon O,Scott Broussard, Tim Burke, Matt Bishop, Fraser Coffeen, Dallas Winston, KJ Gould, Anton Tabuena, T.P. Grant Wrestling News: After Shawn Bunch placed third in the Olympic Qualifiers in Taiyuan, China, the 96 kg Greco-Roman division was the sole division the U.S. hadn't qualified to send an athlete to the 2012 London games. There was one last shot at qualifying the category in Helsinki, Finland on May 6. Justin Ruiz, a world medalist, was sent to the competition and unfortunately ran into the 2009 world champion in his first match and lost a close one. Ruiz blogged about it on his site and it is a good read to see how he describes losing his Olympic dreams and the match, as well as the joy of having his wife unexpectedly visit him in Finland as the tournament opened. When that Helsinki tournament ended, the Olympic qualifications were over. All of the spots for competitors to head to the 2012 London games have been determined. As Gary Abbott over on The Mat lays out, the U.S. of A. has qualified the most wrestlers of any nation on Earth (17 out of 18 divisions) and 65 nations in total qualified at least one wrestler for the London games. The Russians qualified in 16 categories, Kazakhstan has 15, Egypt has 14 and six countries tied with 13 (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Turkey and Ukraine). With the qualifications over, the wrestlers are now gearing up in full for the Olympics and one of the best ways to do that is to go wrestle the best in the world. Thus, five American Olympians are headed to Baku, Azerbaijan along with a 2012 Olympic Trials champion (not yet sure if he will be the Olympic representative in that weight category). The 2012 Baku World Cup takes place on May 12 and May 13. Our own Michael Riordan will deliver a truly stellar preview of the event later on today, so stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for that. In other news, there will be world class wrestling in the open air of Times Square, New York City on June 7th, thanks to Beat The Streets, a non-profit organization that brings wrestling to schools all over NYC. A good chunk of the USA freestyle team will compete against similarly high level international wrestlers in a event that will be live-streamed, broadcast on the giant screen in Times Square and open to live viewers. Last year's event was held on an aircraft carrier temporarily docked in Manhattan and this year's promises to be as good, as well as boosting middle school Beat The Street wrestlers who will do a cotemporaneous event in Duffy Square. Adam Saitiev, the brother of Buivasar Saitiev (perhaps the greatest wrestler ever to walk the planet) and an Olympic gold medalist in his own right, came out of retirement to make a run at the 74 kg Olympic spot. He made it all the way to the finals and lost a tough match to Denis Tsargush, a ridiculously talented wrestler who is perhaps the best threat to beat Jordan Burroughs in London this summer. Over on the Sherdog forums, wrestling devotees compiled a nice list of videos documenting Adam's run. Judo News: With the Olympic trials and qualifications over, the highest level competitors were mostly staying home and training, but the middle and lower ranked people (PDF link to world rankings) were competing in Baku. The young guns were out in full force here and the ippon rate bumped up slightly, according to the tournament organizers. The 100 kg semi-final of the Grand Prix Baku 2012 competition might be the shortest judo match I've seen in a long while. Luchyn tried an outside leg trip right away and got countered with a gorgeous lateral drop by Berdzenishivli. The 60 kg men's final was also a great judo match - but much longer at roughly five minutes long. Ilgar Mushkiyev had a hometown crowd supporting him as he won by sweet o-uchi gari over George Mesabhlishvili of Georgia. The 57 kg women's final had perhaps the nicest throw I have seen in the past year. The technique is called sasae tsurikomi-ashi, but looks an awful lot like the wrestling-style footsweep Martin Kampmann hit on Rick Story in their bout - but smoother. Kifayet Gasimova of Azerbaijan (white gi) beat Joliane Melancon of Canada (blue gi) with this piece of magic: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu News: Jason High in the Mundials at purple belt! @KCBanditMMAJason High Just registered for IBJJF worlds next month. It's goin dooooown. Apr 28 via Tweetbot for iOS Favorite Retweet Reply The full results of the 2012 Brazilian Nationals are online in a list form. Gracie Mag also has many photos up on a Flickr app they host on their site. However, such a list may not tell the stories that a more devoted follower of the sport and of the Brazilian scene would know from looking at it and the few matches that have made it online. First off, Alliance did not win this competition. This is kind of surprising and not surprising at the same time, as the collective schools that make up the Alliance team are enormous - yet most of the tip-top competitors are in the United States and preparing for the Mundials. Alliance did win the New York Open with several strong performances by the competitors there. Nova Uniao won the Brazilian Nationals this year and have been on the rise, particularly with the associations that MMA fighters like Jose Aldo, Renan Barao, Marlon Sandro, Eduardo Dantas and others bring to the Andre Pederneiras and Wendell Alexander-run school. Some of the biggest names in the Brazilian scene came out for this and several international competitors also came as well. Almost every division is chock full of familiar names and elite competitors on a world scale. Romulo Barral, a multiple world champion, pulled two third place medals this year. That is how good the competition level was in this tournament. Alexander Trans, coming in from Denmark, was a very, very good brown belt competitor who won a ton of titles in that super-super-heavyweight division. He recently moved up to black belt and had a bit of an initial struggle there, losing several close matches in the first or second rounds of big tournaments. Here, he topped the lists in his division. Leandro Lo of PSLPB Cicero Costha won his division and several other Cicero Costha products placed in theirs. Ary Farias, an Atos competitor and title threat in every tourney, actually lost in the roosterweight finals to Jose Barros of Cicero Costha. Leo Nogueira won his division and Michael Langhi came in second behind Leandro Lo - showing that Alliance was still present at the black belt levels. At purple belt, Keenan Cornelius is really good and won double gold at the Brazilian Nationals in his middleweight and Absolute divisions. The Miyao brothers also closed out their pluma division and Joao Miyao came in second to Keenan in the Absolute. The link in the Cornelius sentence has several videos of Keenan wrecking shop on the other purple belts in the division. Quite a few of the Brazilian Nationals matches are up on the IBJJF YouTube channel. Sally Arsenault, a Canadian grappler and all around awesome person, has started to do jiu jitsu and fitness gear reviews. She is relatively small, being 5 foot and 105 lbs, so her reviews are very useful to the smaller women grapplers and those interested in a perspective from America's Hat. Her Lululemon bag review is pretty solid - although I was hoping to see her zip herself inside it to prove how big it is. Just kidding, Sally, keep being awesome. Lex Fridman has some terrific thoughts on being a blue belt and training for serious competitions. Cane Prevost, a Portland area black belt, gives us yet another installment of his great concepts series - this time on half guard posture. Sambo News: The Texas Open Sambo and Catch Wrestling tournament will take place on August 18 in the Austin Sports Complex in Cedar Park, Texas. The tourney is open to all submission grapplers regardless of organizational affiliation or martial art of origin. Hopefully, someone can get Matt Roth to show up and give out dollops of craft beer to the winners or to whoever yells at him the most about his terrible tattoos. The matches in the tournament will look an awful lot like the 2012 Throwdown event held recently: Reilly Bodycomb (such a great name) and Doug Fornet flew all the way out to the 2012 British Sambo Open on April 30. Both got bronze and the video highlight of their matches can be seen on YouTube. Odds and Ends: Questlove writes a moving tribute to MCA from the Beastie Boys and tells tour stories. How the Chinese rig badminton tournaments with match fixing to create better chances at Olympic gold. BldgBlog tells us some really bizarre things about water in space. My favorite quote: If the Earth were the size of a Honda Odyssey minivan," he clarifies, "the amount of water on the planet would be in a single, half-liter bottle of Poland Spring in one of the van's thirteen cup holders." An interview with Steve Coll, author of the new book Private Empire, who talks about how ExxonMobil has gotten to the top of the heap for oil companies by launching operations in "unstable" areas of the world and making those work better than their competitors. Gabriel Montoya, maybe the best boxing newsbreaker in the business right now, writes about Floyd Mayweather and the new drug testing regimens available. There are some shady people connected to Mayweather, but zero evidence of anything untowards. Also, did you know that people can now put testosterone pellets in their armpits and soak up the testosterone that way? And HypnoToad strikes again: People, I always need more awesome Odds & Ends. Videos, gifs, links, whatever. Do not hesitate to send them my way in the comments or on Twitter. I particularly love animals grappling and other goofy things like that. Def Grappler out!

Posted in: world, division, competitor, brazilian, olympic

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LAS VEGAS - For months, it seemed one of the most-anticiapted rematches in UFC history would take place in front of 80,000 screaming Brazilians. Instead, the company moved the fight to Las Vegas, where it now serves as the headlining bout for UFC 148. While Sonnen will no longer find himself entering the proverbial lion's den, he admits he's a little disappointed he'll miss out on being a part of such a historic event. As for Silva, Sonnen believes he has a right to be upset, even if he is a "fake Brazilian," just like his countrymen Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort.

Posted in: ufc, silva, sonnen, brazilian, mostanticiapted rematches

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'Obrigado' is the extent of my knowledge of the Brazilian culture. Call me ignorant, it's cool. It's not like I haven't heard it before from my father every time I explain to him that MMA is vastly more complicated than boxing. I also know that most Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners eat a lot of 'chicken and steak'. Jesus is also located in Brazil. Not sure why all these prisoners claim they found him in jail. Dude's a giant statue on top of a hill with the wingspan of a prime Manute Bol. Besides being able to see Jesus, Brazilians apparently also have a strong grasp on the concept of product placement. Check out this compilation video of all the beautifully blatant product placement that has gone down in TUF Brazil -- this is how you do it, folks.

Posted in: brazil, brazilian, time i, product, placement

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Posted in: fighter, training, brazilian, jiujitsu, buakaw

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The last time Thiago Silva stepped inside the Octagon, he put on one-half fantastic fight and one-half impressive musical performance. His opponent was Brandon Vera, the once champion apparent of two different weight classes, and the Brazilian utterly dominated him before embarrassing the light heavyweight by playing bongos on his back. The grotesquely twisted nose "The Truth" sported post-fight didn't do much to help Vera's confidence either, I'm sure. The loss was Vera's third in a row and earned him his walking papers. The win was Silva's first in a year after suffering a back injury which put him on the shelf since his UFC 108 loss to Rashad Evans. But one dirty urine sample later and the win for Silva and the loss for "The Truth" turned into a No Contest for both. Vera got his job back and the Brazilian was handed a one year suspension and a hefty fine for trying to sneak past a drug test. In a statement, he claimed full responsibility and revealed he injured his back going into his UFC 125 bout with Vera but couldn't find it in himself to drop out of the fight. Silva finally makes his return to the Octagon next Saturday (April 14) in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 2: Gustafsson vs. Silva against burgeoning light heavyweight prospect Alexander Gustafsson in the promotion's first foray into Sweden. Before he does, we'll familiarize ourselves with his particular brand of violence, one which Houston Alexander and Keith Jardine will never forget. The UFC rolled into New Jersey in November 2007 for UFC 78. The main event was the disappointing match-up between Evans and Michael Bisping but everyone was more excited for the display of brutality expected to take place when Silva stepped inside the cage with Alexander. The Nebraska native burst onto the scene by putting Jardine and Alessio Sakara to sleep and the promise of another knockout was enough to get even the most hardened mixed martial arts (MMA) purist slobbering like the "Just Bleed" guy. The bout begins with Alexander taking the center of the Octagon before clinching up with his opponent. They jockey around the length of the chain link before getting separated one minute into the round. "The Assassin" again takes the center of the cage, forcing Silva to circle around. The Brazilian lands a quick jab and a leg kick, all the while making sure not to stay too long in one spot. Movement is key in his gameplan, stagnation will only bring about the vicious bombs which put Alexander's previous two opponent on the canvas. Silva throws a front kick which his opponent catches. Alexander begins hurling his wrecking ball-like fists towards his opponent and Silva answers with another clinch. A man of unbelievable strength, Alexander is able to take Silva down with relative ease but the Brazilian stays calm and scrambles to his knees quickly while also latching onto one of his opponent's legs. Seconds later, it's "The Assassin" who finds himself on his back, victim of a takedown. Silva lands in sidemount while his opponent foolishly wastes time and energy on a guillotine choke. Alexander is able to push the Brazilian back into half-guard but in a matter of moments, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt has "The Assassin" fully mounted. Alexander does all he can to avoid the inevitable but vicious ground and pound rains down and forces the referee to step in. Almost two years later at UFC 102, Silva was coming off the first loss of his career, a devastating knockout against Lyoto Machida. Looking to bounce back quickly and decisively, he was matched up against Keith Jardine, a man with a history of making great fighters look terrible. He also had a history of being wildly inconsistent. He followed up the two biggest wins of his career -- against Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell -- with brutal knockout losses -- against Alexander and Wanderlei Silva -- and could never string together enough wins to earn a title shot. Both men meet in the center and it's Jardine who opens up first. A punch combination is thrown and followed up by a leg kick but soon Silva begins to walks his opponent down, forcing him towards the cage. Jardine circles around to avoid being trapped but the Brazilian keeps up the pressure. Leg kicks from "The Dean of Mean" seems to be the gameplan his trainer Greg Jackson has put in place but in this instance, the "Yoda of MMA" has been out-gameplanned. It seems Silva and his American Top Team (ATT) crew expected this and Jardine's next kick is countered absolutely beautifully by Silva who swings his own leg around and trips his opponent. The goatee enthusiast drops to the canvas and the Brazilian follows him down. They jockey for position on the mat, scrambling until both end up once again on their feet. Jardine remains aggressive in his stand-up but sticks to punches rather than avoid another takedown from a countered kick. He lunges forward with a head-body combination but Silva barrels a left hook with nasty intentions towards his opponent. It catches Jardine and he drops immediately. Silva stands over the Greg Jackson product and grazes him with a right hand but the ensuing left forces Jardine limp. Another right lands before the referee is able to put a halt to the beating. Savagery is almost guaranteed when Thiago Silva steps inside the ring. Will fans get another taste when he steps inside the Octagon with Gustafsson?

