The Brazilian Notebook: PRIDE GP Edition
Portal da Vale Tudo Apr 21, 2005
The weather is hot in Brazil. Less than one week before the PRIDE
Middleweight Grand Prix and all discussion is about Saturday’s
card, which features five of the highest level Brazilian fighters
at 205 pounds — Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Mauricio “Shogun”
Rua, Ricardo Arona and
Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira.
Each man is already in Japan full of confidence, promising victory. And if everything goes as planned, the title of the PRIDE Grand Prix will belong to one of them.
Also in this edition of the Brazilian Notebook, Paulo Filho is upset because an
injury took him out of the show. And Daniel Acacio went back to Brazil
and was really happy with his victory in PRIDE Bushido 6.
Definitely, the eyes of Brazil are on Japan.
Wanderlei Silva left Monday for Japan with his team. The champion is very well prepared for this first part of PRIDE GP. “Because last year was very tiring,” Silva said, “I used the beginning of this year to recover myself. But I’m in a very good shape, my body weight is good and I have trained a lot in the ground with Cristiano Marcelo and with Nino Schembri because I think that Yoshida will want to fight on the ground. If he fights like the last time, when we stayed a lot on our feet, I will knock him out.”
Silva really liked the technical level of the fighters in the event. “The level is better than the first one,” he said. “Just take a look on the number of Brazilian fighters in the card. Besides this, there are excellent foreigners that will make good fights. I’m confident and prepared to win for the second time.”
Before the fight Silva tells us something curious: He will enter in the ring wearing a gi. But he doesn’t tell if he will wear it during the fight or not.
Shogun gets prepared for the fight of his life
Mauricio “Shogun” is in his best shape and technical condition to fight with Quinton Jackson this Saturday. “The fact that when I came back from my last fight I’ve already knew that I would be in the GP was good because I made the best preparation of my career for one fight,” Rua said. “I’m feeling very good. I have trained hard, even with my brother Ninja, who will be with me in this event. I’m in an excellent shape.”
Watching the fights of Quinton Jackson against Wanderlei and “Ninja,” “Shogun” knows what he is going to face in this fight. “I know that he makes a stalled fight and he likes the ground-and-pound,” he analyzed. “I’ll try to escape from this and use Muay Thai, because my Muay Thai is really good. But I’m also well prepared to fight in ground. I respect Jackson, but I will go for the KO because this is going to be the biggest fight of my career. If I win this one, I’ll get a lot of confidence for the other fights of the event.”
Vitor Belfort in his way to Japan
Vítor Belfort traveled last Saturday to Japan, where he is going to fight Alistair Overeem in PRIDE GP. No longer with Brazilian Top Team, Belfort received the help of his manager, Jorge Guimarães, to make a team to help him train just a few weeks before the GP. He went to Teresopolis, the countryside of Rio, and trained with great athletes who give him the support he needed.
Names like Rodrigo Durok, Carlos Baruch, Erik Wanderley and the phenomenon of jiu-jitsu Ronaldo Jacaré, among others. All of this just one month before the event, but the fighter guarantees that he is prepared for the best moment of his career. About the possibility of fight against his ex-teammates from BTT — Ricardo Arona and Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira — Belfort says, “There will be no fixed fights. There is no way this is going to happen.”
Paulo Filho talks about his injury in PRIDE
Paulo Filho came from a great performance against Amar Suloev in PRIDE Bushido 6. His next fight would be with Dean Lister, where the winner would earn a place in the PRIDE GP. But an injury to his foot took him out the last fight.
“I’ve twisted the foot. I didn’t break anything,” Filho said. “But I don't remember how it happened, if it was a kick from Suloev or it was when he gave me an armbar and my foot entered under his butt. When I went out of the ring I wasn’t felling anything, but when I arrived in the locker room, my foot started to really ache, so the doctor went there and prohibited me to continuing fighting that night.”
The Brazilian became really sad with not being able to compete in the final fight. “I was going to demolish Dean Lister, he was really afraid of me,” Filho commented. “The big opponent was Suloev, this is the truth. There are people saying bullshit that I was afraid. Damn, if it was to be afraid I wouldn’t even go. It's absurd that some assholes appear to say this.”
