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Jungle Fight 5 Delivers By Eduardo Alonso This could be likely one of the toughest times for a promoter to hold and MMA event in Brazil in recent years, with so many international shows gathering most of the best fighters in the country on their cards. However, promoter Wallid Ismail managed to deliver one more time in the fifth edition of his Jungle Fight show, establishing it as the premier MMA event in Latin America nowadays, and surely one of the best in the world. Counting with famous names from our sport such as MMA legend Jose "Pele" Landi, submission wrestling star Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira, Pancrase and Cage Rage veteran Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, Jiu-Jitsu icon Fredson Paixao, and hot prospects Edson Drago, Luciano Azevedo, Jose Aldo and Russian Alexander Shlemenko among others, Jungle Fight 5 had a solid card on paper, and proved to be exciting after the main event was finished. Even some problems like last minute injuries from American Mark Sursa, and local hero Leopoldo Montenegro didn't faze the show, as replacements were found right away.
The event once again showcased the culture of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and the Amazon Forest, giving the show the unique feeling Jungle Fight has had as its trademark ever since the first edition. The first bout that captured the fans' attention was when hot prospects Jose Aldo and Luciano Azevedo met inside the ring, as the winner would clearly deserve international recognition after this bout. In a fight that saw Aldo starting strongly, defending all the takedown attempts by Azevedo and landing better strikes. However, soon his opponent's takedowns got better and after escaping trough the ropes once, Aldo couldn't prevent a takedown and ended up giving his back, and being caught in a rear choke to end the contest. Capturing the fans' attention next was one more chapter on the Chute Boxe against Brazilian Top Team rivalry, as Julio Cesar Jamanta and Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira resumed the bout that was supposed to happen in Portugal little more than one month before. With a lot of trash talk on the press, this bout was highly awaited, however Cacareco completely dominated from the start, scoring a quick takedown, unloading some punishment and securing the submission win. As rivalries were setting the tone in the middle of the show, long time rivals in theirs home city of Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, Helio Dipp stood in front of his hometown nemesis Edson Drago, who was undefeated in MMA. Although he started the bout with a flying knee, Drago was able to overpower Dipp with a quick sequence of punches and score a brutal KO in mere seconds in the bout. The sad scene was that Drago kept hitting his opponent after the referee interfered, much to the crowd dislike, creating a bit of controversy among the fans at that moment. Controversy that soon turned into crowd happiness, as local idol Fredson Paixao had no trouble dominating his opponent, working with takedowns and ground work, until he secured a rear-naked choke for the win. Another winner at Jungle Fight 5 was Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who took his brawling style to MIchael Matrela from the start, landing many tough blows into his opponent. To his credit, Michael was tough and endured many strikes, showing heart in trying to bang with Cyborg from the start. However, the Chute Boxe representative was able to impose his game and scored a KO in the second round. On the main event of the evening, the crowd was on their feet for most of the bout as Pele Landi and Alexander Shlemenko fought a Muay Thai war on the first two rounds, until naturally the pace dropped in the last round. Using his experience, Pele dominated the takedowns and the ground work, although not being able to place any submission attempts or knockout threats on the ground. On the other hand, Shlemenko unleashed a series of beautiful moves standing up, such as spinning backfist strikes, spinning kicks and even a flying knee. Both fighters battled over and over standing up, and after three rounds a split decision in favor of Pele was granted by the judges' much to the Brazilian crowd dislike, who thought Shlemenko won the bout, and booed the decision and Pele's interview for minutes. In the end, as every good show, Jungle Fight 5 had a bit of everything, from knockouts, submissions, to controversy and rivalries, and we shall just await the next one! Check out the results: Jungle Fight 5: Held November 26th, Tropical Hotel Arena Manaus, Brazil
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