Fighters Only

Issue 005

July 2005

After staging Shooto Brazil 7 in Rio de Janeiro, the traditional Brazilian show returned to the South of Brazil on April 30 at the Círculo Militar Gymnasium in Curitiba.

Shooto is undoubtedly the showcase of Brazilian talent and every show features some of the finest contestants Brazil has to offer — and who later find their way to international events in the US, Japan and beyond.

It is pretty easy to pick out these exceptional talents on the night and Shooto 8 was no different. Two names deserve particular mention this time round: Gracie Barra Combat Team member Luis ‘Beição’ Ramos and Nova União fighter Marlon Sandro. Beição is already making a name for himself after two consecutive victories in Shooto Brazil. Once again he displayed his finesse, facing the skilled ground fighter Everaldo Sadan — who is well-known not only for his submission but also for his big punches, normally landed at the beginning of his matches, which have hurt and KO’d some fighters who weren’t paying enough attention! Sadan and Beição exchanged blows on their feet. Beição however didn’t seem to care about Sadan’s hail of punches. The fight soon went to a clinch, with Beição making the first attempt at a takedown. He executed the movement but Sadan turned the position before it went to ground, and when the fight was on the ground Sadan got to the mount position. Beição managed to avoid being punished and quickly turned the position. He was now in Sadan’s full guard and from this position the fight didn’t last very long. Beição imposed a heavy flurry of punches during the ground ‘n’ pound resulting in Sadan being KO’d at 1:50 in the first round.

Beição stated after the match: “I wasn’t 100% sure he was out during my first punch, so I landed some more to beat Sadan. After the fight I apologised to him because his corner told me he was out from the first punch. I’m 3-0 in Shooto and I hope to fight a title match for the Shooto Americas or Shooto Japan soon.”

The Nova União fighter and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt Marlon Sandro took on the veteran Fabrício Bicudo, a Jiu-jitsu black belt with a background in wrestling and boxing. Even though they are ground specialists they preferred to trade strikes on their feet. Bicudo threw Sandro to the ground with a perfect takedown and drop-mounted Sandro. Bicudo didn’t allow Sandro to free himself and landed some punches. Sandro worked and escaped from this tough position, turning it around. From Bicudo’s guard Marlon landed some punches and Bicudo sank an armbar that was well defended by Marlon. Both fighters were exhausted by the intensity of the match, with the pace slowing considerably in rounds two and three. Marlon, the younger of the two fighters, took advantage of his joviality and used the hand strike attempts by Bicudo to take the fight down. In doing so he convinced the judges to award him the fight in a unanimous decision.

“I was surprised by the first throw of Bicudo. He smashed me against the ground and got the mount position quickly. I had to keep myself tranquil to turn that,” said Marlon after the fight.

In other fights:

Cristiano Neguinho (Gracie Curitiba) armbarred Ivonildo Cafu (Never Shake/Werdini) — 2:11, R1. Neguinho got his second victory at Shooto and once again displayed good jiu-jitsu. Neguinho didn’t have any difficulty in taking his opponent down by a single-leg, and then worked to finish the contest with an armbar.

In the under-76kg division Paulo Bueno (Zenedin) guillotine choked Daniel Muralha (Shooto Brazil Dojo) — 1: 44, R1. Bueno and Muralha tangled quickly and the fight went to ground, with Muralha on the bottom sinking a guillotine choke. The referee indicated that the position was really tight and gave Muralha the advantage. But Bueno escaped and got back on to his feet. Muralha threw Bueno down with a superb takedown but Muralha didn’t protect his neck and Bueno sank a guillotine choke, making Muralha tap-out.

Joselino Índio (Giudici-Equipe 1) decisioned Irailson Gama (Brazilian Top Team) in the under-70kg division. Gama dominated the first round by taking the fight down and working a ground ‘n’ pound until the bell. The second round saw Índio repeat the same game provided by Gama — takedown and ground ‘n’ pound — but Índio was a little more aggressive than Gama had been. Round three was decisive: Índio used his boxing skills on his feet while Gama attempted takedowns with single- and double-legs, all of which were well sprawled by Índio who counter-attacked with punches and knees. Índio kept on striking and Gama insisted on shooting and paid a high price for it. Índio landed a big knee on Gama’s nose that opened a big cut. Despite the profuse bleeding the fight wasn’t stopped, but this strike decided the match in Índio’s favour.