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Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002

Silva Recovering Well From Knee Surgery;belfort Almost Ready Again;assuerio Going To Switzerland!

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Silva Recovering Well from Knee Surgery;
Belfort Almost Ready Again;
Assuerio Going to Switzerland!

The Brazilian Beat:
      The year of 2002 is almost at an end, but there’s still plenty of NHB action about to go on, therefore training is continuing strong in Brazil! PRIDE 24 is coming soon and the two most successful NHB teams in the country will be involved in it. With the participation of Murilo Ninja in PRIDE 24 and the likely fight of Assuerio Silva at Antonio Inoki’s event, things were heated at the Chute Boxe camp this week, and concentration was so high that even the team’s biggest star having a knee surgery on the same week didn’t distract the team’s focus at all. In the Brazilian Top Team, with both Nogueira brothers looking to finish the year continuing with the team’s success achieved in 2002, and Minotauro finally getting a chance to answer all questions in regards to whether his decision loss to Dan Henderson was fair or not. With all that at stake and some of the sports biggest stars recovering from surgeries, FCF kicks off the holiday celebrations by providing "The Beat" right out of Brazil, before Santa comes to town!

  • PRIDE Middleweight champion Vanderlei Silva is recovering well from his knee surgery. The "Axe Murderer" had surgery on both knees this past Wednesday in Curitiba and his recovery process has been surprisingly fast. Silva had been living with a knee problem since before his PRIDE 10 fight against Guy Mezger, but chose not to make it public, and while training for his PRIDE 23 bout against Hiromitsu Kanehara he aggravated the problem, but opted to compete anyway. After the fight surgery was demanded and it was finally done on December 11 of 2002 on both the left and the right knee, with the left one being the most serious due to ligament problems. Now Vanderlei Silva is recovering from the procedures and is expected to be back in the PRIDE ring in mid-2003. FCF did an exclusive interview with the champion, so stay tuned!
  • Speaking of knee injuries, Vitor Belfort is also recovering well from his own knee surgery around two months ago. "The Phenom" is already doing a lot of weight training and physical therapy, and is expected to resume his full fighting training routine in around a month. Talks are going on for Belfort to be back in the Octagon at UFC 42 in 2003, and Vitor told Full Contact Fighter that he is very willing to get back to action.
  • PRIDE contender Murilo Rua "Ninja" departed to Japan this Monday to compete at PRIDE 24 against "The Monster" Kevin Randleman. Alongside Ninja went master Rudimar Fedrigo and Rafael Cordeiro, and they are all very confident in Ninja’s chances. Despite losing to Ricardo Arona less than a month ago, the young Chute Boxe fighter trained very hard for this fight and is willing to show against Randleman that he is game for anyone in his weight division, as he told FCF just before boarding the plane.
  • Another Chute Boxe fighter that may still compete in Japan in 2002 is heavyweight Assuerio Silva. Assuerio, who was away from the game recovering from knee surgery, has been training very hard at the Chute Boxe academy and still has a chance to compete at the Inoki New Year’s event. He was told by the promoters to stay ready and will probably know whether he is fighting or not in the next couple of days.
  • Still speaking of Assuerio, even if he does not compete in Inoki’s event, he is already confirmed as a participant in Europe’s newest NHB competition, The Ultimate Free Style Switzerland. Switzerland will have an NHB event in mid-January, and Assuerio will be competing there in an 8-man tournament, just like in the old UFC days. Another fighter invited to compete was MECA veteran David Phillips, who may also accept the invitation. We hope that Europe will have more events in 2003 and will continue to follow the developments.
  • As NHB is growing in Europe and Switzerland is about to hold an event, talks are already going on for the first international edition of MECA World Vale Tudo in Switzerland! Although nothing is confirmed or decided, promoters are willing to take Brazil’s biggest NHB show to the country formerly known for chocolate, clocks and interesting bank accounts and there’s a good chance that this may happen in the first half of 2003.
  • UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante is still unsigned with the UFC. Despite some rumors that he was definitely out of the picture for Zuffa, Bustamante told FCF he is still negotiating and willing to perform again in the Octagon, however things have been difficult up to now. Murilo also told Full Contact Fighter he is keeping himself in great shape and ready to fight as soon as the right opportunity appears.
  • 2003 was a year of great success for the Brazilian Top Team, with Minotauro winning all of his fights as the PRIDE heavyweight champion, Murilo Bustamante becoming UFC’s middleweight champion, and countless wins by members such as Mario Sperry, Rogerio Nogueira, Paulo Filho, Fabio Mello among others. To celebrate the year and keep a friendly atmosphere among the training partners the BTT celebrated the end of the year with a huge barbecue party this Tuesday, December 17, where all the top names of the academy gathered with the youngsters in a typical Brazilian celebration.
  • Still on the subject of the BTT, PRIDE 24 is just around the corner and brothers Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira and Rogerio Minotoro Nogueira are just leaving today, December 18 of 2002, to Japan to compete in the PRIDE ring, due to visa problems. Despite the problems with the departure, both twin brothers are feeling great to compete in their respective fights, against Dan Henderson and Guy Mezger. Alongside with the fighters will be Mario Sperry and Bebeo Duarte, among others.
  • The NHB world will gain two new lawyers very soon! Chute Boxe team coach and founder Master Rudimar Fedrigo, and Master Rafael Cordeiro just entered the law school in Curitiba to get their degree in college. Rudimar already studied law for four years in the past, and with just one more year of study he will become NHB’s newest lawyer! Famous for being strict and disciplined, one can only wonder how he will work in the courtroom in the future! FCF wishes the best of luck for both Chute Boxe masters in this new venture.
  • The smaller events deserve support and exposure as well… the city of Rio de Janeiro will hold another edition of the Submission Grappling event Duelo de Tit
    posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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