The Brazilian Beat
Shogun Back Training, "Pele" Pays Visit to Noguiera Brothers, Drago and Cyborg to PRIDE, Birthdays All Around and more!

The Brazilian Beat:

As MMA fans, we're living in pretty interesting times, as exciting moments of our sport, moments that may be remembered for ages to come, seem to be taking place one after the other.

On the heels of UFC 60's Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes bout, we were treated right away with PRIDE's Bushido "Survival" Welterweight Grand Prix, this time with 16 fighters in a tough first round that made it hard to predict a certain favorite to move on, let alone to win it all.

With Strikeforce's upcoming June 9th "Overeem vs. Belfort" showdown, all eyes will be turned to California to see if the promotion can match the success of the 18,265 attendance record they had at their first event. Then there's the IFL and its unique league format, and soon the UFC will back with another fight night that will finally see Anderson Silva's Octagon debut, a debut that was meant to happen five years ago against Carlos Newton. The list goes on and on, proving that our sport is growing and the only thing we can do at Full Contact Fighter is keep pumping out the news, keeping the beat loud and clear, as the rhythm never ceases from Brazil!
  • Although older brother "Ninja" didn't perform as well as he had hoped this past weekend at PRIDE Bushido, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is on the mend after being sidelined last February from an elbow fracture against Mark Coleman at PRIDE 31. In a recent Muay Thai training session observed by FCF, Shogun was surprisingly explosive, working the pads with great motivation. Shogun also managed to get in some groundwork and MMA training with his brother last Thursday in Japan in preparation for Ninja's bout. While in Japan, Shogun also negotiated a new contract with PRIDE, details forthcoming in this column.

  • This time around, some of the Brazilian Top Team's key figures had to stay in Brazil and couldn't follow teammates Murilo Bustamante and Paulo Filho to their PRIDE Bushido outings. Nogueira brothers, Rodrigo "Minotauro" and Rogerio "Minotoro," who will be taking part on the next PRIDE card, had to stay home and train, along with the "Zen Machine" Mario Sperry, who tended to the brothers' preparations. As part of their training, both Nogueira brothers are now in Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, doing a lot of boxing training with coach Luis Carlos Doria and Vitor Belfort, who's also taking the chance to sharpen his preparation for his bout at the upcoming Strikeforce event with a rematch against Alistair Overeem. The famous fighting twins turned 29 years old on June 2.

  • With plenty of birthdays happening around this time of year, another fighter who got a little older this week was Chute Boxe and PRIDE veteran Nino "Elvis" Schembri. Schembri turned 32 this past June 1 and celebrated his birthday quietly with his mother in Rio de Janeiro. Schembri told FCF he is focused and preparing to get back to jiu-jitsu competitions in this year's BJJ World Championships, and will be participating in as many grappling competitions as possible from now on. Schembri just returned from Poland, where he taught a series of seminars in Warsaw. Schembri also commented that he hasn't forgotten about MMA at all though, as he will be likely fighting again in September, in the second edition of a show in Slovenia.

  • Sharing the same birthday with Schembri, Chute Boxe trainer Rafael Cordeiro turned 33 this past June 1st as well. Cordeiro didn't have time to celebrate his birthday with all his friends on that day due to his presence in Japan with the Chute Boxe crew for PRIDE Bushido, but opted to celebrate with a party this past May 28 in the city of Curitiba. The party featured guests in funny costumes, and some incredible scenes could be seen with as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua as "Fred Flintstone," Wanderlei Silva as "The Gladiator," Murilo "Ninja" Rua as Mexican character "Chapolin" from the famous series "Chespirito," and finally Cordeiro himself as a "Pimp." Amateur pictures from the party are priceless, although for some reason, are hard to come by at this time.

  • Speaking of the Chute Boxe team, PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva is training hard in Curitiba after renewing his contract with PRIDE, and has a guaranteed second round slot in the promotion's Open-Weight Grand Prix to work towards. Silva will be facing Japanese wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita, so he has been doing both extremely physical and technical training, choosing to stay in Brazil to prepare instead of following the Chute Boxe crew to Japan for PRIDE Bushido.

  • MMA is now getting even more exposure in Brazil at Globo.com, one of the biggest Internet providers and part of the biggest media organization in the country in Globo Organizations, which owns the country's most prominent TV station. Globo.com has launched its own fighting website, dedicated mostly to the MMA public. The website is called "Lutas," which means "Fights" in English, and will feature all the expected content in Portuguese that an MMA fan is used to finding, such as news, interviews, and event coverage.

  • Looking to renew himself and get his career back on track, it is rumored that Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons, along with heavyweight fighter Edson Drago, will be traveling to Rio de Janeiro this week to meet with the Nogueira brothers, looking to sharpen their ground skills and share some knowledge with the two PRIDE veterans. Supposedly the fighters became friends and got to know each other after they met at an MMA show in Slovenia recently, where Drago fought and had the Nogueira brothers as cornerman. Pele was supposed to fight on the same event, but ended up without an opponent.

  • Speaking of Edson Drago, the heavyweight that has been scoring one knockout after another was recently reported to have signed a three-fight deal with PRIDE. According to rumors, Drago will be fighting already on PRIDE's July 1 card, likely facing Russian fighter Roman Zentsov, although nothing is official or confirmed. Another striker that was also recently reported to have signed a deal with the same Japanese promotion was Chute Boxe representative Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who will also likely make his PRIDE debut sometime this year.

  • Keeping with recent PRIDE signings, reports have it that Meca veteran, and Gracie Barra fighter Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno may have also inked a one-fight deal with the Japanese organization to fight in PRIDE Bushido in its welterweight class. Heleno recently impressed American audiences at the IFL's inaugural event, more than holding his own with submission specialist Dennis Hallman until the confused Brazilian was disqualified for an upkick foul.

  • As Brazil has been gracing the fans with new shows in recent years, another one northeast of the country capital will be holding its second edition in the city of Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco. Rhino FC 2 will take place this June 8 at the Geraldao Arena, making the show the biggest one in the state. Heat FC veterans Rondinelli de Souza and Edson "Paredao," who's famous for breaking UFC star Forrest Griffin's arm in his losing effort against the much more skilled American, will be taking part on the card that will feature five Muay Thai bouts and six MMA matches.

  • Heat FC, the internationally flavored Brazilian show, is now confirmed to finally return with its fourth edition this next August 3, once again in the gorgeous city of Natal, Brazil. Keeping its international theme, rumors have that American fighters Mike Easton and Dave Kaplan will be taking part on the show, along with Russian representatives and possibly one fighter from Scandinavia still to be confirmed. No bouts on the card have been announced yet, but speculation is that Brazilian Top Team is expected to be in attendance as in the first three editions of the show, and Chute Boxe might have fighters taking part in Heat FC for the first time ever. FCF will keep you informed on the news regarding Heat FC 4.