Posted in: silva, opponent, jardine, brazilian, alexander

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That seems to be the general concern of the MMA fanbase. From a letter to the Sunday Junkie:  This is one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history but could come at a terrible cost. With all the trash Sonnen has said about Brazil, the Brazilians hate him so much that one of Yushin Okami's Brazilian sponsors threatened to take away its sponsorship if Sonnen went Brazil to support Okami. Sonnen has gotten numerous threats due to what he has said. So just think what will happen if Brazil's No. 1 enemy walked into their house and took down their hero. What if he gets mobbed on his way to or from the cage? How does that make the UFC look? Is the reward of breaking attendance records worth risking fighter safety/life? It's a general misconception that all lands south of the US / Mexico border are Mad Max style battlegrounds where one wrong step will result in getting stabbed in the eye. We joke about it all the time because what can we say, we're scared of Others and making vaguely racist jokes about societies we don't understand makes us feel better about ourselves. Plus the Mad Max thing is at least 30% truthish. Does the UFC share the same fear of Brazilians? Well, maybe a fear of soccer hooligans, but overall Dana White says everyone needs to chillax a little: "I think Brazil is getting a bad rap. To be honest with you, the first few times that I went to Brazil I was very nervous and thought, 'oh my God,' this and that. I've been to Brazil many times and Brazil as a country and Brazilians as a people are getting a bad rap. Brazil isn't as dangerous and as scary and as crazy as everybody thinks it is. I mean sure, there has been some bad things that have happened down there in the past. Bad things happen everywhere, you know? We can say the same thing in Detroit, we can say the same thing in New York, we can say the same thing in a lot of cities across the United States. Yes, he (Sonnen) has said a lot of stuff about Brazilians and that country and lots of people are going to tune in and show up to see Anderson Silva kick his ass because that is what the Brazilians want. I don't think that it's at a point where, you now, people down there want to hurt Chael Sonnen, you know what I mean? They are going to show up, watch a sporting event and they are going to look for their countrymen and their hero and the best fighter ever to come out of Brazil or any other country around the world to win that night against Chael."

Posted in: brazil, chael sonnen, thing, sonnen, brazilian

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By D.J. San MarcoNatal, RN Brazil -- Details are still coming out of Natal Brazil, but what is certain is that the world of Brazilian MMA and fight sport lost one of its great coaches today. Bruno Gouvea famed trainer for the Patricio and Patricky Freire has died as the result of a car accident today April 1, 2012 at the age of 32.Gouvea was born on April 1, 1980.Noted for his prowess in teaching his hybrid style which melded the sweet science of boxing with the aggressiveness and kicks of Muay Thai, Gouvea had risen to head MMA coach of the Pitbull Brothers' team. To a young stable of fighters it was said Gouvea was both a coach and father figure to many. The causes of Gouvea's car accident are still being investigated. Brazilian officials have only said that Gouvea was thrown from the vehicle and it appeared to have flipped over several times. With Gouvea's passing an icon of MMA in Natal lost his life but not before he positivity affected the lives of many all across the Brazilian combat sports world. Manger, promoter, and friend of Gouvea, Matheus Aquino told ULTMMA.com "In today left one of the greatest technical MMA Brazilian of all time. Bruno Gouvea will be sorely missed and the sport in Brazil will never be the same without him."

Posted in: mma, coach, brazilian, accident, gouvea

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One of the most common "concerns" that seems to come up with regard to the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is the idea that the Brazilian fans will attempt to attack Sonnen. While Chael has certainly been condescending toward Brazilian fighters, the idea that the fanbase is a group of wild, violent savages is a bit unfair. That's something UFC president Dana White backed up while talking to Heavy MMA: Quote after the jump. Here's what Dana had to say (transcribed by MMA Mania): I think Brazil is getting a bad rap. To be honest with you, the first few times that I went to Brazil I was very nervous and thought, 'oh my God,' this and that. I've been to Brazil many times and Brazil as a country and Brazilians as a people are getting a bad rap. Brazil isn't as dangerous and as scary and as crazy as everybody thinks it is. I mean sure, there has been some bad things that have happened down there in the past. Bad things happen everywhere, you know? We can say the same thing in Detroit, we can say the same thing in New York, we can say the same thing in a lot of cities across the United States. Yes, he (Sonnen) has said a lot of stuff about Brazilians and that country and lots of people are going to tune in and show up to see Anderson Silva kick his ass because that is what the Brazilians want. I don't think that it's at a point where, you now, people down there want to hurt Chael Sonnen, you know what I mean? They are going to show up, watch a sporting event and they are going to look for their countrymen and their hero and the best fighter ever to come out of Brazil or any other country around the world to win that night against Chael.

Posted in: brazil, chael sonnen, thing, sonnen, brazilian

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Josh Koscheck had lost to Thiago Alves four months prior which quickly put a damper on his title aspirations. He bounced back with an insanely brutal knockout over Yoshiyuki Yoshida and put himself back in the championship hunt two months later. With the lack of fresh title fights for welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre, another win for Koscheck would likely be all he needed to secure a shot at the French Canadian. But a debuting Brazilian had other plans. UFC 95 saw the Octagon debut of rising prospect Paulo Thiago. Undefeated at the time, most of his wins came by way of submission. A quick glance at his win-loss record wouldn't indicate he had the firepower in his hands to put a top 10 welterweight to sleep. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 1 cast member would learn the hard way how wrong that assumption would be. Thiago is set to step foot inside the Octagon at the promotion's Swedish debut, UFC on Fuel TV 2: "Gustafsson vs. Silva" on April 14. In many ways, he'll be in the same situation Koscheck was in back in 2009 when he faces off against a debuting Siyar Bahadurzada. Before he does battle with "The Great," however, let's take a look at Thiago's explosive and impressive debut. Koscheck takes the center of the Octagon while Thiago opts to circle the outside. Nearly half a minute passes before either man takes a swing and both end up doing so at the same thing with little success. The TUF veteran is still the aggressor, walking his opponent down and doubling up on a hook that catches the Brazilian on the jaw. They continue pawing at each, throwing out single punches more so to find their range it seems than with actual intentions of connecting. A solid leg kick from the Brazilian turns the previously all boxing affair into more of a mixed martial arts (MMA) contest and Koscheck answers back with another pair of doubled up hooks. More inaction from the pair and the London crowd begins to voice their displeasure. The TUF veteran throws out a snapping jab. And then another. He feints a third and comes across with a monster of an overhand right which finds a home on Thiago's jaw. The Brazilian feels it, for sure, but continues undaunted. A similar punch put Yoshida to sleep but the Octagon newcomer walks right through it. Koscheck doesn't go in for the kill and allows Thiago time to recover. They once again begin to circle around the cage and the Brazilian hits another leg kick. He attempt a front kick which is nearly countered by the American who then grazes Thiago with a second, equally heavy handed, overhand right. The two exchange jabs and once again inaction comes to the forefront. More than halfway through the opening round with only a few blips of action, a few exchanges have the English crowd growing more and more unruly. The Octagon begins to be showered in boos as the two welterweights circle and circle. A leg kick from Koscheck lands as he begins to pressure his opponent ever so slightly towards the cage. Thiago inches backwards, avoiding another haymaker and blocking a headkick. It's obvious Koscheck is looking to bully his opponent, just as he did Yoshida in order to secure a second consecutive highlight reel knockout. The Brazilian strikes back, however, keeping Koscheck at bay and affording him the room he needs to circle away from the cage and back towards the center of the Octagon. Standing toe to toe in the center of the cage, Koscheck hops in slightly with a jab which Thiago dodges. The Brazilian answers immediately with an uppercut which catches his opponent flush on the chin. His body goes limp and begins its descent to the canvas below. On the way down, a hook from Thiago connects with the top of Koscheck's head. The American's body hits the mat violently and his head bounces like a basketball off the canvas. Thiago, for a second, looks to let his guard down, thinking his opponent is out cold. Koscheck very well may have been but he soon seems to be back in something resembling fighting form. But before Thiago can continue his attack, the referee jumps in and stops the fight. It seems half the London crowd is content with the violence on display while the other half felt the stoppage came a hair too quick. Regardless, the once submission heavy Thiago earned his first UFC win that night and by knockout of all things. While future opponents would have been wise to focus on grappling, they now had to worry about the Brazilian's unexpectedly heavy hands. Thiago would go on to face -- and lose to -- Jon Fitch in his second appearance inside the Octagon. Koscheck and Fitch might very well be the most difficult two-fight combination for anyone not immediately looking for a title shot. For a debuting fighter, the difficulty is almost absurd. Going into his fight in Sweden, the Brazilian boasts a 4-3 Octagon record. Not great by any means but Thiago has been facing some of the best 170 pounders in the world. Will his experience be enough to spoil Bahadurzada's debut? Or will Thiago find himself in Koscheck's shoes the night of UFC 95 with a up and comer spoiling his evening?

Posted in: koscheck, opponent, octagon, brazilian, thiago

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Jon Jones appears on Brazilian reality show “Sensei Noção”.

Posted in: show, jone, jon jones, brazilian, reality

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Popular Brazilian journalist, Mario Filho, who is known for his daring head to head sparring sessions with MMA's most skilled champions, steps inside the cage with current UFC Light Heavyweight champ Jon "Bones" Jones...

Posted in: jone, jon jones, head, brazilian, champions steps

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submitted by xKrazExMNUx [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: kongo, vs, xkrazexmnux, brazilian, barry

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As part of their hugely successful expansion into Brazil, the UFC is partnering with Brazilian charity Instituto Reação to help young Brazilians from disadvantaged backgrounds participate in sports and educational activities. Since returning to Brazil for the first time in a decade at UFC 134, the promotion has looked to engage with the Brazilian people in a proactive manner that goes beyond selling tickets and drawing television ratings. Despite almost a hundred years of Vale Tudo fighting in Brazil, it's only recently with the success of the UFC that the sport of Mixed Martial Arts has begun to establish any mainstream credibility. In the past individual fighters, mostly members of the Gracie family, have risen above the sport to achieve a level of celebrity in Brazil, but the sport itself has been seen as more of a spectacle with a dangerous underbelly. The emergence of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as a major star in Brazil and the high ratings for his UFC 126 bout with Vitor Belfort and his UFC 134 return to Rio de Janeiro raised the UFC in the public consciousness. Featherweight champ Jose Aldo began to emerge as a star in his native land after UFC 142. Now he's helping the UFC help poor Brazilian kids, from UFC.com: Located in Rocinha, south of Rio de Janeiro, the Instituto Reação (Institute of Reaction), which was created by former Olympic judo fighter Flavio Canto, is the first NGO (non-governmental organization) to receive funds from the biggest MMA event in the world in favor of supporting the social inclusion of young people from poor communities through artistic and educational activities and sports. Present for last week's ceremony were three stars of the UFC who came from humble origins: featherweight champion Jose Aldo, middleweight contender Rousimar Palhares, and bantamweight standout Renan Barao, as well as the UFC's Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik, and actress and presenter Fiorella Mattheis, who acted as master of ceremonies. ... "Obviously we are looking at other projects, however we are 100% focused on the initiative that Flavio and his team have here in Rocinha," said Zelaznik. "What makes the Institute Reação unique is the opportunity to train not only athletes, but the future citizens who can become great professionals. We're talking about education for a lot of young people." The Institute has been in operation for over 12 years and the UFC's efforts will 400 children and 50 athletes. UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has also been active with charitable work in Brazil. More on that and Dana White's comments on helping Brazilian kids after the jump. Schaub, who lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 134, was touched by the sight of young Brazilian kids who were aspiring MMA fighters but lacked even the most basic equipement to train, per MMA Junkie: "You go there, and these kids have nothing," the heavyweight said today at a pre-event press conference for UFC 134, which takes place Saturday at HSBC Arena in Rio. "Literally, nothing, and they're as happy as can be. "They have heroes like (Antonio Rodrigo) 'Minotauro' (Nogueira), Junior Dos Santos, Royce Gracie, Vitor (Belfort). So they're training in mixed martial arts - jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing - but they don't have the necessary equipment. "For me, it was a rude awakening. It's stuff I'm not used to in Denver, Colorado - my little bubble - so I got all my sponsors together (to collect) donated gear." UFC president Dana White also commented: "When you have these underprivileged areas and they can get involved in a combat sport, it releases aggression - it changes kids' lives," White said. "It changes adults' lives, let alone kids. "We know this for a fact. I've been doing this since I was 19 years old, and that's really where I came from. It's easy for us to slide into some of these neighborhoods and parts of town that need it and give them some help. "What a lot of these places do down here is they hand out a few soccer balls, and kids play soccer. You do the same thing. You build an octagon and you give kids some equipment, and you'll have some world champions coming out of here." There is a long and noble combat sports tradition of reaching out to the poorest kids and providing a lifeline of opportunity and aspiration to children otherwise shut out of society. It's great to see the UFC continuing that tradition in the homeland of MMA.

