The Brazilian Beat
Ninja may move down in weight, Sperry shooting a new DVD series, Jungle Fight is back, Minotauro's next fight shaping up, Ryan Gracie recovering well, and more!

The Brazilian Beat:
      October has quickly rolled to an end and here comes November, promising some busy action for Brazilian MMA fans with many shows taking place this month - from Storm Samurai's wild action, to the country's current finest at Jungle Fight, and starting with a new promotion debuting early this month in Thai Combat Vale Tudo.

      November promises to be full of excitement in the biggest country of South America. Besides that, as always, news regarding MMA's "big picture" is always being made, with many negotiations going on, plans and projects being run, and plenty of hardcore training at the teams' headquarters. From Sperry's new DVD set in the works, to Murilo "Ninja" Rua considering moving down a weight class, to the unfortunate news of Ryan Gracie's accident, there is a lot to be told! So, get closer to the screen, and enjoy your reading as Full Contact Fighter brings you The Beat once again straight out of Brazil, loud and clear!
  • Murilo "Ninja" Rua returned from Japan this Thursday, October 27th, following his submission win at PRIDE 30. Alongside Ninja came his brother, PRIDE Middleweight GP 2005 champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, as both stayed in Japan for a longer while than usual to attend autograph sessions and press activities. Back to Brazil, Ninja told FCF that he is considering the possibility of dropping some more weight to join the 185-pound division following comments made by DSE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Motivated by the better shape shown in his last fight, Ninja commented that he sees no problem in losing some more weight if needed. Another Chute Boxe fighter is supposed to be going down to 83kg as well, for the plan is to have Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos competing in this weight class in PRIDE Bushido in 2006.

  • Speaking of Ninja, the PRIDE veteran will be traveling to the city of Macapa, up in the north of Brazil, capital of the state of Amapa, where he will be a special guest at the first Thai Combat Vale Tudo show, a new fighting promotion that will debut in Brazil mixing Muay Thai bouts with MMA fights. The show will take place on November 5th and the card will feature some international Muay Thai bouts, as well as many MMA fights, including the participation of Chute Boxe fighter and Storm Samurai veteran Rogelson BA. Ninja will be working as a referee for most of the bouts, and FCF will be there to witness the action.

  • Ninja's brother, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is back in training at the Chute Boxe academy, looking to likely participate on PRIDE's December 31st card. Shogun is expecting to start negotiations for his next fight in the coming weeks and has told FCF that he would like to face either Kazuhiro Nakamura or Hidehiko Yoshida if possible. Rua is eager to fight again and is currently weighing 104 kg, with plans to gain even more muscle mass up to around 107 kg, before starting to cut prior to the bout.

  • PRIDE veteran Ryan Gracie suffered an accident on Sunday, October 23rd, while at his sister's house in Rio de Janeiro. According to his sister Flavia, who's married to a police officer, Ryan was searching for a towel in a closet, and ended up shooting his leg by accident, as his sister's husband had a gun hidden there. Gracie lost a lot of blood and was rushed to the hospital. Although he is still in intensive care, his condition is stable and he is recovering well thanks to countless blood donations by friends. There's no date for Ryan to leave the hospital yet and FCF wishes a speedy recovery for the fighter.

  • Speaking of the MMA scene in the north of Brazil, the country's currently biggest MMA show is going to be back at the Brazilian Northern region one more time, as Jungle Fight 5 will take place once again in the city of Manaus, near the Amazon Jungle. Despite plans to hold its fifth edition in Las Vegas, bureaucratic issues postponed these plans and brought Jungle Fight back to its origin for its next edition on November 26th, once again at the Tropical Hotel in Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas. Promoter Wallid Ismail told FCF he is already working on the project full time and may announce the first fights very soon. Among the rumored names for the card are RINGS and Heat FC veteran Gustavo "Ximu" Machado, PRIDE veterans Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons and Jorge "Macaco" Patino, as well as Pancrase veteran Fredson Paixao. FCF will keep an open eye on the news there.

