Issue 006

July 2005

To have shined as one of the most important Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events around the world isn’t an easy task when these aspirations are coming from a show located in Brazil. Efforts, matchmaking and a lot of competence sometimes aren’t enough to make things work. Co-promoter Wallid Ismail combined the above-mentioned aspects with a good card on the paper, resulting in a great card and great fights in the ring. On fire! This was the final result of this fourth Jungle FC show. Everything that Ismail promised during his press conference came true. The judges didn’t have any work this time, as not one of the fights went to a decision and all fights were decided before the final bell rang.

Jungle FC 4 in Manaus, Brazil was overflowing with first rate MMA action. It was loaded with exciting finishes. Promoter Wallid Ishmail was extremely pleased with the event’s success and he announced that the next edition of Jungle FC will be at the Orleans Arena on September 9, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Early in the first fight local idol William Mattos didn’t take advantage of fighting in his home city and got outclassed on his feet and on the ground by Ricardo Pires’s student Mark Sursa (R1, rear naked choke). The Brazilian went on the attack, but Sursa quickly turned things around and forced Mattos to the mat. William stayed in the turtle position as the American asserted side control and punished his opponent with heavy blows. Sursa then managed to sink in the hooks and get the submission with a rear naked choke while the fight was still in the first round.

Then the tallest light heavyweight Brazilian fighter, Helio Dipp (198cm), smashed Canadian wrestler Brent Beuparlant by KO into R1. The shy shoots of Brent and Dipp’s biggest reach were the factors for Brent eating a big knee to the mouth, which KO’d the Canadian and left him with a cut on his upper lip at the1:23 mark of the first round.

Next it was time to see a classic stand-off between two Brazilian black belts that rocked the audience — the super-MMA veteran Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino against Carlos Baruch.

Both guys surprised the audience with a trade of blows on their feet at the beginning of the fight. Baruch shot first, but Macaco sprawled and put Baruch’s back on the mat. Bleeding a little, Macaco managed to get top position and landed a barrage of punches right on Baruch’s face.

They exchanged positions, and the biggest moment of the first round came when Macaco, in the half guard, drove in on his opponent with a barrage of punches. Baruch weathered the storm and kept the match alive as round one ended. Round two was a replay of the beginning of round one, but this time Baruch took Macaco down. Macaco used his experience to grab Baruch’s hands and the fight went back on their feet.

They went to the ground again and Macaco got mount position close to Baruch’s corner and delivered a flurry of unanswered punches, resulting in Baruch telling the referee ‘no more’ and resulting in a verbal tap out.

Kassim Annan (France) came to fight Marcos Valle (Brazil) in the fourth match of the night. The local man Valle only uses submission in MMA, and it’s not a good deal when you face a fighter like Annan who has already fought nine MMA matches. Valle got hit on the ground and took knees to the face while shooting for a takedown. Annan almost ended the fight in the first round when he locked in a textbook kneebar. Valle defended and tried to adjust into a heelhook, which was easily defended by the Frenchman. Annan then went on to dominate for the rest of the round. He continued his dominant performance when his opponent came out very tired for the second round. He delivered some strong knees before the fight worked its way to the mat, where Kassim Annan slipped to his adversary’s back and ended the fight with a rear naked choke on a gassed-out Valle.

The lightweight fighters Frédson Paixão and Jean-Robert Monier took the second Brazil versus France challenge.

Frédson dominated the first round, continuously trying to make the fight a grappling match so he could use his formidable grappling talents to secure a victory. He eventually got his opponent down and nearly scored the submission with a triangle attempt at that point. The round ended with Paixão way ahead. In the second round Frédson kept his lead by taking it to the ground again and dominating all positions from there. Credit goes to Monier, as he was able to show a tenacious defence and make it to the final round. Round three was where the match was finally decided. Like Sursa and Annan, Frédson employed the rear naked choke for his finishing tactic. Frédson has already proved that he’s an outstanding fighter and deserves to be among the best.

Quick and lethal, don’t blink! This is the case when Shinzo Machida, Lyoto’s brother, stood up in the Jungle FC 4 ring to strike on the feet against kickboxing champion Cristiano Rosa. Shinzo absorbed a low kick and came right ahead at Rosa with a straight right. Rosa felt it and dropped. Shinzo forgot the rules and kicked Rosa’s head on the ground, resulting in referee Marcus Vinicius giving Shinzo a yellow card. Rosa insisted on the mistake of landing low kicks and once again Shinzo punched him, resulting in a knockdown. On the ground again, Rosa was pounded by kicks to the body and gave up verbally in round one.

If a fighter has five consecutive losses and faces the new generation of Brazilian MMA fighter who possesses a 10-0 resume, the crowd and the insiders can expect just one thing. A hell of a match! This describes Pele vs Monteiro. Pele displayed his Muay Thai skills with several and huge low kicks that shook Monteiro’s legs and his strategy. Cunha, in Pele’s corner, was a perfect key for Pele’s redemption in this Jungle FC. Cunha dictated the pace that Pele should follow in the fight. Cunha’s screams were heard by everybody close to the ring, including Monteiro who changed his strategy a lot during the fight. Anyway, Monteiro had good opportunities on the feet and on the ground and proved that he wasn’t a 10-0 fighter at random. Good punches and an ankle lock provided by Monteiro nearly stopped Pele’s redemption, but Pele kept a high pace to KO Monteiro with a tough right punch in round two.

The semi-main event featured local man Leopoldo Montenegro facing Rodrigo ‘Poderoso’ Sousa. Poderoso had big problems when he took such a short notice fight (and with a leg injury). Montenegro worked his ground game to avoid Poderoso’s better punches. Leopoldo started off by trying to get a takedown, but was forced to settle for the sacrifice guard. The bout went back to the feet and after some punches and a near knockdown Leopoldo submitted Poderoso with a leg lock.

The main event featured Carlos Barreto, a man living an unlucky season since the M-1 middleweight GP tournament (October 2004) when he lost to Emelianenko Alexander. Fighting Vladimir Matyushenko was a perfect chance to turn it all around, and within ten seconds of their main event fight, Barreto seemed to come across as a winner after busting Matyushenko’s nose. However, destiny conspired against the Brazilian. Barreto really ‘blasted’ his knee by himself and the fight was stopped before the 30-second mark. This final result should be considered a fiasco (since the main event didn’t last one minute), but instead the feeling was that everyone wanted to see a rematch. Matyushenko accepted the victory but promised to give the Brazilian a rematch in the next edition of the show.

This was the best Jungle FC show since the concept was created. The next show will take place on September 9 in 2005.

Full Results

Mark Sursa def. William Mattos by rear naked choke

Helio Dipp def. Brent Beuparlant by KO

Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino def. Carlos Baruch by TKO

Kassin Annan def. Marcos Valle by rear naked choke

Frédson Paixão def. Jean-Robert Monier by rear naked choke

Shinzo Machida def. Cristiano Rosa by tap out due to strikes

Jose ‘Pele’ Landy-Johns def. Fabricio Monteiro by KO

Leopoldo Montenegro def. Rodrigo ‘Poderoso’ Sousa by leg lock

Vladimir ‘The Janitor’ Matyushenko def. Carlos Barreto by TKO (knee injured)