Posted in: ufc, sport, brazil, kid, brazilian

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UFC champion Jon 'Bones' Jones is comfortable in front of the camera doing commercials, appearing on talk shows and now--Brazilian reality TV. On the show, Jon spars with a Brazilian MMA fighter, who is much smaller than him and is wearing protective headgear.

Posted in: jon, jone, tv, brazilian, reality

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When keeping it real goes wrong? More like "when picking a fight with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) badass who will choke you the hell out if you keep bugging him and his friends at dinner." Such was the case in the above video, which showcases Ryan Hall, an instructor at 50/50 BJJ in Arlington, Virginia. His credentials, according to the 50/50 website: Black Belt under 2-time world champion, Felipe Costa and representative of the Marcelo Garcia Team, Ryan Hall is one of the most competitively successful American-born Jiu-Jitsu players to date and is widely regarded as one of the best lightweight submission grapplers in the world. Ryan is an IBJJF Mundial (world), No-Gi Mundial, and European champion and medalist at the CBJJ Brazilian National (Brasiliero) championship, but is best known for his accomplishments on the world level of no-gi submission wrestling competition where he has faced and defeated some of the sport's greatest champions. The disorderly man had no way of knowing he was playing with fire when he started bothering Mr. Hall at a restaurant one cold December evening. The description for the video explains the situation: On December 11th, 2011, Ryan Hall was enjoying dinner in the company of friends, when a man approached the table, requesting a lighter. After informing him the table was comprised of non-smokers, the man became enraged, demonstrating violent behavior and directly threatening Ryan Hall. This video displays the occurrence in its entirety, to show exactly how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be used in self-defense as a means to control and subdue an opponent. Without a single punch thrown, the opponent is first controlled, and in a second encounter choked unconscious as a means to end the confrontation. For those who can't watch the video, here's the sequence of events: Ask for lighter, get denied, get pissed and belligerent, start fight, end up choked out sleeping on concrete, wake up with cops in your face, make sure to apologize to badass who choked you out. Enjoy!

Posted in: world, video, ryan, brazilian, hall

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Michael Oliveira defeated UFC Champion Anderson Silva once again for the Brazilian International Press Award’s "Outstanding Brazilian Athlete in the United States" award. It's the third consecutive year the undefeated boxing middleweight prospect has pulled off the feat over "The Spider." “The Brazilian Rocky” -- ranked #13 by the WBC -- also bested "Indy 500 winning driver Helio Castroneves, as well as NBA players Nene Hilario and Anderson Varejao, marathoner Luiz Souza, motorcyclist Ramyller Alves and MMA fighter Rodrigo Minotauro," according to OnTheBreak.com.

Posted in: anderson, brazilian, michael oliveira, brazilian athlete, states award

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A grudge-match has been quietly brewing over the past week featuring UFC welterweights Erick Silva and Mike Pierce. Things kicked off on Twitter when Pierce began publicly lobbying for a Brazilian opponent, insulting the country’s competitors as a whole rather than calling any opponent out directly. “WANTED: No work ethic, no cardio, terrible striking, and limited ground game. Brazilians, please send fight applications to (matchmaker) Joe Silva,” stated Pierce, after having previously written, “Are there any Brazilians at 170 our did they all bump up to 185? Looking for an easy fight.” While Pierce didn’t target any specific individual through his insults, rising star Silva apparently was less than pleased by the remarks and is hoping to shut the 31-year old’s mouth this summer when the UFC heads to Sao Paolo. Silva, who recently said he wanted to knock a wrestler out (which Pierce is by trade), confirmed this weekend that he’ll be fighting on the June card. “UFC told us that and any opponent is welcome, but those who say bad things about Brazil should pay and that’s Mike Pierce. It’s a match-up that pleases us. We’re waiting for UFC to say ‘ok’,” said Silva’s manager, Walid Ismail, in a conversation with TATAME. Pierce holds an overall record of 13-5 and is coming off a Split Decision defeat to Josh Koscheck many felt he deserved the nod in. The 13-2 Silva was last seen taking part in an equally controversial ending after what appeared to be a TKO win at UFC 142 was turned into a disqualification loss based on strikes the referee felt were to the back of opponent Carlo Prater’s head. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, silva, opponent, mike, brazilian

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

Oh, Ronda Rousey. Your beauty is only exceeded by your toughness. She won the 135-pound title from Miesha Tate last night (Sat., March 3, 2012) in the main event of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" after snapping the Team Alpha Male product's arm in two. It's not like the result was altogether unforeseen. "Rowdy" had four wins going into the bout and all came thanks to her trademark submission. Plus, she straight out said that's what she was going to do, which made it all the more impressive when she actually did it! That's like Dirk Nowitzki, after sinking four straight three-pointers, dribbling down court and telling an opposing player he was going to make another one and there would be nothing he could do about it. Except in the NBA, the Mavericks would only add a few more points to their score. In mixed martial arts (MMA), Tate is getting fitted for a cast and out of work for a few months. Rousey wasn't the first to snap an arm in two in competition and she probably won't be the last. Since we here at Mania are depraved, we took a look in our history books and pulled out five of the grossest arm breaking submissions we could find. Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) experts, Japanese catch-wrestlers and former Las Vegas night club bouncers all make appearances on the list. Can you guess which submissions made the cut? Honorable mention: Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio Rua Although not actually due to a submission, Mauricio Rua had a pretty nasty elbow dislocation at Pride 31, an event that was ironically named "Unbreakable." Although for full-out irony, I suppose the event would have been called Undislocatable. Or something. "Shogun" had just won the 2005 grand prix and was looking to continue his winning ways. Coleman wasn't expected to put up much of a a fight against the young lion but less than a minute into the bout, the UFC Hall of Famer got his opponent on the mat. Some grappling back and forth ensued and when "Shogun" tried to get back to his feet, Coleman grabbed at the Brazilian's ankles. Rua ended up falling to the mat and in doing so, landed right on his elbow, popping that sucker right out of place.. The money shot comes at the 55 second mark. Ouch! Now on to the top five. 5. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Renzo Gracie, Pride 10 At Pride 8, Sakuraba was booked against Royler Gracie and in a shocking upset, the Japanese legend locked in a kimura on the Brazilian, one Gracie couldn't get out of. The referee stopped the bout despite no tap -- or break -- and thus, the rivalry between "Saku" and the first family of MMA was born. Sakuraba went on to outlast Royce over the course of 90 minutes during the 2000 grand prix. With two Gracies down, Renzo took the plate to defend the family name. Just like in the bout with Royler, the Pride Fighting Championships ace locked in a tight kimura. Unlike in the bout with Royler, "Saku" torqued the arm a little further back, busted that baby up but nice. To his credit (I guess), Renzo never tapped. 4. Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hassan, UFC Fight for the Troops Of all the armbreakers on this list, Cantwell's is the least likely. The guy's never been known as a submission wiz but after he snapped Al-Hassan's arm in two, no one will ever think he doesn't know at least a little about the ground game. A lot of people were up in arms after the submission when Cantwell seemed happy to have broken his opponent's arm. "I always wanted to do that," he admitted. His detractors said it wasn't sporting, it wasn't gentlemanly. C'mon, son. If you ever take a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) class, you want -- at least a little in your secret heart of hearts -- to break someone's arm in half at least once. Or maybe Cantwell was just excited because he knew it was the last time he would win inside the Octagon. 3. Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, UFC 140 It wasn't enough for Mir to be the first man to stop "Big Nog," he wanted to be the first fighter to make the Brazilian legend tap. And not only did he make Nogueira tap, he broken that arm in two. After the Las Vegas native got rocked on his feet, it looked like "Minotauro" was going to avenge his UFC 92 loss. Mir was almost out on his feet and when the fight went to the mat, it wasn't a stretch to imagine the Brazilian earning a technical knockout (TKO) stoppage or even a submission himself. Mir, once again, shocked everyone but latching onto a kimura, rolling through with it along with Nogueira while the Brazilian tried to wiggle out and making history by doing what Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson, Josh Barnett and a mack truck couldn't do: he made Nogueira give up. Also, props to the random hillbilly who pops up in the middle of this clip. 2. Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota, Dynamite!! 2009 "The Baka Survivor" had a bone to pick with Hirota going into their New Year's Eve bout a couple of years ago. The then-Sengoku champion had won his title earlier in the year by knocking out Satoru Kitaoka, a friend of Aoki's. Let that be a lesson to all of you: before you go knocking dudes out and taking their titles, make sure they don't have a rainbow pants-wearing submission wizard for a BFF. The best way to describe what Aoki did to Hirota was he "Wayne Arnold'ed" him. The bigger brother from The Wonder Years would constantly pester the younger Kevin, making him hit himself or bending his arms behind his own back. It's exactly what Aoki did that night in Saitama. Except Wayne, as big a butthead as he was, never went full-out and snapped Kevin's arm. And he never would have flipped Kevin off as he laid there with a broken wing. That's cold blooded, Aoki. Even more cold blooded considering it wasn't Aoki's first rodeo. 1. Frank Mir vs. Tim Sylvia, UFC 48 The granddaddy of them all. Back in 2004, Sylvia was the UFC heavyweight champion at the time as hard to believe as that may seem and was taking on a young Mir. Mir's BJJ credentials were no secret and "The Maine-iac" had already established himself as a heavy-handed knockout artist. So everyone -- including probably Sylvia himself -- was surprised when the champ caught a kick and took Mir to the mat. In the most clear cut example of messing the bull and getting the horns since The Breakfast Club, it took only seconds for Mir to transition into an armbar and forever burn this image into my brain. Any Maniacs out there manage to keep their lunch down after all that?

Posted in: mir, submission, arm, brazilian, wasnt

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submitted by 416fighter [link] [12 comments]

Posted in: judge, nogueira, claim, brazilian, antonio

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PRIDE and UFC star, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or 'Big Nog' has a conspiracy theory. He thinks there's a rivalry between American's and Brazilian's, and he implies that MMA Judges in the US are biased against the Brazilians. He said as much when he talked to Globo TV. Here's a translation from Bloody Elbow's own Orcus: "Americans have a rivalry with Brazilians, that is obvious. And why is that? It’s because the UFC has three hundred fighters under contract, and from those three hundred fighters we are fifty. The Brazilians are fifty, and we have more belts than they do." "So from three hundred we are fifty, and with those fifty we get there and take care of business. They win (more) because they have more (people), they have a bigger infrastructure inside their gyms, they have support for the sport since they’re kids. But the sport is growing in Brazil and I believe that..." "They look at us with (malicious) eyes, let’s say it like that. If you’re going to fight an American in the US you have to win the fight with emphasis because otherwise… You can’t win it by a thin margin." Off the top of my head, the only controversial decision involving a Brazilian fighter losing to an American fighter recently, would be Lyoto Machida losing that razor thin decision against Quinton Jackson. For the record, I do disagree with that decision, but even then, it was a really close fight, and it wasn't really a robbery. We do see a few crazy scorecards every now and then, but I don't think we can really blame that on nationalism, racism, or whatever, rather than them simply being bad at judging fights. Nog's brother, Rogerio was even awarded one of those controversial decisions. I wonder if Jason Brilz has his own conspiracy theory on this.

