Today was launched the Confederação Brasileira de MMA (Brazilian Confederation of MMA). With the presence of the Minister of Sports, Aldo Rebelo, and the President of the new Confederation, Amaury Bitetti, a press conference was made in the city of Sao Paulo today with a few announcements:

The governing body will create and coordinate a ranking system for fighters and legalize all MMA events that take place inside of Brazil. A project is also currently underway to qualify referees and judges, and also the objective of bringing big idols of the sport as ambassadors.

“We expect the support of everyone! Come and be part of this! We will, together, fight for the growth of an organized, disciplined, professional and supervised MMA scene in Brazil - said the president of the confederation, Amaury Bitetti.

sources: SporTV, JaulaFight

I think that a fight between Frankie Edgar and Aldo would be an awesome fight.

I think that (Frankie) should really drop. If he was one of my athletes he would never fight in that weight class. He practically doesn't cut any weight. That just doesn't exist in today's (world of MMA). But of course his trainers know what they're doing, so much so that he was champion even without cutting any weight.

I thought the score of the fight was fair. Ben Henderson was much more damaging and came closer to finishing the fight twice.

via: SporTV

Americans have a rivalry with Brazilians, that is obvious. And why is that? It’s because the UFC has three hundred fighters under contract, and from those three hundred fighters we are fifty, the Brazilians are fifty, and we have more belts than they do. So from three hundred we are fifty, and with those fifty we get there and take care of business. They win (more) because they have more (people), they have a bigger infrastructure inside their gyms, they have support for the sport since they’re kids. But the sport is growing in Brazil and I believe that... they look at us with (malicious) eyes, let’s say it like that. If you’re going to fight an American in the US you have to win the fight with emphasis because otherwise… You can’t win it by a thin margin.

via: Estudio i

via portaldovaletudo.uol.com.br

A fight is a fight and anything can happen. They’re two very strong fighters, they’re at the top of their division but I don’t see how Overeem can beat Junior dos Santos. Overeem is (beating a lot of people), he’s a lion, but when (he gets hit) he becomes a kitty. When Junior first connects, Overeem’s spirit of a fighter will go to the dress room. I think it will be Junior with another knockout in his career.

via: Portal do Vale Tudo

While watching a presentation for the new game UFC Undisputed 3, José Aldo cracked a smiled when seeing the possibility of fighting under PRIDE rules. When questioned as to why, he went on to explain:

I have fought under (PRIDE) rules in the beginning of my career. Stomps were permitted everywhere, kicks on the ground, you could stomp the head… You could even "kill the cockroach," it was so awesome.

Aldo went on to thank the developers for making him "prettier" in the game and concluded with the following:

It’s a dream for me to be part of a game such as this. I never thought I’d reach such a level one day.

Promoted from the fan posts by Kid Nate.

Dana’s dream of having a big UFC show in a stadium in Brazil appears to be dead, at least for the city of Sao Paulo, which would host the return of the UFC to Brazil in June and would showcase the TUF Brazil finals, a rematch between Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva and would have as its main event the long awaited rematch between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen.

A non-profit organization called Viva Pacaembu has taken action to prevent the UFC from hosting its show in the Pacaembu stadium. A judicial decision was made yesterday that would prevent the organization from occupying the stadium after 12AM, claiming that after that specific time slot the loudest the noise can reach would be at 45 decibels.

"First was the difficulty with the noise. (Then) the Viva Pacaembu organization demanded that the law of noise ordinance would have the limit of 45 decibels, which is impossible. I even bought a noise measurer and took it to the Mayor’s office, and it measured 60 decibels" said the Secretary of Sports, Bebeto Haddad.

Haddad also showed frustration in trying to explain that the time slot for which the event would take place could not be different; "the UFC is an event broadcasted to 150 countries, we have to adapt to the time zone of many countries. There’s no way we could make this end before midnight" he concluded.

Unfortunately for the UFC, most of the big stadiums are under renovations for the 2014 World Cup, leaving the bigger Morumbi stadium the only other available stadium to host the UFC in Sao Paulo. The Morumbi stadium has its problem though, as they don’t meet all of Zuffa’s demands, such as covering the grass in the case of rain. It also does not have the support of the City Administrators:

Continue reading this post »

Going by the rankings in MMA I'm in fourth place behind (Junior dos Santos), Overeem and Velasquez. Winning this fight will probably bump me up a bit but I never liked thinking about positions in rankings. But I put myself amongst the best, and my pathway has been drawn in pursuit of the title. I hope to fight for the belt still in 2012. After this fight, (perhaps) two or three more and then fight for the title.