“The toughest fight was with Suloev, but it was relatively easy,” he continued. “He is a tough man; he fought head-to-head with Chuck Liddell and other fighters.”
Paulo regrets his absence in the PRIDE. “I’m really sad with this entire story; I’m not felling good. There was a lot of things involved — it was my entrance in the GP, money, status. I’ve trained hard but when I was going to fight with Dean Lister where I was more prepared, that is, the ground, I couldn’t. But it happens, I will wait for the next time.”
Daniel Acácio talks about his debut in PRIDE Bushido
The debut of Daniel Acácio in PRIDE was long awaited by Brazilian fans and when he had the opportunity, the Chute Boxe fighter didn’t disappoint. His fight in PRIDE Bushido 6 with Daiju Takase has left a good impression that everybody was waiting for after he demolished his opponent.
“The debut in the PRIDE ring has come in a good time,” Acácio said. “I thought that I could have been better; I didn’t give my best because I was a little nervous, but I think that it was my passport for the next PRIDE.”
According to the Brazilian, the referee stoppage came at the right moment. “I think that the referee entered in front of him in good time, in the same time that the corner throw the towel,” remembered Acacio. “Thank God, because the foot stomp was going directly to his face.”
HEAT FC is back
After more than one year, the HEAT FC has come back. The last event happened in the city of Natal on April 14 and the evening’s top fights pleased the audience. One of the standouts was Russian Vasilly Kritov, who knocked his opponent in the very first round.
Jorge Rodrigues (Kimura) def. Marcelo Dourado (Gracie Humaitá) KO R2
Vasilly Kritov (Russia) def. Savio Maia (GBCT - NE) KO R1
Silmar Rodrigo (TT JJ) def. Daniel Animal (GBCT - NE) TKO R2
Adriano Nasal (BTT) def. Rivanio Aranha (Golf Team Natal) rear-naked choke R1
Charles Andrade (Paraíba) def. Sérgio Junior (Combate Real) judges decision
Rondinelle (Fight Club) def. Erivaldo Caicó (TT JJ) judges decision
João Paulo (Fight Club) def. Barão (Kimura) judges decision
Pequeno's brother wins in MMA
Leonardo Nogueira, brother of SHOOTO champion Alexandre “Pequeno” Nogueira, made one of the best fights of the Juiz de Fora Fight 2 event organized by Ebenezer Braga. Nogueira went with everything against his opponent. He took him down with ease and finished the fight using the famous weapon of his brother, the guillotine choke.
Organizer and referee of the fight, Ebenezer was satisfied with the fights. “Thank God, with a lot of difficulties and many problems, caused by the lack of experience, everything was OK,” he said. “The fights were excellent. We managed to start and finish, so thank you God for one more victory.”
Paulo Shogum (CT Elite) def. Fred Willison (Caveirinha) TKO R3
Edson Chulapa (CT Elite) def. Ricardo Caetano (GB Pitbull) triangle choke R1
Leonardo Nogueira (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) def. Cezar Gordinho (Caveirinha) guillotine choke R1
Rafael dos Anjos (Caveirinha) def. Felipe Mongo (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) TKO (doctor stoppage) R2
Fabiano Oliveira (Renato Vieira/Bruno Carvalho) def. Kall (CT Elite) decision
Cezar Ouriço (Manimal Family) def. Denilson Negão (Caveirinha) guillotine choke R1
Elton Cruz (Caveirinha) def. Ronaldo Bouer (Bouer JJ) KO R1
Igor (Caveirinha) def. Santa Rita (Toca dos Leões) leglock R1
SHOOTO Brazil defines the card of the event in Curitiba
The organization of SHOOTO Brazil defined the card of the event that will happen on April 30 in Curitiba. Ten fights are scheduled with fighters from many different states of Brazil. “SHOOTO Brazil is getting better edition after edition,” said Sergio Cunha, vice-president of SHOOTO Brazil. “Defining the card of the event has not been easy because there is a large number of good fighters that want to participate in the SHOOTO.”