Posted in: fighter, decision, brazilian, american, conspiracy theory

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Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event took place in November 1993. Denver, CO holds the distinction of being the birthplace of the world's premier fighting organization as 10 men -- eight tournament fighters and two alternates -- descended upon the city hoping to be named the best fighter on the planet. The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) has come a long way since then. Going from the likes of Keith Hackney to Georges St. Pierre in less than 20 years is a mind bogglingly huge leap in the level of athlete that now competes inside the Octagon. Last night (Feb. 4) before UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit started, a new intro video was unveiled which chronicled some of the greatest moments in the promotion's history. From Matt Hughes lifting Frank Trigg into the air and walking him across the cage before slamming him down to Anderson Silva's jaw-dropping -- and jaw-shattering -- knockout kick against Vitor Belfort to the most important fight in UFC history between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin at the end of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), it was a 60 second stroll down memory lane for UFC faithful and a quick history lesson for newer fans. It opened, of course, how else but with Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock and the opening moments of their bout from the very first UFC. The rivalry between the two men helped pump some much needed drama and intrigue into the early days of the company where the future was uncertain. Let's take a look at the bout. Gracie and Shamrock, as talented as each of them were, stood at opposite ends of the physical spectrum. Shamrock looked like he stepped right out of a Marvel comic book. Hulking and massive, he looked more like a professional wrestler than a pro fighter. Coincidentally enough, he eventually ended up making the jump to the WWF in 1997. The Brazilian on the other hand was slender and unimposing. His physical appearance was part of the reason he was chosen to represent Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the tournament. It would seem more impressive to have a smaller man go through three others to win seemed to be the early UFC brass' thinking. And it's exactly what Gracie did. He had an easy enough time against his first opponent, Art Jimmerson, forcing the former boxer to tap out when the Brazilian secured full mount. Gracie didn't even have to apply a submission, Jimmerson felt the fight was lost right then and there with his opponent on top of him. In the finals, Gracie took out Gerard Gordeau in just under two minutes to win the first UFC tournament. But in between those two bouts, the Brazilian took on Shamrock who had heel hooked his way into the semi-finals. Of all the competitors, "The World's Most Dangerous Man" had the most experience having made his debut with the Japanese promotion Pancrase a few months prior. Let's dive in. Gracie immediately shoots in but is swept by Shamrock. A scramble ensues and the two end up on their feet against the cage. The Brazilian latches onto his opponent and drags him to the mat, pulling guard. Working from a half-butterfly guard, Gracie begins to kick at Shamrock's kidneys with his heel. Unbeknownst to the audience -- and would be until he busted the move out against Dan Severn at UFC 4 -- Gracie begins to work towards a triangle choke. Shamrock avoids it by stacking his opponent but the compromise in his balance is taken advantage of by Gracie who drops the American onto his back. From there, Shamrock begins to threaten with a heel hook but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt doesn't allow the space his opponent needs to pull the submission off. From there, Shamrock gives up his back and Gracie sinks in a rear naked choke from sidemount. The referee's performance leaves much to be desired as Shamrock's hand begins pounding the mat, giving indication he's accepted defeated. Gracie releases the hold but because of the referee's inaction, an awkward moment where the Brazilian attempts to reapply the choke while attempting to get Shamrock to admit he tapped begins. Shamrock does in fact own up to the loss and the fight is called. For as quick -- the fight lasted all of a minute -- as it was, the UFC was eager to get the two back inside the Octagon against each other. When Shamrock returned for the third event, their feud was the major selling point and the two were placed on opposite sides of the bracket, ensuring a meeting in the finals should they both win their first two fights. Unfortunately for the UFC, Gracie ran into Kimo Leopoldo, a cross-carrying Hawaiian, in the opening round. Kimo battered the Brazilian for nearly five minutes before Gracie was able to secure an armbar. Too fatigued to continue, his corner threw in the towel before the start of his semi-final match and Shamrock, robbed of his big money fight, also withdrew. Two events later, the UFC avoided the same problem by creating the "superfight" which simply pitted the two against each other in a non-tournament bout. In a grueling affair -- for the fans, not the fighters -- the two went to a draw after over half an hour of "action." Regardless of how the feud petered out, the rivalry was necessary to the survival of the UFC in its infancy. The organization needed something new fans could care about, something they could argue about. Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock provided that for the company so it's fitting their first bout opened the new intro video.

Posted in: ufc, fight, shamrock, brazilian, gracie

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Referee Mario Yamasaki disqualified welterweight Erick Silva for hitting Carlo Prater on the back of the head at UFC 142. He was a guest on Portal do Vale Tudo's podcast yesterday and addressed the subject of instant replay, which was not available to the referees at UFC 142 in Brazil. "To err is human and it is no shame to admit that you made a mistake and change your opinion." he stated. "I think it is great for the referees (the new rule) and give us an opportunity the take a better look in what happened and finally make our decision. The athletes work so hard to fight at the UFC that they deserve it. "(Erick Silva) showed class and maturity. He could have made it a circus with the interview after the fight, but understood the situation and behaved like a real gentleman. He is a great kid." "(Joe Rogan) was doing his job and it was my mistake of staying there in the middle. I should had left before that." Yamasaki also said that he and former UFC heavyweight and longtime referee in the Brazilian MMA scene, Carlos Barreto, are meeting weekly to prepare the foundation of the first Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission, with all the support of the UFC. "The UFC is the one that wants and needs the most an Athletic Commission in Brazil. They want and they need Brazilian referees, judges and cutmen to help develop the sport in the country and to cut the expenses of bringing an entire staff from USA and Europe. Carlão and I are putting together all the legal issues and will be organizing many seminars, courses and training for referees, judges and cutmen. We'll start in March and will bring many professionals from the US to help us prepare and specialize people to do the work in Brazil" said Yamasaki.More SBNation coverage of UFC 142.

Posted in: ufc, brazil, brazilian, referee, yamasaki

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Six years ago, avid rock-climber and ultra-successful businessman Ruy Drever hadn't so much as set foot inside an MMA gym, much less considered training in one. Now, as the CEO and founder of Pretorian Hard Sports, the wildly successful Brazilian MMA equipment brand, Drever's professional life is consumed by the sport. However, it's not all that matters to the Uruguayan-born, Oxford-educated executive. A longtime Brazilian resident, Drever and his company are also at the leading edge of positive social change in the spiritual birthplace of mixed martial arts.

Posted in: sport, brazilian, mma gym, drever, pretorian

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"Jon Jones is having a good phase, he's improving a lot. He's getting more and more experienced, he's very young, but he's getting more experienced. He's making his opponents fall into his game. He knows how to use his size very well. There's not much to say about Jon Jones. I don't see any Brazilian in conditions to face him, even more so because Brazilians don't tend to completely study what happens in there, there needs to be more studying done by the Brazilians in that division so that they can understand what really is going on in there. But it's hard for me to say this, because I'm Brazilian and I wish there was a Brazilian with the conditions to beat Jon Jones, but, this is a personal opinion of mine, I don't see anyone in Brazil that can beat him, at least not for now." UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva tells Portal TV (translated by Tom Mendes) that light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is in no danger of losing his 205-pound strap to a fighter from Brazil, having already disposed of Mauricio Rua and Lyoto Machida in recent fights. "Bones" could be facing the winner of Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, who fight at UFC on Fox 2, or, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson, if Evans fails to have a "Wonderful" performance in Chicago. Anyone think "The Spider" is speaking out of turn? If so, can you name a Brazilian fighter capable of dethroning the champ?

Posted in: jon, jone, brazilian, he, brazilian fighter

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I've been fasting all day because my car is out of gas. It's not religious, it's economical. It's not a good way to start off National Opposite Day. Judging by the people who live next to me, National Opposite Day started at 3:00 am and involves playing old 'Hootie and the Blowfish' albums. I'm sure there's a Brazilian equivalent to this holiday, only there would be much more gratuitous butt showing. The only way to start off National Opposite Day is to show a video of Brazilian fans going absolutely nuts at UFC 142. Correction, the only way not to start off National Opposite Day is to not show a video of Brazilian fans absolutely not going nuts at UFC 142. That would be in the vein of National Opposite Day -- or would it? It's 9:25 am and this holiday is already confusing me, so just watch this video of the crowd reaction from UFC 143 -- or don't watch a video of a crowd not reacting at UFC 143 -- or not. Today sucks. [Source]

Posted in: ufc, day, video, brazilian, brazilian fans

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Portal TV had a chance to catch up with Anderson Silva and it on a variety of topics. Silva says that he still hasn't recovered from his shoulder injury and is simply doing enough working out to stay in shape. But, he also said that he doesn't believe that there is a Brazilian fighter who can beat Jon Jones right now. Here's the video: Translated quote (via Tom Mendes): Jon Jones is having a good phase, he's improving a lot. He's getting more and more experienced, he's very young, but he's getting more experienced. He's making his opponents fall into his game. He knows how to use his size very well. There's not much to say about Jon Jones. I don't see any Brazilian in conditions to face him, even more so because Brazilians don't tend to completely study what happens in there, there needs to be more studying done by the Brazilians in that division so that they can understand what really is going on in there. But it's hard for me to say this, because I'm Brazilian and I wish there was a Brazilian with the conditions to beat Jon Jones, but, this is a personal opinion of mine, I don't see anyone in Brazil that can beat him, at least not for now.

Posted in: jon, jone, jon jones, brazilian, he

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

When Mark Munoz got injured it forced Michael Bisping into a match with Chael Sonnen and left Demian Maia without an opponent for the UFC on Fox 2 card. The immediate demand from fans was for the UFC to move Rousimar Palhares (who scored a quick win at UFC 142) into a fight with Maia. It turns out that Palhares turned down the short-notice no-rest fight (at least according to Dana White on Twitter) and the promotion settled on giving the fight to Chris Weidman. For his part, Maia says that he didn't want to fight Palhares. Not because he was afraid, but because he thinks that Brazilian middleweights shouldn't face each other. Via SporTV (translated by Tom Mendes): "It was rumored (a fight with Palhares), but I thought there would not be any possibilities (of it happening), because he just fought, it doesn't make sense for him to throw himself into another fight right now. "Toquinho" trained a few months for this fight. Just because it was fast doesn't mean there were no wear and tears. But I don't even think about that. To be honest, the Brazilian fans should be more worried about seeing us fighting foreigners. There are (only) a few Brazilian fighters in the division and I think that, aside of the title, since it's Anderson who is the champion, the Brazilians should not face each other." SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 2

Posted in: fight, brazilian, palhare, maia, fight palhares

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Data taken from UFC Brazil, UFC 134, and UFC 142. submitted by CactusRat [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: ufc, brazil, brazilian, home country, nonbrazilian

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Before his UFC 142 main card opening bout against Terry Etim last night (January 14, 2012), lightweight Edson Barboza stated, "If I get the opportunity to knock him out, I'll knock him out." Never have truer words been spoken. After landing a smattering of leg and body kicks, Barboza went high and it might have resulted in one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history. So how did the budding Brazilian lightweight star pull it off? And what's next for both men? Right off the bat, Etim's gameplan was evident as he shot in for a takedown, but even though he was able to pub Barboza on his back briefly, the Brazilian striker repeatedly popped back to his feet very quickly. They key for Barboza's ability to get back up was the fact that he immediately would sweep Etim with his butterfly guard, rolling him over before exploding back to standing position. It had to be very frustrating for Etim to see his efforts get wasted in such a manner. Perhaps driven by the failure to keep Barboza down and work his submission game, Etim decided to stand and trade with the diverse striker. This was a really, really, really bad idea. As the threat of the takedown dissipated, Barboza became more and more comfortable, and that meant lots of leg kicks. The fighter training out of The Armory began to get much more aggressive as the fight wore on, peppering Etim with both inside and outside kicks on his lead left leg as well as occasionally throwing right hands to the body as well as the head. By the third round of this, Etim had slowed down from the leg kicks and had also become accustomed to them. Even worse, he spent about 15 seconds in the perfect range of Barboza without threatening any attack whatsoever, this granted the Brazilian the perfect opportunity to try something crazy. Well he tried it, and damn, it was nasty. With Etim at the ideal distance, Barboza planted on his left leg and spun backwards with a devastating wheel kick and the heel of his foot collided firmly into Etim's jaw, knocking him out instantly. In fact, as Ben Thapa mentioned, Etim may have been the most knocked out of anyone we'd ever seen. For Terry Etim, hopefully he's okay but he's going to have one hell of a headache today. He was able to secure some takedowns but his inability to keep Barboza down or work any of his reputable submission game cost him big time. He's got decent Muay Thai skills, but he was nowhere in Barboza's league last night in terms of striking skills and the Brazilian put an exclamation point on it with the finish. Etim has to work on finishing those takedowns so he can keep his opponents down rather than quickly getting swept. Potential future opponents for Etim should include Yves Edwards, Paul Taylor or perhaps veteran Spencer Fisher. For Edson Barboza, he was already hailed a fighter to keep an eye on in the lightweight division, but this was an immaculate performance. The finish to this fight will be talked about for years to come and will be seen on highlight reels for all time. It was that good. This kid is something special if granted an opening, and he proved it. Now it's time to see how he can do against some top 20 competition as he continues to move up the lightweight food chain. Potential next opponents for Barboza include Nate Diaz, Gleison Tibau or perhaps the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon. Either way, we're going to see what this kid is really made of very soon. So what did you think, Maniacs? Was this one of the greatest knockouts you've ever seen? Could Barboza be a potential title contender in the lightweight division? Sound off! For complete UFC 142 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.