After this fight with Roy Nelson, I think the ideal opponent would be Frank Mir and I'd like for it to happen in UFC Sao Paulo. After this fight I'll go to Brazil and stay for 45 days with Wanderlei, Rafael Cordeiro and Babalu for TUF Brazil. The training routine will be kept, I will only rest for a week and then return to my job. To fight in June, the month I beat Fedor, would be sensational. To fight in a football stadium, as it has happened with Pride in Yokohoma that had 95 to 100 thousand people watching Big Nog defeat Bob Sapp, would be crazy. But for now I'm thinking about my fight with Roy Nelson. We'll see what happens afterwards.

from Combate

Soccer legend and owner of 9ine, company responsible for the image of Anderson Silva outside of the UFC, says 'The Spider' is motivated in facing Chael Sonnen should he defeat Michael Bisping come January 29th on UFC on Fox 2:

Who is going to be excited and motivated to get him is Anderson, because he talked a lot of crap. Anderson said he’s (excited) to get him (Sonnen). He’s going to knock down the kid but he’s not going to finish the fight, no. He’s going to wait for him to get up, he’ll make the kid suffer.

from SporTV

via lapelea.org

I’m not going back to train there. When I decided to train in Sao Paulo, it was a decision of mine, but I never closed the door to Rafael. I always kept a friendship with him. But, unfortunately, he was upset and said some things I did not like, and that made me close the door to him. I don’t think about training with him (anymore). When I went to Sao Paulo, I didn’t mean to become his enemy. The friendship was the same. But he said some unfortunate things.

Before each fight I analyze my opponent and where it would be a good camp for me. For the Dan Henderson fight, I thought Sao Paulo would be a better camp. I analized that close to my team. So I always search what’s best for me. If I think the best place is in China, (then) I will train in China. I sacrifice myself and my family supports me.

via: Combate

via video.ufc.tv

Two big news outlets in Brazil, UOL and Globo, have tried to get in contact with Yamasaki to get further explanations about his call to disqualify Erick Silva during UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Yamasaki has turned down both interviews claiming he has been prohibited to talk about the occurrence:

“The Athletic Commission has prohibited me of giving interviews to the media until this case has been resolved” said Yamasaki.

While being prohibited, he did maintain his position on the DQ when being questioned by UOL:

“If you watch the fight in different angles, you’ll see that there were at least five punches in the area (around the back of the neck)” concluded Mario.

Mario claiming the Athletic Commission is making him silent on this issue is puzzling considering there are no Athletic Commissions overseeing MMA in Brazil and therefore he’d not be bound by any, unless he’s talking about Marc Ratner, who isn't an "Athletic Commission" just like "corporations" aren't "humans"... Silva’s camp have not formally appealed the decision either so there is no “case to be resolved” yet. I think perhaps he may be just tired of the questions and is making up an excuse so he doesn’t have to deal with them anymore. Those who don’t owe don’t fear, Mario…

via e.imguol.com

Prior to UFC 142 in Rio, Aldo appeared to be fine with the idea of moving up in weight while talking to Terra Esportes:

It’s been a while that I’ve been saying that I should move up (in weight), to test myself in the above division. But Dedé (Pederneiras) is the one who decides that. When they think it’s the right moment I’ll move up.

But his trainer didn’t seem like he’d concede to that idea:

We don’t think about changing divisions, the focus is all directed to Chad Mendes (right now). When this fight is over, we’ll start thinking about the next (fight). To be honest, I don’t see him moving up in weight, no.

Well, the fight is over and Dede doesn’t seem to have changed his mind:

He’s not going to be moving up in weight for now, unless if it’s for the title, then it’s okay. But to give up his title and to fight his way in the division above his? Forget it. If it’s up to me that’s not going to happen. Unless he goes train somewhere else and someone allows him to do that, I’m not going to allow him to do that.

via s.glbimg.com

Cris Cyborg has been getting a lot of attention as of late, the type of attention I’m sure no fighter would like to have. Failing a drug test after her bout with Hiroko Yamanaka on December 17th, Cyborg has been the target of a lot of backlash from the MMA community as a whole. Certainly the backlash is deserving, but I’d argue that this is not the normal type of backlash most fighters are used to when they fail a drug test, but then again, this is not just any fighter, it’s a top ranked female fighter, and for a community which still struggles to see women fight, perhaps the amount of backlash is understandable.

Cris went on SporTV.com to share her frustration with one Ronda Rousey, who made remarks that she always knew Cris was a cheater:

I don’t like to talk too much, I like to act instead. But now my hands are tied, I am suspended. This will be the first and last time I will talk. First of all, (Ronda Rousey) has been running away from me for a long time. We were going to fight, she talked a lot but left our division. And now she’s starting to talk because she knows that our fight will be difficult to happen. It’s easy to talk. She’s saying things that she shouldn’t be saying which hurts the sport. She’s directly affirming that I have used things before and disrespecting the Athletic Commission. In all of the fights I’ve had I passed the drug tests. What happened now was a mistake. I always respect my opponents, but with Ronda it will be different. She will have a year to train, that is, if she has the courage to throw hands with me. I will continue to train, I will compete in other sports such as jiu-jitsu and wrestling. It was a mistake, but it was good because I’ll continue to train and improve. She’ll have a year to get ready.

She also talked a little more about failing the test, and that she’ll take this mistake as a positive and that other fighters should take the opportunity to learn from this as well:

I was having troubles losing weight and I didn’t know it had a banned substance. I made a mistake of not getting it cleared by a doctor. I was told it was just to lose weight. My biggest problem (getting ready for a fight) is to lose the weight. I was absent from fighting for two years, and it’s harder to lose the weight, but I never had to do this (steroids). It was not to get stronger, only to lose weight. It was a fatality. I don’t need anything to win a fight. I have a clear conscious. I don’t think it would have been any different (had I not got caught), because I didn’t have an opponent anyway.