SHOOTO Class B
[-70kg]: José Carlos Metal (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) vs. Luiz Aguiar (Jr Aguiar Team)
[-70kg]: Diego Marlon Curitiba (BIT) vs. Augusto Cruz (Zenegym)
[-83kg]: Celso Silva (MTDT) vs. Paulo Teixeira (Taiwan)
[-65kg]: Danilo Zen (Zenegym) vs. Marcos Vinicius (BIT)
SHOOTO Class A
[-70kg]: Cristiano Neguinho (Gracie Curitiba) vs. Ivonildo Cafu (Never Shake)
[-83kg]: Sandro Pereira (Pelé Team) vs. Carlos Soares (Vado-De la Riva)
[-76kg]: Paulo Bueno (Zenegym) vs. Daniel Muralha (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo)
[-65kg]: Marlon Sandro (Nova União) vs. Fabrício Bicudo (Giudici-Equipe1)
[-76kg]: Luiz Beição (GBCT) vs. Everaldo Sadan (Beto JJ Team)
[-70kg]: Josenildo Índio (Giudici-Equipe 1) vs. Irailson Gama (BTT)
News and notes
Ricardo Arona and Rogerio “Minotouro” traveled to Japan last Saturday. Each is confident, yet the athletes don’t know what they will do if they have to fight with each other in the GP. “Minotouro” guarantees that he would fight with Arona, but Arona is not sure if he would do this.
The Peruvian Tony de Souza was defeated last Friday in the South American Open Championship. The event took place in Peru and DeSouza was defeated by doctor stoppage against opponent Angelo Dias.
After a great debut in Cage Rage 10, where he won against Mark Weir, Gabriel “Gladiator” has come back to Brazil with the invitation to return to England for two more fights this season. The first fight should be this month of April against Lee Murray. Back to training, “Gladiator” got hurt and couldn’t fight in this edition of Cage Rage. “Lee Murray is an experienced and very tough fighter,” he analyzed. “Me and my team will be ready to fight against him in Cage Rage in July, but it seems that he is reluctant in accepting the fight.”
Judo black belt and three-time wrestling Brazilian champion Rodrigo Artilheiro is the newest member of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s team. The Brazilian was hired to help in the wrestling training of the Croatian and joins Fabricio Werdum in the mission to develop the techniques of the heavyweight.
Each man is already in Japan full of confidence, promising victory. And if everything goes as planned, the title of the PRIDE Grand Prix will belong to one of them.
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Definitely, the eyes of Brazil are on Japan.
Wanderlei is ready, has a surprise for Yoshida
Wanderlei Silva left Monday for Japan with his team. The champion is very well prepared for this first part of PRIDE GP. “Because last year was very tiring,” Silva said, “I used the beginning of this year to recover myself. But I’m in a very good shape, my body weight is good and I have trained a lot in the ground with Cristiano Marcelo and with Nino Schembri because I think that Yoshida will want to fight on the ground. If he fights like the last time, when we stayed a lot on our feet, I will knock him out.”
Silva really liked the technical level of the fighters in the event. “The level is better than the first one,” he said. “Just take a look on the number of Brazilian fighters in the card. Besides this, there are excellent foreigners that will make good fights. I’m confident and prepared to win for the second time.”
Before the fight Silva tells us something curious: He will enter in the ring wearing a gi. But he doesn’t tell if he will wear it during the fight or not.
Shogun gets prepared for the fight of his life
Mauricio “Shogun” is in his best shape and technical condition to fight with Quinton Jackson this Saturday. “The fact that when I came back from my last fight I’ve already knew that I would be in the GP was good because I made the best preparation of my career for one fight,” Rua said. “I’m feeling very good. I have trained hard, even with my brother Ninja, who will be with me in this event. I’m in an excellent shape.”
Watching the fights of Quinton Jackson against Wanderlei and “Ninja,” “Shogun” knows what he is going to face in this fight. “I know that he makes a stalled fight and he likes the ground-and-pound,” he analyzed. “I’ll try to escape from this and use Muay Thai, because my Muay Thai is really good. But I’m also well prepared to fight in ground. I respect Jackson, but I will go for the KO because this is going to be the biggest fight of my career. If I win this one, I’ll get a lot of confidence for the other fights of the event.”