Posted in: ufc, barboza, leg, brazilian, etim

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Filed under: UFCUFC welterweight David Mitchell got his first hint that fighting in Brazil would be a little different than your average Las Vegas fight night when he was in the airport on his way down to Rio de Janeiro. While waiting for his flight, he got to talking to a Brazilian traveler about his role in the UFC's first event in Brazil in over a decade, and he casually mentioned that he was slated to fight Paulo Thiago -- an accomplished, but far from famous welterweight, by North American standards. "He told me that Paulo had just done a big movie or something," Mitchell recalled. "I thought, okay, whatever." The movie, Tropa de Elite, was actually a wildly popular Brazilian film about the BOPE -- an elite police unit that Thiago serves in. It was also the source of Thiago's entrance music when he and Mitchell squared off at the HSBC Arena in Rio that Saturday night, and the response from the crowd was enough to jar Mitchell out of his pre-fight game face, if only for a moment. "I think he got the biggest response from the crowd of anybody," Mitchell said of Thiago. "I didn't expect him to be so popular. It was just an electric environment. When I walked out to go fight, it was just 15,000 Brazilians spitting snake venom at me." More Coverage: UFC 142 Results | UFC 142 Weigh-In Video For foreign fighters -- but especially Americans going up against Brazilians -- it's a unique fight night environment, and one that not all fighters are fully prepared for when they arrive. "Some guy just told me I was going to die," Forrest Griffin said moments after arriving at the open workouts on Rio's famed Cobacabana Beach. "But he said it in very poor English, so I was able to ignore him." 'Hostile' is one word to describe the environment for visiting fighters. All week long, at press events and weigh-ins, they were greeted by gleeful chants of 'Vai morrer!' You're going to die. Granted, it seemed good-natured and not at all intended literally by most fans, but as some fighters admitted later, it was a little unsettling the first time they heard the translation. Unlike in the U.S., where fans might start up the occasional 'USA' chant but generally spread their loyalties out according to their own individual whims, the Brazilian fans tend to be both exuberant and unanimous in support of their countrymen. "They're so passionate," said UFC lightweight Spencer Fisher, who faced Brazilian Thiago Tavares at UFC 134. "The Americans, it seems like they're always for whoever wins. If a guy's losing they don't like him, but if he comes back they'll switch sides. But in Brazil, they're country strong and they're loyal." Fisher, too, was met with a partisan crowd when he walked to the cage -- and like Mitchell, he also ended up on the losing end that night. But also like Mitchell, Fisher insisted that the hostile environment didn't affect his performance in the cage. "I remember Jose Aldo saying once about the Americans, 'They can scream all they want to, because I don't understand what they're saying.' I kind of felt the same way." If anything, the enthusiastic reception -- whether negative or positive -- actually helped fighters like Mitchell, who came into the bout struggling with a neck injury that required a cortisone shot just to get him into the cage, he said. "Honestly, after everything I'd been through, dealing with injuries and a real difficult training camp, it was like I had to go fight this guy in his hometown or I was going to get cut. After all that, the crowd, if anything, was a positive," said Mitchell. "It was a charged atmosphere, like a World Cup game or something." That's something that Anthony Johnson's coach, Mike Van Arsdale, is planning on when it's his fighter's turn to take on Vitor Belfort at UFC 142. "Anything like that, whether they want him to win or don't want him to win, he feeds off that. It's like Rashad Evans, everywhere he goes they boo him. It makes him fight better. I hope they don't cheer for Rashad ever. I really do." For American heavyweight Brendan Schaub, who took on Brazilian MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the card, it helped that he'd had a chance to come down a couple months before the bout for an early press conference. He even paid for an extended stay out of his own pocket to do some training and visit the favelas as part of a community outreach program, which made him a little more comfortable when he returned for the fight, he said. "It was definitely hostile once the fight got going, but one thing I did right was getting down there and embracing the culture and giving back to the community. I think that went a long ways." Of course, Schaub, Fisher, and Mitchell all lost that night, as did most foreigners on the card. Of the eight fights that pitted a Brazilian against an outsider, only one -- Stanislav Nedkov's TKO of Luiz Cane -- didn't go the way the crowd wanted it to. It's one thing for fighters to say the environment didn't play a factor, but it clearly didn't help much either. And yet, the fighters said, once their bouts were over it was as if all the vitriol vanished immediately. They were no longer the enemy. Suddenly they were beloved former foes, and were embraced with the same energy that had gone into despising them moments before. "When I came out they were booing me, hating me, but I think I earned their respect," said Mitchell. "When I walked back people were cheering for me and hugging me. This little kid wanted my hat, so I gave it to him. I ended up just kind of cruising around and meeting people. I met the mayor of Rio. It was really cool." Even Schaub, who suffered a heartbreaking knockout loss, managed to make the most of the sun, sand, and surf once the fight was over. "Obviously, I planned on it going a different way, so it wasn't the best time," he said. "Still, it's never a bad time when you're on the beach in Brazil." For Fisher, the post-fight experience ended up being even worse than fight itself. While playing pool volleyball with "Shogun" Rua the next day, he said, he felt as if he'd gotten water in his eye. The sensation didn't go away all day, and continued even when he returned to the U.S. "It just kept getting worse and worse," he said. "I was like, man, how can I still have water in my eye? Then we started boxing and right away I could tell it was something else. That's when I realized my retina was detached." Five months later, Fisher still doesn't have full vision back in his eye. His doctors tell him it was likely a mix of accumulated damage and blows he took in the fight that night in Rio, and his peripheral vision still hasn't returned. "They said I'll never have the 20/20 vision I had before. Now I'm near-sighted," Fisher said. "So it was good trip, but a bad one at the same time." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: fight, fighter, brazilian, mitchell, fisher

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The last time a visiting team took to the court in Brazil against that nation’s home team, the visitors got their asses handed to them.  At UFC 134 in August, before a Rio de Janeiro venue packed with about 14,000 screaming Brazilian fans, Rousimar Palhares went nuts on Dan Miller, Edson Barboza cruised past Ross Pearson, “Big Nog” crushed Brendan Schaub, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua chewed up and spit out Forrest Griffin, and Anderson Silva made Yushin Okami look like a rank amateur.  The only hometown player to fall was Luiz Cane, and heck, you can blame that one on it just being Luiz Cane.  This Saturday night, the UFC returns to Rio with another installment of “Shooting Fish in a Barrel: Brazilian Edition” (also known as UFC 142), and you can pretty much bet on the fact that most – if not all – of the local boys are walking away with wins.  Featherweight champ Jose Aldo will be defending his belt against someone very much not worthy, Vitor Belfort will be taking on the morbidly obese Anthony Johnson, and Palhares returns for what’s sure to be another showcase of psychosis.  So… preview time! -Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes – Undefeated snuggle-master Mendes earned his shot at Aldo’s belt after decisioning Rani Yahya, which, in the rational minds of anyone with even a passing knowledge of the sport and its players, should evoke thoughts of “Huh?” and “WTF?”  The sad truth is that Aldo has beaten everyone worthy, so now he gets to beat on the unworthy.  And though the American is a Team Alpha Male product, broseph to Urijah Faber and relentless wrestler, Mendes has nothing for Aldo that the Brazilian hasn’t already seen – and dismantled – before.  Expect this one to end suddenly and violently, like a barbecue in the favelas when the acai-flavored beer runs out. -Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson – In Johnson’s much-ballyhooed venture up to middleweight territory, the dude failed to make the 185-pound cutoff by twelve whole pounds (!).  Consequently, the veteran Belfort only agreed to the bout if “Rumble” stayed within the 205-pound light-heavyweight limit at fight time.  Unless Johnson is pregnant, that uncontrollable weight is inexcusable.  Weight divisions aren’t mere suggestions under the Unified Rules you know, and a dozen pounds could mean the most unfair of advantages for the offending bucket of chub.  But fear not for the scales of justice here, because that excessive poundage is indicative of either a fighter out of shape or ill – which means the lightning-quick Brazilian is going to light Johnson up like a Marine in Fallujah with a Squad Automatic Weapon and an itchy trigger finger.  -Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio – If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably noticed Palhares slowly coming unraveled in the cage.  Sure, he’s been racking up wins, but invariably, all of his bouts are tainted with some odd as hell behavior (like his premature victory celebration in the Miller fight, or his inexplicable pause in the Nate Marquardt bout).  Someday the referee is going to say “go” and the Brazilian is going to climb atop the cage and start rolling flaming barrels down at everyone.  What does that mean for Massenzio, a wrestler with ever-improving boxing?  I’m not sure.  Massenzio could outpoint him on the feet while avoiding going to the ground (where he’d surely fall prey to a leglock), or Palhares could be winning and just mentally snap.  If that happens, it’s on like Donkey Kong. -Carlo Prater vs. Erick Silva – Silva was a Jungle Fight champ when he made his Octagon debut at UFC 134, and his 40-second KO victory endeared him to viewers everywhere (after all, a quick knockout means a run to the refrigerator for a refill on Mr. Pib).  Prater, on the other hand, is making his UFC debut after a long career fighting in everything from that Shine tournament to the WEC to Strikeforce.  While this bout pits two jiu-jijtsu black belts against each other, and Silva is clearly a capable face-puncher and Prater is a submissions guy, the funny thing about this pairing is that both men are Brazilians (although Prater does live in the US).  Therefore, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Brazilian will win. -Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim – Despite a quick 17-second win via guillotine in his last UFC outing, I’m still not sold on the feisty Brit Etim.  His wins are mostly against scrubs, and when he’s faced top-level competition, he’s crapped the bed.  Well guess what, Barboza is a top-level talent, and the Brazilian sports the kind of jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai that can send Etim back to Liverpool in a full-body cast.  The best case scenario for Etim in this one is if he loses a punishing decision; worst case, Etim is beaten so bad that he never leaves the UK again.  I’m going to go with the latter.

