The Brazilian Beat
Shogun Looks to September, Royce Ready and "Gi-less," Rizzo Fighting in the U.S., BTT News and more!

The Brazilian Beat:
      It's not often that you have one weekend full of MMA action in this country. Through the entire year, there are, of course, many weekends without any meaningful fighting action in sight, and sometimes shows are scheduled for the same day, splitting fans' attentions.

      However, this coming weekend presents a different situation, as both Saturday and Sunday will feature very important national-level MMA shows on each day, giving hardcore fans with a chance to follow both.

      Being such a unique happening, and maybe the only time this will happen this year, this reporter had to come back to FCF with the much-awaited news of the Brazilian scene.
  • Chute Boxe prodigy Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's recovery process continues to go better than expected, following the severe elbow injury suffered he suffered in February's PRIDE bout against Mark Coleman. The 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion has already been running and swimming for two weeks, and will most likely resume light fight training, mainly techniques at first, next week. Rua told FCF that he is not been feeling any pain whatsoever in his elbow during swimming and running, and has had complete movement with the arm of the injured elbow, showing signs of a great recovery. Shogun is expected to fight again in September, and Full Contact Fighter will keep following his recovery.

  • Speaking of the Shogun, his brother Murilo "Ninja" Rua has been training extremely hard, awaiting his June 4's PRIDE Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix bout against MMA sensation Denis Kang. Rua just found out about his opponent one day before the official announcement, and has been weighing in around 88 kg, getting ready to cut the extra weight in the coming weeks. Ninja told FCF he is feeling much more comfortable and stronger at his current lighter weight now, and he hopes to have a much better performance at his new weight class this time around. Both Rua brothers, Ninja and Shogun, went to the city of Brasilia, capital of Brasil this past Wednesday to attend a ceremony devoted to a peace campaign in Brazil spearheaded fight community and one Brazilian fight magazine. Both got back to Curitiba this past Thursday, where Ninja resumed his training immediately. Saturday, May 20 will be a special day in the Rua family, as they will celebrate Murilo Ninja's 26th birthday with a barbecue party at their parent's house. Murilo's birthday is, in fact, on the 22nd, however, for obvious reasons the celebration will take place this weekend.

  • MMA legend Royce Gracie is in the final stages of his preparation for his much-awaited clash against Matt Hughes. His brother Royler Gracie is currently in the USA helping him out in training, along with Rolker and Rodrigo Gracie, as well as his kickboxing coach Nono, making sure everything will be set by fight time. The bout is not only just eagerly awaited by the fans, but for the three-time UFC champion Gracie as well, as he told FCF that his return to the UFC for this special match gives him many good memories of where it all started, and stated he is truly ready for the task, and now it's just a matter of delivering on fight night. One interesting aspect is that, due to UFC rules, Royce Gracie won't be wearing a gi into this bout, as he confirmed to FCF.

  • Still on the subject of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, Cage Rage champion and former Shooto champion Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro is now fully healed of his injured hand that had prevented him from making his K-1 MMA debut recently. Shaolin has been training hard in Brazil again for a while, without any sorts of injuries, and getting himself ready for his K-1 MMA first appearance in the month of August.

  • Another BJJ black belt who has keeping himself busy is PRIDE veteran Nino "Elvis" Schembri. The grappling wizard has traveled to Slovenia where he will be cornering Chute Boxe teammate Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos this weekend, and from there he will travel to Poland to conduct one week of jiu-jitsu teaching to local fighters before coming back to Brazil. Once back in Brazil, Schembri will resume training for a much awaited comeback to jiu-jitsu competition, as he is reported to have plans for this year's BJJ World's Championship, and to also get back to MMA very soon.

  • At the Brazilian Top Team headquarters, training continues to go on with the same intensity as ever. While Paulo Filho and Murilo Bustamante get themselves ready for the PRIDE Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix and Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira trains hard for the second round of the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix, his twin brother Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira is keeping himself ready and waiting for a call to fight in PRIDE at anytime. Rumors are that Rogerio Minotoro's participation in the next PRIDE show, after Bushido, is almost certain, against a yet-to-be-named opponent. A bout against PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva has been rumored, but this will only likely take place near the end of the year.

  • Ruas Vale Tudo heavyweight fighter, PRIDE and UFC veteran Pedro "the Rock" Rizzo is keeping himself busy in training after the two last surprising outcomes of his last bouts, focused on regrouping from the losses. Rizzo will be fighting again this coming July in the USA, against a yet-to-be-named opponent in a show that is yet to be revealed by the fighter's camp. However, according to the RVT crew, the fight is already certain, and the Rock will be in action again in July.

  • Speaking of Ruas Vale Tudo, team coach and Brazilian Wrestling Confederation president Beto Leitao is continuing a major effort to make the sport of wrestling grow in the country. Great news from Leitao is that Brazil will, for the first time, be holding the Wrestling Pan-American championship in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with more than 250 athletes from countries such as the USA, Venezuela, Cuba, and Canada among others. The championship will have some Olympic Champions on its roster, and will take place from June 2-4 at the Botafogo Club Arena.

  • This next weekend will be busy in Brazil with fighting shows taking place in two important states of the country. Parana, the state where the city of Curitiba is located, will host Storm Samurai and the state of Rio de Janeiro will hold the first edition of Gold Fighters Championship, in the city of Teresopolis, that has already held some Meca Vale Tudo editions. For its debut, the new promotion will be counting with some famous names on the card such as WEF veteran Alexandre "Baixinho" Barros, UFC veteran Tony de Souza, Jungle Fight veteran Jose Aldo, and Meca veteran Fabricio Morango among others, not to mention a female bout between Ana Maria and Vanessa Porto, now that female bouts are becoming popular in Brazil. Tickets are selling fast and likely there will be a full house at the show. FCF will keep you posted on the news about the first edition of yet one more new MMA promotion in the country.

  • Meanwhile, this coming Sunday, Curitiba will hold one more edition of the already traditional Storm Samurai, featuring 11 MMA bouts including some interesting names, such as IFL, Heat FC, Meca, Rings and KOTC veteran Gustavo "Ximu" Machado facing Marcelo Brito, female fighter sensation Cristiane "Cyborg", fiancée of Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and Chute Boxe future stars Michael Costa, Fabio Silva and Fernando Betega. Unlike the last few editions, this time Storm Samurai will take place at brand new venue called Master Hall, and as usual, names like Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Shogun Rua and Murilo Ninja Rua will all be in attendance at the show. FCF will also be there bringing you full coverage of Storm Samurai.

  • After much speculation, its now confirmed that Heat FC will finally be back, bringing its fourth edition this coming August 3, as always in the city of Natal in Brazil. The promotion where fighters such as Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Forrest Griffin, Carlos Barreto, Allan Goes, Gustavo "Ximu" Machado, Ebenezer Braga, and others have fought in the past was forced to wait until the Machadinho Arena, the best and likely the only good arena in the city, was cleared again by the local government to be used, after improvements were made on the facilities. Now that this has happened, preparations under way for the fourth edition of the show, and rumors are already churning about what names will be on the card. One thing is certain, according to the promoters, the show will keep its international aspect, bringing foreign fighters as always to the card. FCF will keep you posted.