  • Recovering from the knee surgery performed after his fight at the last Jungle Fight show, UFC and PRIDE veteran Carlos Barreto is also taking part in the next Jungle Fight event, however, this time as a referee. Barreto will likely be in the center of the ring for some bouts working as a referee on Jungle Fight 5, as he undergoes his recovery process and pursuit of many other fighting related projects such as organizing a Muay Thai event this coming January. As a matter of fact, Carlos' recovery is going well and the Brazilian Top Team heavyweight is expected to resume technical training before 2005 is out for a return hopefully in 2006.

  • Speaking of heavyweights, another top heavyweight Brazilian fighter, Pedro Rizzo, is training hard and is eager to get himself back to the top of the rankings. Rizzo met with FCF recently, and said that he will likely fight again around February in PRIDE, where he hopes to qualify himself for next year's heavyweight Grand Prix. "The Rock" went on to say that in the meantime he plans on training hard, including a possible new visit to the Chute Boxe headquarters, and another trip to Holland to train with his longtime friend Peter Aerts within this year.

  • While heavyweights seem to be taking over the news for this edition, rumors swirl in Brazil that Jungle Fight and K-1 MMA veteran Ryoto "Lyoto" Machida was trying to leave his old management and became free to pursue other options for his career. Speculations continue that this would lead to Machida joining the Chute Boxe team, as he was training in Curitiba for a while some months ago, and he's made it no secret that he wants to fight in PRIDE. In theory, being free from his management would open doors for a possible Chute Boxe participation for Machida. Nothing is official as of now though, and it looks as Machida is still attached to his original management company.

  • While he keeps performing his numerous tasks such as taking care of Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira's careers to name a few; helping to run some of the Brazilian Top Team training at their headquarters; taking care of his baby daughter as well as train himself for possible future fights; grappling legend Mario Sperry is running yet a new project! "The Zen Machine" is filming a new series of MMA instructional DVDS after the huge success of his past series, and the product will be available on the market in 2006. It's a known fact that anything Sperry does is well done, so this will likely be worth the wait.

  • Already a traditional show in the country, Storm Samurai will be back on November 20th in the city of Curitiba, taking place at the Circulo Militar arena, the same venue that held the initial Meca editions. The plans feature a MMA card of around 13 bouts, giving a chance for the new talents of Chute Boxe, as well as other teams, to display their talents. Names like Michael Costa and Fabio Pelezinho are rumored to be taking part on the card, as well as Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos' girlfriend, Cristiane "Cyborg", who will be fighting Mariana Veloso from the NeverShake Team. According to promoter Rafael Cordeiro, after this edition, Storm will be going back to its roots for a while, promoting some Muay Thai only events once again.

  • UFC veteran Renato "Babalu Sobral" put his Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu training to the test, and for the first time in his life the former Rues Vale Tudor fighter and Brazilian wrestler took part in the Brazilian Teams Jiu-Jitsu championship this past Sunday, October 30th. Babalu fought as a heavyweight black belt representing Gracie Barra and did very well, as he lost his match in the semi-finals of the championship by only an advantage point to black belt Arthur Cesar. Babel's loss didn't cost Gracie Barr's win though as they won the heavyweight class, beating TT Jiu-Jitsu team in the finals, counting wins from Francisco Fernandes, Zorobadel Junior, and UFC veteran Alexandre Cafe Dantas. Overall, the champion academy was also a Gracie Barra arm – the Gracie Barra BH (from the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte) run by Heat FC veteran Vinicius Draculino.

  • Despite rumors of a damaged shinbone for Ricardo Arona that could cause his PRIDE middleweight title bout against Wanderlei Silva on December 31st to be cancelled, word from the Brazilian Top Team camp is that Arona will be fighting, despite any injuries he may have at this point. Unless anything too serious happens in the meantime, the fight is on and preparation is already taking place. Speaking of BTT, heavyweight Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira is training hard for the PRIDE December 31st event, and as reported by FCF in this column in the past, it looks now almost certain that Nogueira will be facing Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in the New Year's eve show. Nothing is official yet, but this bout may be announced very soon.