Posted in: ufc, vs, brazilian, aldo, etim

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Filed under: UFCUFC 142 goes down in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night, and there are no shortage of questions, concerns, and even one hopelessly implausible conspiracy theory to sort through as we ponder the UFC's return to Brazil. I. Jose Aldo has yet to finish a fight as UFC featherweight champion, but does it matter? Sure, his rise through the WEC was filled with jumping knee knockouts and other finishes that required more than one look at the instant replay just to believe what we'd seen, but the competition is a lot stiffer once you're the champ. When you're fighting the Kenny Florians of the world rather than the Cub Swansons, finishes can be harder to come by. The trouble is, the fanbase is not exactly patient with its champs these days. Just ask Georges St. Pierre. Already people are looking at Aldo's consecutive decision wins as UFC champ and wondering if he's too content to let the judges sort things out for him. Is that fair? Not really. But this isn't a fair sport, particular where public perception is concerned. In Brazil, where Anderson Silva is like the fighting Elvis, Aldo has yet to reach star status. But even if the crowd in Rio shows up more to see Vitor Belfort than to see him, Aldo could still capitalize. All he has to do is give them a performance to remember. Easier said than done against a guy like Mendes. II. Is hometown advantage overrated in MMA? We know from experience that the Brazilians make for a vocal, enthusiastic, and extremely partisan crowd, but how much does it matter in a sport like this? Foreign fighters didn't fare well the last time the UFC was in Rio (they went 1-7, in fact), but look at the match-ups. The only truly surprising Brazilian win on that card was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's knockout of Brendan Schaub. The other fights, well, if they didn't favor Brazilians, they also didn't stack the deck against them. No fighter I've talked to has admitted to being intimidated or distracted by a negative crowd response, but then again, that's not the sort of thing most fighters would admit to even if it were true. I've seen crowds clearly influence judges' decisions in the past. I've also seen them silenced in a heartbeat by a vicious knockout. It's nice to have the crowd in your corner, but they make for a better hype man than a shield. III. Is Chad Mendes ready to be a UFC champion? When I spoke to him for this week's Sports Illustrated piece (just go read it so I can stop plugging it), Mendes talked a lot about his experiences in the 2008 NCAA wrestling finals. He blazed through his senior season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with an undefeated record and was the top seed going into the tournament. It was, in other words, not unlike his perfect 11-0 MMA career so far. But in college Mendes lost on points to the sixth seed, Ohio State's J Jaggers, in the finals. After chasing a national championship since he knew what one was, Mendes came within a takedown or two of getting it, only to fall just short. "It's something I still think about," he said. The difference here is that very few people outside of the Alpha Male squad expect him to win. He's fighting a dominant champ, and doing it in the other guy's backyard. A lot of people might look at his wrestling-heavy decisions in his two UFC bouts and see a guy who's not quite championship material, but maybe that complete lack of pressure helps some guys. When no one thinks you can win, sometimes it becomes a lot harder to lose. IV. A moment of silence for all the great fights that could have been on this card. No offense to Carlo Prater, but I would have much rather seen Erick Silva against Siyar Bahadurzada. And not only was Paulo Thiago-Mike Pyle a good scrap on paper, but also one that would have greatly pleased a local crowd that treated Thiago like a superstar the last time he fought in Rio. And lastly, let's not forget Stanislav Nedkov, who was the lone foreigner to beat a Brazilian at UFC 134. The official word was that "visa problems" scratched Nedkov from this one. Uh-huh. Look, I'm not saying there was a vast conspiracy at the highest levels of the Brazilian government to keep the undefeated Bulgarian out of their country at all costs after his TKO win over Luiz Cane, but I'm not not saying it either... V. Let's take a minute to thank the Brazilians for being such good sports about the late start time for this event. In order for the UFC to stick to its preferred 10 p.m. ET pay-per-view start time and still go live, the local crowd will be showing up for a main card that doesn't begin until 1 a.m. local time. As our own Ariel Helwani pointed out this week, that means they could be waiting until 3:30 a.m. for the main event to get started. Unless you party like Lindsay Lohan, that's normally about the time when a fun late night turns into an arduous one. If there's any crowd that can roll with that, it's the passionate 'cariocas' who jammed the HSBC Arena to the rafters just five months ago. At UFC 134, they kept the joint jumping from the first fight to the last. Then again, that one started a couple hours earlier. Let's hope they can maintain the same level of enthusiasm for this event, though perhaps without the beer-throwing this time. VI. A new challenge, but the same old questions for Vitor Belfort. No one doubts his ferocity in the first round. It's what happens after that that's been his big problem. "The Phenom" is 20-9 in his 15-year career, but just 4-5 in fights that have gone the distance. Anthony Johnson is a durable fighter who is at home on his feet, but clearly doesn't mind grinding out a victory when he needs to, as we saw in the Dan Hardy fight. He's never been knocked out in an MMA bout, so there's a very good chance he could take this one into the deep waters and test Belfort's ability to pull out a win in the later rounds. If Belfort's ever going to reverse that trend and write a new narrative for himself, he'd better do it soon. As he alluded to this week, he might not have much time left on the clock. And no one wants to be remembered as the guy who was a lion in the first minute and a kitty cat in the 15th. VII. Goodbye Spike TV; hello FX. As much as I applaud the UFC's efforts to get as many fights as possible seen by as many fans as possible, streaming so many of the prelims on Facebook was a model that had its limitations. On Spike TV, the UFC only got an hour to squeeze in a couple prelims, leaving the rest for the internet. But in the brave new world of the FOX deal there are two full hours of prelim fights on FX, leaving only one fight to the Facebook hinterlands. It's a welcome change for those of us who prefer to watch fights on the TV rather than the laptop. It's also good news for the lower tier of UFC fighters. Instead of confusing the hell out of their grandparents by trying to explain Facebook to them, they can just give them a channel and a time and be done with it. Now that's progress. VIII. Seriously, Rousimar Palhares, can you get through this one without anything weird happening? I touched on it in my betting odds breakdown, but "Toquinho" has shown a penchant for mental lapses in his UFC career. Some have cost him dearly, while others have just come close. In a match-up that seems tailored to his particular set of skills, it'd be great to have his performance between the horns be the one and only story for a change. IX. Here's a free tip: make sure you're in your seat for the Gabriel Gonzaga-Ednaldo Oliveira fight. It's flying under the radar on the prelims, but this is a heavyweight tilt that you don't want to miss. Not only is it Gonzaga's return to the UFC, but it's also the debut for Junior dos Santos' unbeaten sparring partner. Word around the campfire is that JDS asked the UFC to take a look at Oliveira and got the usual 'Send us a tape, but no promises' response from matchmaker Joe Silva. He must have seen something that he liked, because here's the 27-year-old Brazilian, ready to take a big step up in competition. The interesting thing is, Gonzaga's been in a similar situation before. He was the one who served as the UFC welcoming committee for Brock Lesnar's sparring partner, Chris Tuchscherer, at UFC 102 in Portland. It wasn't such a kind welcome, honestly. The bout was halted early after a brutal "inadvertent" groin kick by Gonzaga that left Tuchsherer writing in pain on the mat for several minutes. Immediately upon the restart, the cold-hearted Gonzaga looked low and kicked high. Tuchscherer, understandably, went to protect his aching man parts and left his head wide open. A shrewd move by Gonzaga, though perhaps not the most sporting one. Something to think about if you're Oliveira. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, fight, time, crowd, brazilian

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The UFC was greeted back to Brazil with open arms, as the Brazilian fans enthusiastically showed why the UFC should return more often. UFC heavyweight champion Junir Dos Santos’ statements regarding the Brazilian fans: “It feels so great to be with the fans in Rio. I’ve only been champion for a short time, but this feeling (of support) will never get old. I love it. This is the first big UFC event of the year and it’s very important for us in Brazil, the fans in America and people everywhere.” Featherweight champion Aldo also only had great things to say about his fellow country men. “Wow! The way the fans were chanting my name, cheering, trying to get pictures with me, it was incredible. Everyone knows my story, how I grew up, and to make it to this type of stage feels great. Chad Mendes is a tough challenger, but this is the fight I’ve wanted for a long time. He’s the number one contender and I love the challenge.” Even Mendes, an American fighter facing off against the beloved featherweight champion, received good fan support: “I was surprised by how supportive the fans were. I didn’t expect to receive the cheers and I appreciated it. I think the fans realize how important this fight is for the featherweight division, for the UFC and for the sport. I’m ready to go and I know Jose is. I can’t wait to do this.” The UFC has a long list of high-caliber Brazilian fighters — and a dedicated MMA fan base that is only growing — so it’s not a surprise to see the No. 1 MMA promotion again saw such a high turn out of Brazilian fans.

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The UFC returns to Brazil for the second time since in the last six months including last August’s extravaganza though unfortunately this event has nowhere near the firepower that UFC 134 did. That card featured a middleweight title bout between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami along with the triumphant return of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to action and Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin. This time around the main event is for the UFC Featherweight Championship as Jose Aldo will look to defend his title against the undefeated Team Alpha Male member Chad Mendes. Which Aldo will we see this time around -the explosive striker who tore through Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, and Manvel Gamburyan or the one who has seemed hesitant against Mark Hominick and most recently Kenny Florian? Check Out the UFC Countdown Special for UFC 142 Some have said that the weight cut is taking its toll on Aldo; if that’s the case a jump up to lightweight should be in his future. He will have his hands full with Mendes who possesses fantastic wrestling and pushes a frenetic pace. He may not finish many of his fights, but he can certainly punish his opponents which is not a good sign for someone who may have issues with their cardio due to a difficult weight cut. The co-main event is where the real action is at as Anthony Johnson makes his middleweight debut against fellow hard-hitting striker Vitor Belfort. Not many expect this bout to last too long as both men pack absolute dynamite in their hands. Belfort is coming off a first round knockout victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 and Johnson was last seen putting Charlie Brenneman to sleep at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson. How will Johnson adapt to fighting at a heavier weight? We won’t know until he actually gets into the cage on Saturday night, but he has always been a supersized welterweight who has had trouble making weight at times. This move should enhance his performance. Belfort is slated to coach opposite Wanderlei Silva on the first ever Brazilian version of The Ultimate Fighter. The two men met back in 1998 with Belfort blitzing Silva and knocking him out in just 44 seconds. One of these two men could very easily walk away with the Knockout of the Night bonus. The rest of the card has been besieged by injuries. No less than five fighters have been forced off the card due to injury leaving some competitors without opponents. All told there are only ten bouts and each and every single one has a Brazilian fighter participating in it. Let’s take a look at which of these twenty fighters are in jeopardy of losing their job should they lose on Saturday night. Carlo Prater: Prater was brought in as a replacement for Siyar Bahadurzada and will face the once defeated top Brazilian welterweight prospect Erick Silva in his UFC debut. Prater is a WEC veteran who has competed against such fighters as Spencer Fisher, Melvin Guillard, Drew Fickett, and Carlos Condit who he has defeated once but lost when they fought for Condit’s WEC welterweight title in 2008. Prater is a native of Brazil and it has to be nice to have an opportunity to fight in front of his countrymen, but he is more or less being fed to the wolves here. Should he win he will get another fight, but other than that he is likely one and done. Gabriel Gonzaga: A former UFC heavyweight title contender, Gonzaga retired after suffering his second consecutive loss and third in four tries inside the Octagon to Brendan Schaub at UFC 121 in October of 2010. A perennial underachiever Gonzaga has the size, strength and grappling skills to be a solid heavyweight, but he just never seemed to recover from his loss to Randy Couture when they met for the title 2007. He most recently fought Parker Porter in October and won the Reality Fighting Heavyweight Championship. He will face Ednaldo Oliveira as a replacement for the injured Rob Broughton on Saturday night. At only 32-years-old “Napao” should have some productive years ahead of him should he be able to overcome his mental lapses. Whether or not they are in the UFC remain to be seen. He did sign a four-fight deal, but we all know that doesn’t mean much as nothing is guaranteed with this organization. A poor showing here and Gonzaga could be shown the door. Michihiro Omigawa: Omigawa may have won his last fight against Jason Young he hasn’t been the type of addition the UFC thought he would be when they brought him in early last year. He entered the UFC riding a five-fight winning streak with wins against Hatsu Hioki, Hiroyuki Takaya, Micah Miller, Young Sam Jung, and Cole Escovedo. He was manhandled by Mendes in his UFC debut then lost to Darrell Elkins at UFC 131. With a paltry 1-2 record he may not be able to survive another loss. He is not scheduled for the UFC in Japan card so that won’t protect him. Let’s see how things play out on Saturday night. Ricardo Funch: Funch makes his return to the UFC after a one fight hiatus. His first run was not a successful one as he lost his only two bouts. He was brought in as an injury replacement for Paulo Thiago to face Xtreme Couture veteran Mike Pyle. He’s another Brazilian fighter brought back to fight in front of the Brazilian fans, but it’s pretty apparent that is Thiago wasn’t injured Funch wouldn’t be on this card, therefore nothing is promised other than this one fight. He loses to Pyle and he loses his job for a second time. Felipe Arantes: Arantes made his UFC debut back in August at UFC 134 the last card in Brazil. He lost to Yuri Alcantara via unanimous decision and hasn’t fought since. The UFC isn’t keen on fighters losing their first two fights in the organization. The fact that he hasn’t fought since the last Brazilian card could lead one to believe that they have no intention of him becoming a part of the regular roster. Of course he could silence all of these concerns with a win here, otherwise its back to the Brazilian regional circuit for Arantes. That’s it for this go-round. Make sure to tune in to the televised prelims and PPV action this Saturday night to see which of the above-mentioned men may indeed be looking for a job on Monday morning. Tweet