Vitor Belfort in his way to Japan
Vítor Belfort traveled last Saturday to Japan, where he is going to fight Alistair Overeem in PRIDE GP. No longer with Brazilian Top Team, Belfort received the help of his manager, Jorge Guimarães, to make a team to help him train just a few weeks before the GP. He went to Teresopolis, the countryside of Rio, and trained with great athletes who give him the support he needed.
Names like Rodrigo Durok, Carlos Baruch, Erik Wanderley and the phenomenon of jiu-jitsu Ronaldo Jacaré, among others. All of this just one month before the event, but the fighter guarantees that he is prepared for the best moment of his career. About the possibility of fight against his ex-teammates from BTT — Ricardo Arona and Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira — Belfort says, “There will be no fixed fights. There is no way this is going to happen.”
Paulo Filho talks about his injury in PRIDE
Paulo Filho came from a great performance against Amar Suloev in PRIDE Bushido 6. His next fight would be with Dean Lister, where the winner would earn a place in the PRIDE GP. But an injury to his foot took him out the last fight.
“I’ve twisted the foot. I didn’t break anything,” Filho said. “But I don't remember how it happened, if it was a kick from Suloev or it was when he gave me an armbar and my foot entered under his butt. When I went out of the ring I wasn’t felling anything, but when I arrived in the locker room, my foot started to really ache, so the doctor went there and prohibited me to continuing fighting that night.”
The Brazilian became really sad with not being able to compete in the final fight. “I was going to demolish Dean Lister, he was really afraid of me,” Filho commented. “The big opponent was Suloev, this is the truth. There are people saying bullshit that I was afraid. Damn, if it was to be afraid I wouldn’t even go. It's absurd that some assholes appear to say this.”
“The toughest fight was with Suloev, but it was relatively easy,” he continued. “He is a tough man; he fought head-to-head with Chuck Liddell and other fighters.”
Paulo regrets his absence in the PRIDE. “I’m really sad with this entire story; I’m not felling good. There was a lot of things involved — it was my entrance in the GP, money, status. I’ve trained hard but when I was going to fight with Dean Lister where I was more prepared, that is, the ground, I couldn’t. But it happens, I will wait for the next time.”
Daniel Acácio talks about his debut in PRIDE Bushido
The debut of Daniel Acácio in PRIDE was long awaited by Brazilian fans and when he had the opportunity, the Chute Boxe fighter didn’t disappoint. His fight in PRIDE Bushido 6 with Daiju Takase has left a good impression that everybody was waiting for after he demolished his opponent.
“The debut in the PRIDE ring has come in a good time,” Acácio said. “I thought that I could have been better; I didn’t give my best because I was a little nervous, but I think that it was my passport for the next PRIDE.”
According to the Brazilian, the referee stoppage came at the right moment. “I think that the referee entered in front of him in good time, in the same time that the corner throw the towel,” remembered Acacio. “Thank God, because the foot stomp was going directly to his face.”
HEAT FC is back
After more than one year, the HEAT FC has come back. The last event happened in the city of Natal on April 14 and the evening’s top fights pleased the audience. One of the standouts was Russian Vasilly Kritov, who knocked his opponent in the very first round.
Jorge Rodrigues (Kimura) def. Marcelo Dourado (Gracie Humaitá) KO R2
Vasilly Kritov (Russia) def. Savio Maia (GBCT - NE) KO R1
Silmar Rodrigo (TT JJ) def. Daniel Animal (GBCT - NE) TKO R2
Adriano Nasal (BTT) def. Rivanio Aranha (Golf Team Natal) rear-naked choke R1
Charles Andrade (Paraíba) def. Sérgio Junior (Combate Real) judges decision
Rondinelle (Fight Club) def. Erivaldo Caicó (TT JJ) judges decision
João Paulo (Fight Club) def. Barão (Kimura) judges decision
Pequeno's brother wins in MMA
Leonardo Nogueira, brother of SHOOTO champion Alexandre “Pequeno” Nogueira, made one of the best fights of the Juiz de Fora Fight 2 event organized by Ebenezer Braga. Nogueira went with everything against his opponent. He took him down with ease and finished the fight using the famous weapon of his brother, the guillotine choke.
