Full Contact Fighter Database

Home

>

News

>

Article

Media

Friday, Sep 13, 2002

September 14, 2002


The Brazilian Beat:
MECA 7 shaping up, Another BTT Heavyweight on the Ride, Babalu Already Living in the USA

September is already half over and both PRIDE 22 and UFC 39 are quickly approaching with several Brazilian fighters on their cards. From Jiu-Jitsu fighters like Mario Sperry and Ryan Gracie to Muay Thai fighters such as Pedro Rizzo and Anderson Silva, all the major Brazilian camps are involved in some events in this month and needless to say the training has been as hardcore as ever. Besides all the camps’ training, there’s more going on in Brazil with new contracts being discussed all the time, the country’s biggest NHB event continuously shaping up and will finalize its card by month’s end, and more! So, sit back and enjoy the beat straight from Brazil…

  • As PRIDE 22 approaches, the training at the Chute Boxe academy is getting even more intense. Chute Boxe’s rising star Anderson Silva is already in great shape for his second PRIDE appearance and although he will give up at least 10kg to seasoned veteran Alexander Otsuka, the whole camp is confident that he will win. Unfortunately it seems that Anderson will be the only Chute Boxe fighter competing on the card.
  • Speaking of Chute Boxe, Vanderlei Silva is still on his vacation through the Northeast of Brazil and is expected to be back in the next few days to resume his training routine. "The Axe Murderer" will be flying to Japan along with his teammate Anderson Silva to help in his final preparation for PRIDE 22, and will very likely be defending his Middleweight title belt at the PRIDE show in November at the Tokyo Dome.
  • Things are also busy at the Brazilian Top Team camp, with "The Zen Machine" Mario Sperry getting ready to face Kopylov at PRIDE 22. Sperry has been training hard, mostly with BTT member Fabiano Scherner, a very heavy guy who also helped Minotauro a lot in his preparation to face Bob Sapp. Mario feels in great shape now that he is back to his regular weight, and is not fighting at 205lbs anymore. He and his crew will be leaving for Japan on September 23rd. This is the last fight of his PRIDE contract.
  • In other Brazilian Top Team related news, the next team member who will likely be appearing in PRIDE is the heavyweight Fabiano Scherner. Fabiano has been very helpful in his teammates’ training lately and is now ready to take the next step and make his overseas debut. Among likely opponents for Scherner’s first PRIDE appearance are Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman, although nothing is certain right now. Also, the PRIDE November show will probably include both Nogueira brothers, Rogerio and Rodrigo. Minotauro, who is in Holland right now, will likely defend his Heavyweight title belt for the first time and his twin brother Rogerio is likely to make his PRIDE comeback after his win over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at Deep.
  • The next edition of MECA World Vale Tudo, scheduled for November 8th, is continuing to shape up as November rapidly approaches. Now it seems likely that Ruas Vale Tudo team member Alexandre "Cacareco" will be facing K-1, IVC and MECA veteran Nilson de Castro from the Chute Boxe team. Luta Livre fighter Bigu, who was supposed to be Nilson’s opponent, is now set to face another Chute Boxe fighter in Silvio Urutum. The promoters are still working on the card and the next few weeks will reveal the finalized card.
  • Speaking of the Ruas Vale Tudo Team, as Pedro Rizzo’s preparation for his fight in the next UFC is hitting its final stages and he is about to leave for the USA to train with Marco Ruas, another RVT fighter is already in America living and training. Renato "Babalu" Sobral is already in the United States preparing with his master for his November UFC challenge against Chuck Liddell, in what promises to be the toughest and most important fight of his life. Babalu is focusing 100% on training, and only time will tell the effect of his move to the USA once he enters the Octagon.

NHB legend and three-time UFC champion Royce Gracie is enjoying a well deserved vacation with his family after his Shockwave match. Royce spent most of the year traveling, teaching seminars worldwide; he also spent the past few months training hard for his match with Judo Olympic Gold medallist Hidehiko Yoshida. After all that training, and after the outrageous outcome of the fight, in which the referee stopped the fight although Gracie appeared to still be defending and declared Yoshida the winner, the Jiu-Jitsu black belt deserved short break to enjoy his family. It’ll be interesting to see his reaction for PRIDE’s decision of denying his No-Contest request once he gets back from vacation. Regarding the controversy over the referee’s decision to stop the fight there’s unanimity in all Brazilian fighting camps that the stoppage was premature.

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
Have a comment about this story? Please share with us by filling out the fields below.

Comments are closed.