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Name: John Teixeira Nickname: Macapa Age: 25 Height: 5'7" Location: Macapa, Amapa, Brazil This is a guest post by Rory MacLeod (smoogy) From Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to Jose Aldo and Diego Brandao, the Amazon region of Brazil is known for producing elite MMA stars with some of the best technique in the game. Though mostly unknown outside of the region, undefeated Muay Thai specialist John "Macapa" Teixeira (12-0-1) aspires to continue that legacy in earnest. Incidentally, Macapa could easily pass himself off as Jacare's little brother at a glance. A lifelong athlete who abstains from smoking and drinking, Teixeira fits the familiar mold of a freewheeling, yet technical Brazilian Muay Thai fighter who prefers attacking at a distance or in the clinch, but can also grapple out of takedowns and attack with his own submissions. Training under Master Orlando Junior, Teixeira's namesake is his home city of Macapa, where he has established himself as a force to be reckoned with for his fellow lightweights. But at just 5'7", he would be wise to consider making the cut to featherweight as the strength of his competition increases. At that weight, his ability to put together combinations punctuated by kicks at a distance would be even more effective, and with conditioning being an area that could use improvement, he can afford to drop the weight. Macapa fought most recently in October and picked up the strongest win of his career to date, a first round submission over Fortaleza journeyman Jamil Silveira (32-14). Despite his eye-catching record, he needs more wins at this level or better to really entice a major promotion to bid for his services. He's made no secret of his ambition to challenge top Brazilian lightweights like Fransisco Drinaldo and Adriano Martins, but surgeries for a knee injury and an intestinal disorder in 2009 briefly put his journey up the ranks on hiatus. Now fully recovered, Teixeira has some catching up to do, but as a main event level attraction in his home town, he is well positioned to get the matchups he needs to assert himself as a top Brazilian who warrants at shot on the world stage. Video footage of 'Macapa' after the jump... FlyweightBantamweightFeatherweightLightweight #1 - #2 - #3 -#4 -#5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - Rony Mariano#2 - Aljamain Sterling#3 - Chris Holdsworth#4 - Josh Hill#5 - Fabiano Fernandes#6 - Claudio Ledesma#7 - Sirwan Kakai#8 - Kyoji Horiguchi#9 - Leandro Hygo#10 - Pedro Munhoz #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - John Teixeira#9 - Cody Bollinger#10 - Bubba Jenkins #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - WelterweightMiddleweightLight HeavyweightHeavyweight #1 - #2 - #3 -#4 -#5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - John Teixeira vs. Paulo DinizAmazon Fight 10 - December 7, 2011 John Teixeira vs. Jamil SilveiraGolden Fight 2 - October 8, 2011 John Teixeira vs. Michel Addario BastosIron Man Championships 2 - March 19, 2009

Posted in: vs, john, brazilian, teixeira, macapa

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Name: Pedro Munoz Nickname: The Young Punisher Age: 25 Height: 5' 8" Location: Redondo Beach, California This is a guest post written by Rory MacLeod (smoogy) It could be said that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the signature art in mixed martial arts. For Brazilian fighters, it's not just a part of their identity, it's a gateway to the rest of the world and a promise of prosperity. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors with national credentials are typically the most highly sought after in North America. Well-regarded black belt Pedro Munhoz (6-0) is among the latest in a long line of such fine exports from Brazil. Originally training with Sao Paulo's Gibi Thay and Barbosa Jiu Jitsu, Munhoz is now based out of Redondo Beach, California's Arriva-Machado MMA Academy under head instructor Ricardo Arrivabene. As a no-gi specialist with extensive tournament experience, Munhoz naturally excels at top control, submissions and ground defense, but he also compliments his grappling base with high hands, good takedown defense and a sound double forearm guard. Since his standup offense is still a work in progress, he uses his sharp defense to anticipate and deflect attacks, then counter with takedowns. Pedro has mostly relied on this strategy to wear his opponents down for submissions in later rounds. Now 3-0 in fights on American soil, Pedro Munhoz has carved out a niche on the California circuit as the reigning Respect in the Cage bantamweight champion. He was slated to fight The Ultimate Fighter 14's Johnny Bedford (18-9-1) in May, but the fight was scratched upon Bedford being confirmed as part of the reality competition's cast. With a strong support group including Arrivabene wrestling coach Kenny Johnson and Strikeforce veteran Eduardo Pamplona (15-3), Munhoz is in good hands. A steady climb up the ladder on the West Coast circuit would be ideal before seeking a major contract opportunity. In the meantime, Pedro should continue to take advantage of the many elite pro gyms in close proximity that he can visit to sharpen his skill-set; he's already sparred with some of the UFC's best at the Black House facility in Los Angeles. With his regular gig as a no-gi instructor at just 25, Munhoz has the means and the time to develop from a good grappler to a great mixed martial artist. Video footage of Pedro Munhoz in action after the jump... FlyweightBantamweightFeatherweightLightweight #1 - #2 - #3 -#4 -#5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - Pedro Munhoz #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - WelterweightMiddleweightLight HeavyweightHeavyweight #1 - #2 - #3 -#4 -#5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - #1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - Pedro Munhoz vs. Reginaldo VieiraFull Fight 1 - March 21, 2009 Pedro Munhoz vs. Robert MatsumotoEagle Fighting Championship - September 26, 2009 Pedro Munhoz vs. Pablo AlfonsoJungle Fight 18 - March 20, 2010 More video can be found here, including grappling videos of Munhoz during ADCC trials and various other competitions.

Posted in: munhoz, pedro, fight, california circuit, brazilian

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Filed under: UFCUFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo appeared in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, where he'll defend his title against Chad Mendes at UFC 142 next month. That fight will take place at the HSBC Arena, where the UFC played before a capacity crowd in August. But Aldo is hoping to fight in a much bigger Brazilian venue in the future. "I hope one day to be able to fight in a football stadium," Aldo said. That opportunity may come soon: UFC President Dana White said that while he's in Brazil this week he'll be looking at stadiums, and there are indications that ticket demand remains very strong in Brazil. One Brazilian reporter pressed White on Tuesday about why so many fans were left disappointed in August when they couldn't get tickets. (White's advice: Get online immediately tickets go on sale Wednesday.) Aldo, who will be fighting back home in Brazil for the first time since he signed with Zuffa in 2008, said there will be some distractions associated with having family and friends around, but he said that won't make a difference come fight time. "I have to put all that out of my mind," Aldo said. Some other notes on the UFC 142 press conference. Mendes thinks he has one key advantage in preparing for Aldo: He trains every day with Urijah Faber, who has faced Aldo before. "Having a teammate in Urijah Faber who's already fought Jose is an advantage for me," Mendes said. "We were able to sit down and put together a great game plan for this camp based on that. Urijah trains with me every day." Don't get your hopes up for Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones: White has said he views Silva and Jones as the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but when a Brazilian reporter asked if that meant the two of them would fight each other, White said he doesn't see either man taking on an opponent outside his own weight class any time soon. "Jon Jones has a couple of obligations. He has to fight the winner of Rashad Evans and Phil Davis," White said. "Anderson Silva has been very reluctant to move up to 205 pounds. We'll see. We always try to make the fights that people want to see. If people want it, we'll try to make it." Anthony Johnson isn't expecting to go back down to welterweight: Johnson, who is moving up to middleweight to face Vitor Belfort in the co-main event at UFC 142, said he's putting all his focus on his new weight class. "Right now 170 isn't in my mind at all," Johnson said. "My mission is to conquer 185." Belfort thinks MMA can be bigger than soccer: "I remember when Dana White said UFC was going to become the No. 1 sport in the world," Belfort said. "He wasn't crazy when he said that." Brazilian fans want to see some non-Brazilian stars: Multiple members of the Brazilian media questioned White about why none of the promotion's top North American stars are on this card. White said he has a lot of Brazilian fighters on the UFC roster who requested to fight in Brazil, and that didn't leave much room for non-Brazilian fighters. "This is our second fight here and you have people who it's always been their dream to fight here," White said. "But yes, we will bring in talent from around the world. Georgest St. Pierre or whoever else it might be. We do realize people here want to see them too." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, fight, people, brazilian, aldo

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Here at Bloody Elbow, you can find general updates on a wide variety of combat sports scattered in between the mixed martial arts coverage that is our bread and butter. This weekly column, Matwork!, is designed to bring you the recent happenings in the world of grappling, be it sambo, judo, Brazilian jiu jitsu, submission grappling and/or collegiate and freestyle wrestling. If it takes place on the ground and it's interesting, I am going to write about it here. As this is the first issue, there will be some slightly older news - still relevant - mixed in with the fresh happenings. Join us after the jump for the short summaries and the links to articles, videos and grappling goodness. And yes, even Vikings can be defeated if you have good ground game like Henry Cejudo. Paul "Sassangle" Sass just released a video showing his version of the Showtime Kick - except it's a triangle... In collegiate wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association All Star Classic was held on November 21st. InterMat has a great recap over on their site. They also have the story of Minnesota pulling the slight upset over Penn State in a dual meet. Flowrestling will cover the upcoming Journeymen Northeast Duals - which will feature Chael Sonnen, Urijah Faber and Clay Guida as special guests - on Friday. Back in October, the Pan American Judo Games were held. The Cubans and Brazilians essentially stomped everybody else, as the results show. The United States should have kidnapped Ronda Rousey and made her compete in every match possible. One of my favorite sports news sites, the always funny/awesome DSTRYSG does a great job giving a bit of attention to the sambo world championships, which were held in mid-November in Vilnius, Lithuania. The full results can be found on the Federation International Amateur Sambo site (click around a bit). In Brazilian jiu-jitsu news, the Abu Dhabi World Pro trials in Manaus were recently contested and the divisional champions were rewarded for their efforts with a ticket to Abu Dhabi. A recap from Carlos Ozorio over at Gracie Mag gets most of the storylines across to English readers. Going back in time a bit to cover the recent big happenings now. The No-Gi Worlds were held on November 5th at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. The link to the official IBJJF results is not working, but the black belt results were written up by Gracie Mag. Quite a few big names participated and some fine matches between truly elite grapplers were held. Deb Blythe over at Gracie Mag also did a nice, if uncritical tournament summary with some good pictures. Notable results: The lightweight finals between Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles and Justin Rader, which featured non-stop action from both, can be seen on YouTube thanks to Jiu-jitsu Factory. Rafael Lovato Jr. (whom I interviewed a while back) defeated Pablo Popovitch 4-0 in the medium-heavyweight finals. Marcus "Bochecha" Vinicus won both the superheavyweight and the absolute, while Michelle Nicolini won the women's featherweight and absolute divisions.  The CBJJ Brazilian no-gi nationals were held on October 29th. The full results can be viewed here. Among the storylines there were the ascension into the limelight on the black belt level for two brothers - Herbert Burns and Kim Terra. Herbert, who is the younger brother of Gilbert Burns (now training with Vitor Belfort in preparation for an MMA career) won the featherweight black belt division and now teaches out in Singapore. Kim, brother of Caio Terra (a dominant figure in the smallest divisions of Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a few years now), won third in lightweight and third again in the absolute. Also, Beatriz Mesquita has been tearing it up on the grappling circuits all year and won double gold here (and silver at the no-gi worlds in the absolute). Leandro Lo Pereira do Nascimento has been rolling extremely well all year long and collected a divisional gold before losing to Bochecha in the absolute semi-finals (thanks to X-Combat for the video). Submission Control has one of my favorite interviews of any grappling competitors in their Q&A session with Jordon Wallace Schultz. This brown belt world champion has strong opinions and isn't afraid to tell 'em. A short excerpt from the great interview is below as a teaser: SubCon: What has been your proudest moment in Jiu Jitsu thus far?   JS: Everything I have accomplished has been in the minor leagues, the high-school of BJJ. So nothing. Ask me again when I'm a year into my black belt. When I get to formula one. That's where everything counts. If I think for a second that I've accomplished anything then I'm lying to myself. I talk about how I'm a World Champion on my website to market myself. You have to shamelessly promote yourself or no one will know about you. SubCon: Asides from BJ Penn, Robert Drysdale, Rafael Lavato, and Hillary Williams, why do you think there are so few American mundial champions at the BB level, while there are so many in the other levels? JS: It is just a matter of time. My coach Jacare says soon BJJ will be dominated by Americans. Brazilians have just been doing it longer. America has the best athletes. We win most of the gold medals in the Olympics. Welcome to the 2011 BJJ Gi Survey! If you train Brazilian jiu-jitsu, help out Aesopian with his gi survey. Here's the mission and the general idea of it: We want to know which BJJ gis are the best and worst around, and your opinions matter. This survey is split into four parts: Your BJJ History   Review Your Gis (up to 10)About YouSummaryCompletion Time: 5-10 minutes (depending on how many gis you review) Your answers will be kept anonymous. Once enough responses are collected, the results will be published on aesopian.com. And as a great way to end this first issue, I leave you with Two Kittens Wrestling. The black kitten's sweeps-based guard game eventually flummoxes the aggressive top control of the calico and my head just esploded with that cuteness. (Thanks to Tim Burke for finding the video.) If you have any links, questions or comments, leave them below or get at me on Twitter. DefGrappler out!

Posted in: world, result, belt, brazilian, bjj

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Mamed Khalidov has a new opponent for KSW 17 on November 26th.He had been due to face Paulo Filho but the Brazilian has been replaced on the card because...

