BASF Card Changes, Jungle Fight Around the Corner, Forrest Back to HEAT and Rizzo Training Hard!
The Brazilian Beat:
Here we are, just days away of the non-conventional Jungle Fight show, as Brazil continues to produce a high number of MMA events in the year of 2003, showing a new and fortunate trend that will most certainly help the sport here. As September is gearing up, Jungle Fight is not the only show gracing this month, as Brazil Super Fight is also rapidly approaching, as some small shows also have their share of action scheduled for the next days. Although shows such as Jungle or BASF are around the corner, HEAT FC is already slowly starting to get into full gear for November as fights are being signed at this very minute, and the following weeks promises to deliver plenty of surprises. With new shows popping up, in the better possible trend that has been taking place in Brazil, fighters are also preparing hard not only for those, but for the big leagues as well, such as UFC and PRIDE. Veterans Pedro Rizzo and Wanderlei Silva, both dangerous strikers, are training hard with clear goals set for November, while Vitor Belfort manages to keep focused in the middle of his usual media frenzy. Well, enough with the talk as Jungle Fight will bring the rhythm of the Amazon, as drums will set the pace and Full Contact Fighter will provide the beat as always!
- PRIDE Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva continues his relentless preparation for the final round of the PRIDE Grand Prix in November. After scheduling his physical preparation with his trainer Waldemar Guimaraes, "The Axe Murderer" is back to his technical training routine in Curitiba, as he enjoys his newborn son and get ready to fight twice in the same night. As his teammate Mauricio Shogun went to the USA to compete in the IFC, Silva stayed training as always, and he told FCF he has been experiencing full time dedication as he will accept no result but the title of the PRIDE GP. On the middle of the process Wanderlei and his wife finally made Thor the official name of his son, as the kid is already registered.
- Speaking of Chute Boxe, young team’s prodigy Mauricio Shogun Rua, brother of PRIDE veteran Murilo Ninja Rua, got back to Brazil this past Monday after a good performance at the IFC tournament this past Saturday. Shogun defeated Barra Gracie fighter Eric Wanderlei in the first fight, and then lost a battle to the actual champion of the tournament Renato Babalu Sobral in his second fight, at the last round. Mauricio hurt his right foot during the fights, and went to see a doctor after his participation on the show. Back to Brazil Ninja’s brother told FCF the foot is not broken and he is going to resume training next week, looking for his next fight as soon as it appears.
- Also on the Chute Boxe team subject, since the team is not only about MMA and Muay Thai is the academy’s origin, Chute Boxe Muay Thai stand out Marlon Mathias recently got his so awaited and deserved Chute Boxe black belt! Marlon has been one ranking below black belt for three years already, and has been a stand out since day one at the Chute Boxe academy. With several wins at STORM Muay Thai, Mathias gained respect and fought his way to this so awaited day. On the same day as Marlon got his black belt, Chute Boxe prodigy Mauricio Shoun Rua was also promoted to Dark Blue belt [Likely two rankings before black belt at Chute Boxe]. FCF sends congratulations to both guys, specially Marlon who was awaiting this day for a long time and certainly deserved it, as he has tons of talent!
- As has becoming an eternal subject on the Brazilian Beat, new shows never cease to pop up in Brazil, and the huge shows aren’t the only ones appearing. As the sport is spreading all over the country, the city of Belem, capital of the state of Para up in the North of the country is also going to have its own show! The 1st SuperCombat MMA fight is a show scheduled to have 6 MMA fights in its card, taking place this next September 13th in an arena that is reported to hold up to 7,000 people. The card is mostly composed of local names, with the presence of an IVC veteran on the show, Andre Cardoso facing a fighter called Artur Tubarao. The main attraction of the show, as it is becoming a trend, is the guest appearance of Vitor Belfort as the main referee for the show.
- Speaking of Belfort, "The Phenom" has been doing his usual share of TV appearances and MMA events VIP appearances. This Wednesday Vitor was interviewed live in a cable channel, as his schedule is as busy as ever. However, Vitor Belfort is still focused in training for the November UFC, and despite what some may think he is keeping himself in shape and is still awaiting the confirmation of his opponent for November.
