The Brazilian Beat
Belfort to resume training at BTT, Sperry to have a daughter, Barreto back in action, Ninja ready for the USA, Silva wanting to fight, Royce preparing seriously and Brazilian Challenger is back!

The Brazilian Beat:
      It took a long time, I know it took a real long time, but we're back! It took more than a month the Brazilian Beat is finally back at Full Contact Fighter, and we'll do it in good style. After traveling trough the most diverse regions of Europe and having a chance to meet some of the readers, this humble reporter got back to the headquarters in Brazil where plenty of news were waiting to be told, as the MMA wheel never stops turning here in this hot weather country. It's even tough to know where to start, as plenty of great happenings on the MMA world took place while this space was "on hold", such as Wanderlei Silva's epic battle against Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Shogun's new success in Bushido, or even Ricardo Arona's comeback to the Pride winning circle. Besides that, some backstage news are always popping up, like Mario Sperry finding out he will have a daughter, and Vitor Belfort's minor back injury that prevented him from finally resuming training at BTT, despite different news posted on different vehicles. But we're back for what's worth, and it's time to settle the record straight and release some news! As we have a lot of catching up to do, let's move along and go straight to the news, cause the world keeps turning and The Brazilian Beat keeps beating up in the rhythm of the hot summer that is coming over soon in Brazil! Feels good to be back home at FCF, enjoy!
  • Vitor Belfort will finally start his training sessions in his comeback with the Brazilian Top Team this next Monday, the 29th of November. A lot has been said on whether Vitor is already back with BTT or not, however facts are that he is indeed back with the team, however a minor back injury prevented him from resuming training, what will finally happen next week. Speculations have also ran high about Belfort's future, and everything is uncertain at this point as his fight against Tito Ortiz is reported to be the last of his current UFC contract, and depending on the result of this fight anything can happen.

  • Speaking of the Brazilian Top Team, training is going intense for the December 31st Pride fight between team's star Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira and Russian sensation Emelianenko Fedor. Minotauro's preparation is being taken so seriously that Mario Sperry himself supposedly turned down an offer to also fight on the Pride new year's eve show to focus on guiding Nogueira's preparation for such an important fight against Fedor. Sperry coudln't be happier though, as this coming April his family will get bigger with his first Daughter coming over to this world.

  • However, there's still chance that Rogerio Nogueira, twin brother of Minotauro, will also take part on the next Pride card. Nothing is still sure, but Minotoro is training hard as well expecting an invitation at anytime. Another BTT stand out that is on verge of fighting in the next Pride is Luis Buscape, who has been making an impact in his Pride Bushido fights, and has been reported as an opponent for Takanori Gomi for long. Pride Middleweight contender Ricardo Arona is also back to serious training, as he was just having a well-deserved vacation on Thailand, looking for personal interests, after his recent bout in Pride.

  • This year's ADCC Brazilian Trials are promising to have interesting battles in the second stage of the trials. The roster of invited fighters was released, and it left everybody anxious to see the action on December 4th and 5th, in the Ibirapuera arena in the biggest city of South America, Sao Paulo. Those invited fighters will be joined by the four highest ranked fighters per weight division from the first stage of the ADCC Brazilian Trials, that took place in the city of Campos in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Check out some of the fighters on the roster of invited fighters, that feature plenty of MMA veterans: Rany Yahira, Rodrigo Damm and Fabio Mello at the 66kg division, Daniel Moraes, Luis Buscape and Fabricio Morango at the up to 77kg division, Fernando Margarida, Jorge Macaco Patino and Rodrigo Comprido at the up to 88kg division, Fabiano Capoane and Roger Gracie at the up to 99kg division, Carlos Barreto, Alex Paz, Leonardo Leite and Gabriel Napao at the above 99kg division. FCF will keep a close eye on the trials.

  • The ADCC Brazilian Trials may not end up being the stage for Carlos Barreto's performance though, cause despite the fact that he was announced at the trial's line up, the Brazilian Top Team Pride and UFC veteran was invited to fight at the next M-1 event, his second appearance in the Russian event in a row, and is reported to be traveling to Russia this week to compete in a 8-men heavyweight tournament this next December 4th. Barreto is confident in his training and isn't going to be the only famous fighter in the brackets, Rodney Faverous and Ibragim Magomedov are also in the tournament. Carlos' first fight will be against Rammazan Ahaddulaev.