We learn from our mistakes. I was not the first to take it and won’t be the last. I hope that this will serve as an experience to other fighters. People need to inform themselves before taking anything. What I have built inside MMA will not end because of this.

The first visit of the UFC to Rio de Janeiro was a huge success, outselling tickets within 74 minutes of when they were available. During the Press Conference in Rio for the return of the UFC to the Marvelous City, Dana White made it clear for fans to “hurry up and buy tickets” if they wanted to go to its second edition. Even though the UFC kept the same prices for its return to Rio, it appears fans didn’t take White’s advice, as tickets for two sectors of the HSBC Arena are still available for purchase.

Many factors may have come to play at the failure to sell tickets to the second edition of UFC Rio, people are not only recovering from their end of the year expenses but also getting ready for Carnival, but the main factor came in the form of a comment made to Dana during the Rio Press Conference. The guys at Portal do Vale Tudo told Dana that they had done a poll in their community asking if people were happy with the card, and had an astonishing negative poll of 76% in displeasure with the card. The card lacks big names such as Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Shogun Rua. Although they do have a big name in Vitor Belfort, he appears not to be enough to sell tickets on his name alone since the memory of getting kicked in the face by Anderson is still fresh in many Brazilian minds. The general consensus around Brazilian forums appears to be the thinking that this card looks too similar to a regional card, and just placing a UFC banner on top of it is not enough to excite MMA fans as a whole. To add insult to injury, the UFC decided that, to appease to the US audience, by the time Aldo and Mendes enters the Octagon it will be around 3 AM Brazilian local time, kind of late for a sports event. I don’t blame the UFC for this decision, since most of their revenue comes in the way of selling PPV’s, but given that most of the American audience isn’t excited for this card either, perhaps they could have made this an FX card instead of a PPV and had it placed at a 7 PM US local time slot.

Hopefully the majority of the tickets will still be sold within the next couple of days and if not I hope the UFC doesn’t take this experience as a negative to do business in Brazil and instead learn from this to make future events here a success.

It seems to be a trend nowadays, big names inside of the world of MMA are signing deals with Brazilian football clubs. Such was the case for Jose Aldo, who had a dream come true this past Wednesday morning (12/28/11), he had a deal signed to represent his football club of heart, Flamengo, inside the Octagon. It apparently didn’t take long for Flamengo’s number one rival, Vasco, to strike back:

"The board of directors of Vasco searched us out and I’m going to Rio de Janeiro next week to talk to them. No deal has been made yet, but we’re going to talk. This is great for MMA, this shows that the sport is growing more and more every day” Pateta, Mendes’ Jiu-Jitsu coach, told PVT.

Mendes isn’t the first non-Brazilian fighter to interest a Brazilian football club, but he could be the first to sign a lucrative deal with one.

via e.imguol.com

Diego Brandao recently talked to UOL Esportes about his fighting style and hardships throughout life. During the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Brandao came out looking like an aggressive style fighter and he doesn’t appear to want to change his personality now once he has arrived at Greg Jackson’s camp:

I want to be a Mike Tyson, a Wanderlei Silva. When I go inside the ring I’m thinking of these guys. For me there’s no strategy talk, I go in for the kill

Much like Rousimar Palhares, Brandao, a native of Ceara, started working at a young age with construction helping his father:

I’d always help (my father). I would put my hands in the dough, I would carry bags of cement. I think that may be why I have heavy hands

Unfortunately after losing his father, Brandao took the wrong path for a while, choosing a lifestyle of drugs but ultimately making the correct decision in leaving that life:

It was a crazy life. I wouldn’t die of hunger, it’s something that got stuck in my head when my father passed away and I spent two years in this crazy life, in the company of people I shouldn’t be around. So I thought to myself “I’m going to get away from this life, I’m not a junkie” and so I searched out for the sport

It certainly appears to have been a good decision on Brandao’s part, who recently said in a TUF episode that he would also like to take his brother out of that lifestyle, wish him all the best in accomplishing that:

I am very happy with this opportunity. I came to change the lifestyle of my family, I will show that I’m capable and do what’s best for them. God has a plan for everyone, I prayed a lot and here I am

Promoted to the front page by Tim Burke.

A while back Chad Mendes posted a picture of himself wearing a Vasco jersey, rivals of Flamengo football club and Aldo’s team of heart, trying to get some support for his fight in Rio de Janeiro. Apparently this didn’t sit well with Aldo, who appeared upset when asked about it, saying Mendes doesn’t know what he’s dealing with:

The hype he’s creating is only for himself in this fight. He doesn’t even understand the rivalry between Vasco and Flamengo. This isn’t going to be a classic, this is going to be Brazil against the US. The fans from Vasco will be with me and the ones from Flamengo will be against him even more now. He doesn’t know what he’s getting into and will have to deal with the consequences once the fight starts

-- via UOL Esportes