- Another UFC veteran who is preparing himself for November is Ruas Vale Tudo icon Pedro Rizzo. After plenty of trips helping out his teammates, including HEAT FC in Natal, up in the Northeast of Brazil, a trip to Puerto Rico for what should be Eduardo Simoes’ second fight of his career, and other ventures, "The Rock" told FCF he is now only focused on his training and preparation for November, since he needs to take care of himself as well and was already missing hard training. Rizzo has been training full time and he also went on to say that he doesn’t care if his opponent will be Ricco Rodriguez, Frank Mir or even Mirko Cro Cop, if that is possible, cause he is willing to do a great showing at the last fight of his UFC contract.
- We’re just a few days away from Antonio Inoki and Wallid Ismail’s partnership show Jungle Fight. Scheduled to take place this next September 13th in a beautiful hotel at the Amazon Forrest, the show is now going to be aired live in Brazilian PPV trough Premiere Combate. The promoters are promising that this will be a breakthrough show that will be a mark in the sport’s history in Brazil, attracting the attention of the whole society, mostly at the North Region of the country. The event’s fighting card changed a lot in the last few days, and some fighters were dropped of the show for numerous reasons, while others were added. Fighters such as Carlos Barreto, Josh Barnett and Gary Goodridge are unfortunately out of Jungle Fight, while Evangelista Cyborg and Jorge Macaco Patino, among others were added. One of the main events of the show is going to be the fight between Macaco and Jiu-Jitsu sensation Ronaldo Jacare, in a fight that caused some controversy due to Macaco’s prior commitment with Brazil Super Fight. Pancrase veteran Evangelista Cyborg is going to face Northeastern fighter Lucas Lopes, in another interesting match up. FCF will keep you posted in the latest from the show.
- Mario Sperry’s show, Brazil Super Fight is also coming up this next September 19th, at the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil, and some changes were also made to the card of this brand new show. Jorge Macaco Patino, who was supposed to be on the main event facing Japanese idol Ikuhisa Minowa was cut from the show by Sperry due to his decision of taking part at the Jungle Fight’s card. According to Mario he couldn’t risk having a fighter, mostly on the main event, performing one week before his show including the high risk of injuries involved in an MMA fight. While Macaco had committed to BASF before his commitment with Jungle Fight, "The Zen Machine" told FCF he holds no grudges against Patino, but he needed to make a decision for the sake of his show. Macaco’s replacement is HEAT FC stand out Silmar Rodrigo, who has victories over Johil de Oliveira, and Brazilian Top Team members Henrique Nogueira and Marcelo Alfaia on his career. Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Ricardo Petrucio injured himself, and his fight was canceled as his opponent Helio Dipp also got injured, breaking his nose in training. Still the BASF inaugural card counts with some good names such as Ikuhisa Minowa, Luis Azeredo, Rodrigo Ruas, Silmar Rodrigo, Haroldo Cabelinho Bunn, Eduardo Simoes and Marcelo Alfaia, all with wins in shows such as MECA or HEAT FC. Here’s the BASF fight card:
- Marcelo Alfaia (BTT) vs Jose "Dragao" Ricardo (Gaviao Team)
- Luke "The Duke" Piclum (BTT-Australia) vs Eduardo Simoes (Ruas Vale Tudo)
- Haroldo Cabelinho Bunn (BTT) vs Leonardo Souza (Kimura/Nova Uniao)
- Eric Tavares (Ruas Vale Tudo) vs Andre "Mau" Lagrende (Gold Team)
- Gerson Silva (BTT) vs Eduardo Verissimo (Boxing)
- Gilson "Capixu" Ferreira vs Muriez Linke (Gold Team-Poland)
- Rodrigo Ruas (Ruas Vale Tudo) vs Luis Azeredo (Gold Team)
- Silmar Rodrigo (Kimura/Nova Uniao) vs Ikuhisa Minowa (BTT-Japan)
- As the month of September goes on, HEAT FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP promoters are already working on the second edition of the show, scheduled for November 27th, also at the city of Natal. The first fight of the next card, that promises to hold some good surprises, will feature HEAT, KOTC and IFC veteran Forrest Griffin against WVC and Bitetti Combat veteran Lucas Lopes, who’s fighting Cyborg at Jungle fight. Griffin was one of the sensations of HEAT FC 1, defeating veteran Ebenezer Fontes Braga by rear naked choke in the first round. This past weekend Forrest also did a good showing at the IFC tournament, defeating Team Quest fighter Chael Sonnen before losing to the hands, and feet, of Jeremy Horn. He did however showed great talent, and will grace the HEAT FC ring once again in November, against a tough fighter in Lucas Lopes. More fights of the HEAT FC 2 card are likely to be announced next week and FCF will have the developments.
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