MECA 7 in its final details;
Top Team to shine in Pancrase in 2003;
Chute Boxe going to Mexico!
The Brazilian Beat:
October is already rolling and Brazil’s biggest NHB event is in the final stages of development! MECA 7 will bring back several veterans and showcase some newcomers as well, promising to develop new talents as always. With names like Murilo Ninja, Anderson and Assuerio Silva, Luiz Azeredo, Gustavo Ximu and others having their careers practically started in MECA, it’s always important to keep a close eye on the new talent that may appear on the card. Yet MECA isn’t the only thing happening right now in Brazil, PRIDE 23 is still more than a month away, but the negotiations are heating up the scene in Brazil with several fighters pursuing a spot on the event’s card. But since PRIDE isn’t the only event in the world, the Brazilian teams are always breaking new ground with the Brazilian Top Team establishing a relationship with Pancrase for 2003 and Chute Boxe going to Mexico in the next two months . So enjoy the reading as Full Contact Fighter delivers the beat!
- MECA World Vale Tudo 7 will be held on November 8th, and the card is finally developing. Despite what other websites published, the entire card is not yet defined, and promoter Rudimar Fedrigo told FCF some of the matches by some previously announced by other media won’t happen. However, he assured the follow match-ups are confirmed for the event:
- Mauricio Shogun vs. Capoeira
- Dave Phillips vs. Luizao
- Silvio Urutum vs. Evangelista "Cyborg"
- Nilson de Castro vs. Lucas Lopes
Mauricio Shogun is Chute Boxe sensation Murilo Ninja’s brother, and he will be facing a Barra Gracie fighter named Capoeira. American fighter Dave Phillips will be facing a Mario Sperry BJJ black belt Luizao and Chute Boxe veteran Silvio Urutum will return against a very experienced NHB fighter in Cyborg. The sad note is that Alexandre Cacareco suffered an injury to his ribs and won’t be able to compete in the event, leaving the place of Nilson de Castro’s opponent to Lucas Lopes, who is reported to have very good boxing skills along with some decent jiu-jitsu skills.
- The details for the rest of the card are still in the works and the fight between Royler Gracie BJJ black belt Cristiano Marcelo against Brazilian Muay Thai sensation Alex Gaze is not likely to happen anymore, the two fighters will compete in the event, but probably against other opponents. Also, with the relentless work of the promoters a new match-up is about to be announced, Brazilian Top Team fighter Juan Carneiro, who fought Anderson Silva at the last MECA, will be added to the card to go up against an as yet to be named opponent.
- PRIDE heavyweight champion Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira is finally back in Brazil after an extended trip to Japan. Minotauro, who stayed in Japan to attend his brother’s fight in Deep and then later at PRIDE 22, accepted an invitation to attend at the last K-1 event and ended up staying in the land of the rising sun for much longer than expected! He finally returned to Brazil this Wednesday and got back to training on Thursday beginning his preparation for his first title defense at PRIDE 23 in November.
- Speaking of the Brazilian Top Team, negotiations are still ongoing about the team’s presence at PRIDE 23, and it is still likely that several members of the team will compete in the event. Minotauro, of course, is guaranteed to be in it and chances are still high that his brother may appear in the show. It also looks more likely that the "Zen Machine" Mario Sperry may return to the event after his participation in PRIDE 22, and former Top Team member Ricardo Arona is already preparing hard for a fight on the card as well. Look for him to be performing in the Tokyo Dome.
- Ruas Vale Tudo star and UFC veteran Pedro Rizzo had surgery on his nose this Tuesday. According to his wife the surgery was a success and Rizzo left the Hospital on Wednesday. Right now, due to the obvious post-operative recovery process, "The Rock" is suffering some pain and isn’t able to speak very much, but the dressings are being taken off today and the recovery process is going fine. Pedro will resume his physical training in the coming weeks.
- Chute Boxe star and PRIDE middleweight champion Vanderlei Silva is also training hard for his second title defense at PRIDE 23. In typical Chute Boxe fashion, the training sessions have been pure hardcore and Silva is sporting four stitches just above his eye, due to an incidental headbutt by his teammate Jamanta. Vanderlei’s comments to FCF about the stitches were also in typical "Axe Murderer" fashion: "It doesn’t matter! Training is always fun!" At this point Sanae Kikuta and Hiromitsu Kanehara are two likely opponents, although nothing is sure yet.
- As the popularity of the sport of NHB continues to grow worldwide, Mexico has been holding NHB events with good success and in a matter of two months they’ll have a Chute Boxe fighter competing in an event! Chute Boxe coach Rudimar Fedrigo told Full Contact Fighter he was approached by a Mexican event and right now they are deciding and negotiating which Chute Boxe fighter will appear in the event, but the team is very excited about having a fighter competing in Mexico in two months from now.
- The ADCC Submission Grappling tournament will be held in th ecity of Sao Paulo in 2003! Although this is sort of old news, what’s important now is that the details and logistics of the operation are in the works and it looks highly likely that the largest city in Brazil will be receiving the world’s top grapplers in the most important submission grappling competition in the world. Talks are going on for the event to be broadcast by the biggest TV station in Brazil! This would be a giant step for the grappling sports in the country, and with the involvement of Sheik Tahnoon in the event, several sponsors are already showing interest in associating their names with the competition. FCF will keep following the developments of the next edition of the biggest event of its kind.
- PRIDE’s new policy has been one of the major subjects of talk in the NHB community in Brazil. As already reported by the media, PRIDE is intending to cut the fighters’ purses by around 20% to 30% and all the fighters and managers in Brazil are wondering how things will end up. It’ll be interesting to see how this will affect things – newcomers’ purses in particluar, since stars like Minotauro and Vanderlei Silva are less likely to suffer any cuts. FCF will keep following the developments as always, and sincerely hopes one day our sport will reach a level where all fighters will get paid as well as they deserve.
- As the Brazilian teams are constantly working hard and breaking new ground, the Brazilian Top Team is making important contacts with Pancrase, and their fighters will be competing a lot during the next year for the Japanese organization. Pancrase has interesting plans for 2003 and they’ll likely hold 12 events during the year, one per month, and with the contacts being made, plenty of BTT fighters will be fighting on their cards, giving the team’s newcomers and proven veterans another stage on which to perform.
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