  • Shooto Brazil is back, and its 5th edition will this time take place in the city of Curitiba, famous fighting-wise for being the hometown of the Chute Boxe team. The show takes place this Sunday, November 28th, at the Circulo Militar arena, the same venue that held the first editions of Meca Vale Tudo, and needless to say is going to count with some Chute Boxe fighters in the card. The most important fights on the card will be Pride Bushido veteran from Chute Boxe Jadyson Costa facing William Casquilha, and Meca veteran Katel Kubis Julian Jaba from the RFT team. FCF will follow the results of the show.

  • Pride veteran and Chute Boxe stand out Murilo Ninja Rua is back in Curitiba training hard after a long European trip that included a seminar tour and his well deserved honeymoon. Ninja got married to Ana Paula last October 8th, and was already heading to Europe on October 12th, where first he did seminars in nine European cities, trough five different countries. The seminar tour was considered a success and saw, according to Rua, some remarkable moments such as the seminars in Olso, Gothemburg, Avignon, Copenhagen, Sheffield, Cambridge and Brighton. After those commitments, Murilo and his wife went straight on honeymoon trough Spain, Italy and France for two more weeks. Now the young fighter is back in training and eager to fight, waiting for an invitation to perform at the Pride new Year's eve show.

  • Speaking of Murilo Ninja's seminars, while he is eager to fight and keeping himself in better shape than against Kharitonov in the Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix, Murilo is also planning his first ever USA seminar tour for January of 2005, in great fashion as it looks like he is going to be joined by his star brother Mauricio Shogun Rua, on the first time Shogun do seminars and the first time, of course, the two brothers ever do a seminar together abroad. The schedule is supposed to be released in the following weeks. Speaking of Shogun Rua, this Thursday, November 25th is the 23rd Birthday of the young fighter, who will be celebrating both with his family and the Chute Boxe team. FCF wishes the best for Mauricio in this next year of his life!

  • Speaking of Chute Boxe, MMA superstar and Pride icon Wanderlei Silva is, needless to say, living a great phase of his life after his second KO win over Quinton Jackson. Silva, however, has not been allowing much celebration as of now, as he is wanting to compete in the Pride New Year's eve show, and has been training as possible looking to get himself ready. It's still not sure if he will compete at this point though, because he was advised by his doctors to rest a bit more, as his hands and body are sore from the last fight intense action. "The Axe Murderer" wants to fight no matter what, so he is managing to train and prepare. A rumored opponent would be Dan Henderson, in one more rematch for Silva's career. However, nothing is sure and at this point it's too early to know his opponent in the show. Despite anything else, the Chute Boxe team is taking the next Pride even so seriously that team's coach and master Rudimar Fedrigo decided to not promote an edition of Meca Vale Tudo in the month of December, so he can focus exclusively on his fighter's preparations for the Japanese show.

  • UFC legend Royce Gracie is getting himself ready to get back to MMA action, as he is fighting in the K-1 MMA show at New Year's eve in Japan against Sumo legend Akebono. The fight has a huge impact in the Japanese scene, as Akebono is very famous in the land of the rising sun, and brings back memories of the clash of styles and weight diferences from the first years of our sport. Royce went to Hawaii to follow his brother Royler and his cousin Rodrigo's fights at Rumble in the rock, and went to Japan after the show to officially announce his fight. Now Gracie is back in Los Angeles training for the fight, where he will be joined by his brother Royler at around December 7th. Rodrigo and Rolker Gracie will be coming later in December to also help Royce in the final steps of his preparation.

  • Brazilian Challenger is back in its third edition this next December 16th, also in the city of Natal as always. The show is quickly growing as in a mere matter of months it's already reaching its third edition, giving now not only local fighters, but fighters from all over Brazil a chance to shine again and show their talent. This next edition will feature Heat veteran and local idol Silmar Rodrigo facing Meca veteran Cristiano "Titi" Lazarini in the main event. Heat and WEF veteran Alexandre "Baixinho" Barros is also expected to perform in the show, along with other Gracie Barra Combat team names to be confirmed. According to promoter Conrado Carlos, who's also one of the promoters of Heat, the final card of the show still holds some surprises, and maybe even some international ones. FCF will keep following the news about Brazilian Challenger 3.