Posted in: brazilian, filho, khalidov, mamed, taylor

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: brazilian, mattyblayze, jd, brazilian airport, airport

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With all due respect to Greece and the art of Pankration, it can be almost universally agreed upon that Brazil is the birthplace of modern mixed martial arts (MMA). Since the early part of last century, vale tudo fights have engrained themselves in the combat sports culture of the South American country. Not content to develop its own style of martial arts -- like it had with Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) -- the country's best fighters began incorporating techniques from Japan -- like judo -- and Thailand's particular brand of kickboxing in an effort to win accolades at home and across the world. When thinking of the sport's elite in the past decade, names like Mauricio Rua and Wanderlei Silva immediately come to mind. When discussing who the greatest pound-for-pound fighter today is, you'd be remiss not to mention Anderson Silva. And when the future of MMA is brought up, Jose Aldo and Junior dos Santos are always at the forefront of the conversation. Tonight (Nov. 12, 2011) at UFC on Fox 1, dos Santos has a chance to make history for his native land, the country that gave life to the sport we all love. Never before has a Brazilian been crowned the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion in the title's long and sordid history. It's an enormous opportunity for "Cigano." Here's why: The UFC returned to Brazil this past August after a 13-year sabbatical from the country. Hosting UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, the company broke all sorts of records while the fights themselves provided enough fireworks to light up the Rio skyline. Current middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva did what he does best and made the latest challenger to his 185-pound title look foolish when he easily knocked out Yushin Okami in the second round. "Shogun" finally got his revenge on Forrest Griffin after the American spoiled Rua's Octagon debut. And Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fought off Brendan Schaub -- and Father Time itself -- when he put the young The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) runner-up to sleep in three minutes. Brazil was eager to see its favorite sons in action and sold the show out in record time -- 14,000 rabid fans filed into the arena after being denied for well over a decade live Octagon action. And the fighters made sure to repay them in kind with action-packed performances that had every fan -- Brazilian or not -- beaming by night's end. That night was a lot of fun and a big part of that was the crowd. It just seems that Brazilian's love fighting. They just LOVE it. There are very fews locales that that can be said about. Canada is in the same boat. Anytime the Octagon travels to the Great White North, a great collection of fight fans show up. Brazil welcomed the UFC back into his country so warmly and excitedly that Dana White and company have already made plans to return in January for UFC 142.  So what does any of this have to do with Junior dos Santos? Since the heavyweight title was introduced in 1997, no Brazilian has worn the belt around their waist. Yes, "Minotauro" defeated Tim Sylvia, but that was for an interim title and solely a legal maneuver by the UFC to keep its current heavyweight champ Randy Couture from jumping ship to Affliction Entertainment. Simply put, Nogueira didn't beat the man to become the man. The belt was a holdover until the legal mess "The Natural" caused was sorted out. And it's not like the Brazilian reign was long and fruitful. A couple months after submitting "The Maine-iac," Nogueira shipped off to Las Vegas to film a season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) opposite Frank Mir. Mir would then go on to shock the MMA world by stopping "Big Nog" for the first time in the Brazilian's career at UFC 92. That's the closest a native of Brazil came to one of the most important titles in the fight game. In fact, only two other Brazilians have even challenged for the title before dos Santos gets to tonight. Pedro Rizzo at the turn of the century and Gabriel Gonzaga back in 2007. Both were coincidentally stopped short of their goal by Couture. Tonight "Cigano" has a chance to change all that. He has a chance to become the first undisputed Brazilian heavyweight champion in UFC history. By defeating Velasquez, he helps his country check off a long overdue accomplishment on its MMA resumé. If the UFC's history is measured in versions, tonight could be the beginning of 4.0. The first being the early days of the promotion, the second being the Dark Ages when the company was facing bankruptcy and getting squeezed by political pressure. 3.0 of course would be the post-TUF era that we have been enjoying for a little over half a decade now. But, UFC 4.0 promises more than any longtime fan could have ever imagined. The deal with Fox is monumental and tonight's heavyweight title fight on broadcast television is something I never thought I would ever see. At the forefront could be Junior dos Santos representing Brazil, the country that started the whole thing. There's a lot of people -- a LOT -- who don't want to be disappointed tonight. Dana White and the rest of the UFC, millions of fight fans across the United States and the world, and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez represent a majority of them. But then there's "Cigano" and the country of Brazil who want something to cheer for possibly more than anyone else. Will they be dancing in Rio tonight?

Posted in: ufc, title, heavyweight, brazilian, country

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Whether or not it was too big of a step up in competition didn't matter to Cain Velasquez. He wanted a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. And mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was standing in his way. The two combatants were seemingly representing their respective eras in the fight game. The Brazilian was pretty much the poster boy for the Pride FC age of heavyweights, the most impressive collection the sport had ever seen. The young American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) fighter was the prototype for the new breed of fighters over 206 pounds: Strong as a bull, but with speed to match. They met inside the Octagon at UFC 110 in the main event of the company's inaugural visit to Australia and left the fans "Down Under" with something to cheer about. A brutal knockout ended the Brazilian's night early and paved the way for this evening's (Nov. 12, 2011) big show, UFC on Fox 1. Tonight, live on Fox, the UFC presents its heavyweight champion Velasquez, taking on Brazilian challenger Junior dos Santos in a historic fights that is a watershed moment for the company that was once months -- possibly weeks or even days -- away from bankruptcy. Let's take a closer look at the champ's bout with "Minotauro," as we prepare for tonight's festivities. Are you ready? Nogueira throws out a jab and Velasquez responds with a combination. The Brazilian returns fire with a flurry of his own, but nothing from either fighter lands. Just as the commentator touts the future heavyweight champion's diverse striking, the Mexican-American nails Nogueira with a leg kick. Another leg kick -- this time to the inside -- lands and Velasquez threatens with a string of punches, none of which land flush. He steps back and the two fighters reset. The former Pride FC champion is content to allow his opponent take the center of the Octagon, opting to circle around. A head kick from Velasquez is blocked and he nearly eats a counter for it as "Minotauro" barrels a left straight down the pipe. Another leg kick from the younger fighter is followed by a flurry of punches as he appears to be moving in fast forward, while Nogueira is stuck in slow motion. Velasquez sticks and moves like a boxer in his prime, while "Big Nog" merely sticks like a pugilist whose better days have long since passed. Sluggish or not, the Brazilian can still take a punch. He gets tagged right on his chin, but doesn't even begin to flinch. Twice over the Mexican-American throws out a quick one-two punch combination as a distraction to the leg kick he lands immediately after. Had this fight gone on longer than it eventually would, no doubt the beating that Nogueira's leg was beginning to absorb would take its toll. At this point, the Brazilian begins to become more aggressive. No longer moving along the perimeter, he finds a home in the center of the cage, forcing his younger opponent to the outside. Another leg kick from the AKA fighter lands without repercussion and the two exchange, Velasquez landing a solid punch to his opponent's ribcage. They clinch briefly and the younger fighter connects with a knee akin to that of Nogueira's countryman Wanderlei Silva. Seconds later, the Brazilian wades in with a right that Velasquez ducks under and counters with a combination of hooks -- first left, then right, and ending with another left -- that tags "Minotauro" on the jaw. No one knew it then, but that exchange would be the appetizer for what would be a knockout main course. A little more than two minutes into the fight, Nogueira lunges in with the same right and the future champ makes him pay. He weaves out of the way and unloads with the same combination. The first left hook lands well, but the second doesn't. That's because the right hook forced the normally iron-jawed Nogueira to crash toward the mat. It's a position the Brazilian had found himself many times over in his career. He had built his reputation around being able to take a beating but still coming out on top. However, this time there would be no heroic comeback for the MMA living legend. Velasquez immediately swarms on his fallen opponent and lands five unanswered punches before the referee is able to stop the action. A little more than three years into his career and at only 27-years old, the young fighter had accomplished what fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Filipovic and Randy Couture could not do. He finished Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The win put him directly in line for a title shot against the winner of UFC 116's main event between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. The champion -- Lesnar -- would retain that evening and the stage was set for the two heavyweight behemoths to collide at UFC 121 in Anaheim. Velasquez would go on to win the title in California, which we'll detail later this afternoon, but the road to tonight's big heavyweight showdown truly began in Sydney.

Posted in: fighter, nogueira, velasquez, land, brazilian

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No. 1 UFC heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos is ready to take home a title. He's focused on Cain Velasquez and the toughest fight of the Brazilian's career.

Posted in: ufc, do, contender, brazilian, title hes

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The Bellator middleweight roster just got even better as company CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that the organization has signed Brazilian striker Maiquel Falcao. The signing was made official last night during the Bellator 54 event. “Big Rig” is best known for his one bout in the UFC where he defeated the highly-touted Gerald Harris at UFC 123 by unanimous decision. He was scheduled to compete at UFC 134 in August but was released from the company on May 11 due to charges stemming from a 2002 assault case. The Brazilian native headed back to his home country following his UFC released and has gone 2-1 in that time. Of his 28 career victories, 23 have come by way of (T)KO. He’s only competed once outside of Brazil, that being his one bout inside the octagon. No debut date or opponent have been announced. The Bellator middleweight division is currently ruled by champion Hector Lombard, who has won 19 straight contests. Top contenders Alexander Shlemenko and Vitor Vianna are scheduled to meet at Bellator 58 with the winner get a shot at Lombard’s belt. *PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

Posted in: ufc, bellator, middleweight, brazilian, home country

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Brazilian prospect Carlos Alexandre Pereira, who has scored 22 of his 33 career wins via knockout, is heading to Bellator Fighting Championships. MMAjunkie.com today confirmed that verbal agreements are in place between the Brazilian Shooto champ and Bellator brass. The signing was first reported by Sherdog, who also suggested Pereira will make his promotional debut at November's Bellator 58 event against a yet-unnamed opponent.

Posted in: bellator, mmajunkie.com today, brazilian, bellator brass, pereira

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While Jon Jones was wielding the power that all true sons of Krypton have when touched by the Earth’s sun, Bellator 51 was playing out on MTV2, offering up quarterfinals for their fifth season’s bantamweight tournament.  How did the little guys do?  And were they able to top the thrilling, nonstop action of UFC 135’s Travis Browne/Rob Broughton funfest?  Read on, friend-o. American Ed West and Brazilian Luis Nogueira opened the event with a very spirited fisticuff, West looking to use kicks and a ton of movement and Nogueira hunting for the perfect opportunity to feed his opponent knuckles.  Curiously, though Nogueira possesses a strong wrestling background, he found himself on his back in the first round.  But he righted himself soon after, and the end of the frame had him bashing West from the clinch.  Round 2 had more of the same, sans Nogueira spending time on the bottom, while in the final frame they alternated between slugging it out and jockeying for the advantage in the clinch.  At one point the Brazilian very nearly had the slam and the suplex, but West was on to his tricks, and deftly countered with a kimura.  Time ran out with them still trying hard to end it.  When the judges’ scorecards were tallied the unanimous decision went to West, though it was certainly a competitive match-up when all was said and done. Brazilian Marcos Galvao had a tall order before him in former WEC champ Chase Beebe, but Galvao sports a resume that includes phenomenal jiu-jitsu and experience fighting everywhere – two factors which made their fast and furious first round and the perilously close guillotine attempts the American tried the epitome of excitement.  Heck, they were even blasting each on the feet, a trend which continued into the second (but with more wild misses added).  Yet for all the instances where the Brazilian got the takedown and ended atop the American in Round 2, exhaustion made the third round a sloppy punching extravaganza that Beebe seemed to steal.  As such, Galvao came away with only the split decision. The third bout of the broadcast pitted a Brazilian against a Brazilian in Eduardo Dantas and Wilson Reis.  Though their combined jiu-jitsu experience is enough for more than a few human lifetimes, it was all about the boxing and kickboxing these guys brought into the cage – and as evidenced when he fought Patricio Freire, the compact Reis makes a great stationary target when knees, shins and fists are flying.  Round 1 saw Dantas avoiding the ground masterfully while gauging his range and probing for openings.  The former EliteEX champ, meanwhile, grew more and more desperate.  That desperation came to an end at 1:02 of the second round, with Dantas landing a crushing flying knee and following it up with a torrent of knockout punches to the prone Reis. Cuban Olympic wrestler Alexis Vila apparently had somewhere else he needed to be, because he wasted no time putting away 145-pound champ Joe Warren.  Pegging the American Greco-Roman specialist with a right hand early then following it up with a failed takedown attempt,Vila showed he meant business.  And his business was concluded when he put a left hook square on Warren’s chin seconds later. Warren was completely starched, and the official time of the knockout was 1:04 of Round 1. -AlexisVila def. Joe Warren via KO (Punch) at 1:04 in Round 1 -Eduardo Dantas def. WilsonReis via KO (Punches) at 1:02 in Round 2 -Marcos Galvao def. Chase Beebe via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) -Ed West def. Luis Nogueira via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Posted in: round, nogueira, west, eduardo dantas, brazilian

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