Organizer and referee of the fight, Ebenezer was satisfied with the fights. “Thank God, with a lot of difficulties and many problems, caused by the lack of experience, everything was OK,” he said. “The fights were excellent. We managed to start and finish, so thank you God for one more victory.”
Paulo Shogum (CT Elite) def. Fred Willison (Caveirinha) TKO R3
Edson Chulapa (CT Elite) def. Ricardo Caetano (GB Pitbull) triangle choke R1
Leonardo Nogueira (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) def. Cezar Gordinho (Caveirinha) guillotine choke R1
Rafael dos Anjos (Caveirinha) def. Felipe Mongo (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) TKO (doctor stoppage) R2
Fabiano Oliveira (Renato Vieira/Bruno Carvalho) def. Kall (CT Elite) decision
Cezar Ouriço (Manimal Family) def. Denilson Negão (Caveirinha) guillotine choke R1
Elton Cruz (Caveirinha) def. Ronaldo Bouer (Bouer JJ) KO R1
Igor (Caveirinha) def. Santa Rita (Toca dos Leões) leglock R1
SHOOTO Brazil defines the card of the event in Curitiba
The organization of SHOOTO Brazil defined the card of the event that will happen on April 30 in Curitiba. Ten fights are scheduled with fighters from many different states of Brazil. “SHOOTO Brazil is getting better edition after edition,” said Sergio Cunha, vice-president of SHOOTO Brazil. “Defining the card of the event has not been easy because there is a large number of good fighters that want to participate in the SHOOTO.”
SHOOTO Class B
[-70kg]: José Carlos Metal (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo) vs. Luiz Aguiar (Jr Aguiar Team)
[-70kg]: Diego Marlon Curitiba (BIT) vs. Augusto Cruz (Zenegym)
[-83kg]: Celso Silva (MTDT) vs. Paulo Teixeira (Taiwan)
[-65kg]: Danilo Zen (Zenegym) vs. Marcos Vinicius (BIT)
SHOOTO Class A
[-70kg]: Cristiano Neguinho (Gracie Curitiba) vs. Ivonildo Cafu (Never Shake)
[-83kg]: Sandro Pereira (Pelé Team) vs. Carlos Soares (Vado-De la Riva)
[-76kg]: Paulo Bueno (Zenegym) vs. Daniel Muralha (SHOOTO Brazil Dojo)
[-65kg]: Marlon Sandro (Nova União) vs. Fabrício Bicudo (Giudici-Equipe1)
[-76kg]: Luiz Beição (GBCT) vs. Everaldo Sadan (Beto JJ Team)
[-70kg]: Josenildo Índio (Giudici-Equipe 1) vs. Irailson Gama (BTT)
News and notes
Ricardo Arona and Rogerio “Minotouro” traveled to Japan last Saturday. Each is confident, yet the athletes don’t know what they will do if they have to fight with each other in the GP. “Minotouro” guarantees that he would fight with Arona, but Arona is not sure if he would do this.
The Peruvian Tony de Souza was defeated last Friday in the South American Open Championship. The event took place in Peru and DeSouza was defeated by doctor stoppage against opponent Angelo Dias.
After a great debut in Cage Rage 10, where he won against Mark Weir, Gabriel “Gladiator” has come back to Brazil with the invitation to return to England for two more fights this season. The first fight should be this month of April against Lee Murray. Back to training, “Gladiator” got hurt and couldn’t fight in this edition of Cage Rage. “Lee Murray is an experienced and very tough fighter,” he analyzed. “Me and my team will be ready to fight against him in Cage Rage in July, but it seems that he is reluctant in accepting the fight.”
Judo black belt and three-time wrestling Brazilian champion Rodrigo Artilheiro is the newest member of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s team. The Brazilian was hired to help in the wrestling training of the Croatian and joins Fabricio Werdum in the mission to develop the techniques of the heavyweight.
