Issue 190

July 2005

Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons

Jose ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons (31-9 in Mixed Martial Arts [MMA]) and his family fled Cuba for Peru and then Brazil when he was 7 years old. The Muay Thai champion originally trained in Capoeira and then boxing before finding the Chute Boxe Academy at 16. Landi-Jons has competed in numerous four-man and eight-man tournaments in Brazil under the ‘old school’ Vale Tudo rules of no biting, no eye gouging and no fish hooking. He won eight-man tournaments at Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting (BVT) 5 and 8 and at International Vale Tudo Championship (IVC) 5; he also won the BVT 6 four-man tourney. He won the World Extreme Fighting title from Pat Miletich in 2000 and another huge win at IVC 11 against Luta Livre rival Johil de Oliveira. Pele is a two-time veteran of Pride and a veteran of Meca Vale Tudo, the Warrior’s War in Kuwait (where he KO’d Matt Hughes), Extreme Force in London (losing to Lee Murray) and, most recently, the Jungle Fight in Brazil. The former Chute Boxe trainer now heads his own camp in Team Pele.

Chuck Liddell

Chuck Liddell (16-3 in MMA) wrestled at California Polytechnic University and became a highly proficient kickboxer before fighting MMA. Chuck made his Octagon debut at UFC 17 in a preliminary bout against Noe Hernandez. In addition to the International Vale Tudo Championships bout detailed below, Chuck fought at the Neutral Grounds and the International Fighting Championships promotions as well as in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships (KOing Guy Mezger and Alistair Overeem and getting pounded by Quinton Jackson). ‘The Iceman’ has been a fixture in the UFC for much of the past seven years and has battled many of the event’s top competitors including Jeremy Horn (who he’ll rematch at UFC 54), Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, Renato Sobral and Tito Ortiz. Chuck recently claimed the UFC light heavyweight title from former champ Randy Couture by knocking him out in the first round of the pair’s second meeting.

The sun, the beach, the beautiful women...

In the event’s opening bout, Hammer House wrestler Brandon Lee Hinkle was cornered by Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman, who had just been KO’d by Pete Williams at UFC 17 and was still in the middle of his four-fight losing streak. In his first trip to Brazil Hinkle faced the vastly experienced Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Braga had won both an eight-man and four-man tournament in Brazil but was coming off back-to-back losses to Americans Dan Severn and Kevin Randleman. 

Hammering away at the competition

In a stereotypical ground ‘n’ pound encounter for the time, Hinkle bashed Braga with head butts and sloppy hammer fists while the Brazilian worked for numerous armbars and repeatedly drove heel kicks into the American’s face from the guard. The mesh netting at the bottom of the ring acted as an equaliser. Hinkle was able to land some choice knees to the head from outside the ring (yes, you read that correctly) but he could never free his wrist from Braga’s clutches. In the end Braga was able to sink a triangle choke on the exhausted Hinkle and won in just under 13 minutes. 

Your style is unorthodox, but effective

Three–time All-American wrestler Mike Van Arsdale has slick wrestling skills coupled with a very street-style stand up game. It allowed him to tear through the competition and win the IVC 4 tournament as well as his UFC debut. However, at IVC 6 he would meet Wanderlei Silva — the man who lost the IVC 2 tournament final not because he gave up or was beaten but because his skin failed him. And though Van Arsdale couldn’t pronounce Silva’s name in the interview, he has never forgotten the Brazilian with eyes tattooed on the back of his head.

Turn out the lights, the party's over

Van Arsdale worked for takedowns but Silva would escape then nail Van Arsdale with strikes while circling him. Mike would throw hands with the Brazilian but he was sloppy and Wanderlei would get the better of the exchanges. It was a knee to the stomach from the clinch that made Van Arsdale cringe. Mike took off but Silva was behind him and blasted him with a right hook to the head. Mike buckled and fell to the canvas. Silva, knowing the fight was over, kicked Van Arsdale in the back of the neck just for good measure. 

Stand and deliver

Pele, representing Chute Boxe, was already a seasoned Muay Thai fighter with numerous 8- and 4-man tournament victories. Chuck Liddell, representing SLO Kickboxing, was new to MMA at the time (1-0) but was a veteran kickboxer. One thing was for sure, we were going to see a stand-up war. And early on it was just that. Landi-Jons, fighting in front of a partisan crowd, took full advantage of the home field environment and took Liddell to the mat in the opening moments. However, before long, it was clear Chuck knew a thing or two about fighting on the ground and regularly employed head butts and knees in his arsenal.

You've got me heels over head

Pele seemed to gas out first, as ‘The Iceman’ may have been more than he bargained for. Chuck met Pele’s onslaught blow for blow but things can change in a blink — and did. Pele blasted Liddell with a roundhouse kick to the head and floored him. The crowd went nuts but Chuck got up off the canvas looking relatively unscathed and blasted Landi-Jons with a devastating punching combination of his own, leaving Pele crushed into the corner. The Cuban-born fighter continued to take abuse including elbows to the ribs and head as well as back knuckle punches to his face. 

Grand slam

Pele threw himself out of the ring through the ropes to escape the onslaught. Upon re-entering the ring, a stand up exchange saw Chuck land big hands to the head. A takedown by Liddell landed him in side mount with elbows and knees to the head becoming the weapon of choice. Each time Landi-Jons would come back, Liddell found a way to regain control. After one burst from Pele, Liddell clinches, picks him up and slams him on his shoulder.

Trampled under foot 

Back on the feet, a big head kick from Pele dropped Liddell to his knees. A bleeding Liddell got a single leg takedown and wound up in Pele’s guard. The action continued and as Liddell rushed in for a takedown he missed and, in turn, Landi-Jons narrowly missed another kick to Chuck’s face. Both fighters were showing heavy signs of fatigue but the battle waged on. Back on the mat, Chuck slid Pele so that his head rested under the protective netting around the bottom of the ring. Liddell began to punch and elbow Landi-Jons in the back of the head and Pele was not moving.

Dazed and confused

After yet another good punching exchange, Chuck found himself in side mount and moved to a North/South position to knee Pele in the head. Landi-Jons attempted a triangle choke but Liddell rolled back to side mount. Pele attempted an armbar and a roll to his feet but Chuck crushed him into the mat on his back. Liddell delivered at least  

15 unanswered knees to Pele’s head. Landi-Jons was not fighting back and it seemed like Liddell was actually getting more aggressive, punching with both hands to end the fight. At the end of the thirty-minute time limit Pele didn’t seem to want to shake hands, but it is quite possible that he didn’t even know where he was. Liddell won by unanimous decision.