This article was originally featured on Sherdog.
January 31, 2005
by Portal do Vale Tudo
February is starting and "vacation" is a word that no Brazilian fighter wants to hear. There have been enough days of rest for those who fought in the end of the year and the focus for the great combats in 2005 is already marked.
In this addition of the Brazilian Notebook, Wanderlei Silva explains his defeat to Mark Hunt, while Ricardo Arona uses it as an advantage to provoke the champion. Hermes Franca has the possibility to win against an adversary that beat him in a questionable decision and Wallid Ismail promises an unforgettable Jungle Fight. MMA in Brazil has reached its boiling point.
Wanderlei Speaks About his Fight Against Hunt
Wanderlei Silva took his vacation with his family at the beaches of northeast Brazil. Now the champion is back home and training with his team for the next challenge. Almost one month after his fight against Mark Hunt, Wanderlei explained how everything happened.
"I traveled to Japan thinking that I was going to fight with Tamura or Nakamura," Wanderlei said. "Those were the two that they had offered me since Sakuraba was hurt. Then I traveled without knowing with who I was going to fight. Arriving, the fellas there had turned to me and said, 'We have this dude here, Hunt, to fight you.'"
"I asked how many kilos he had, because to give five kilos advantage in MMA already is an absurd thing, because they are all top fighters," continued the PRIDE champion. "There I found that the dudes went to say that he had the same weight as Fedor—around 105kg—then they said he had 125kg! There I said 'Fuck! I got to think about it and I'll be back with an answer.' I was in my room and 20 minutes later I was with my mind set, finding that it was possible; I wanted to fight and decided to accept. I was ready and between the Tamura, Nakamura and Hunt, the man with the bigger name was [Hunt], and the public wanted to see me fight a bigger opponent of stronger name. But it was good, I saw that I could do it."
The decision was questionable, and every time Wanderlei watches the fight, he is more certain of his victory. "Today I was analyzing the fight one more time. In the second round—with that one knockdown that he gave me—the victory was his, even with me having passed a good time mounted on him. But I think that the first and third rounds were mine.
"I think that some factors have that to be led in consideration, as the difference of weight and the yellow card that he took in third round. I find that the fight was not even; I had advantage, but exactly when the fight is even he has that to give to the lighter victory. If I catch one lighter fighter and if he [fights] with me … I give him the victory. That was so clear that when he was awarded the victory he got a weird look on his face and then came to me to apologize for the decision."
But the defeat did not shake the champion.
"This is the past now and already I am preparing this year, I do not know what's going to happen, but I'm training, because here we don't carry around a defeatist attitude."
On the future, Wanderlei still does not know where he will go to fight, but he is negotiating with the promoters of the PRIDE and leaves clearly that it's his goal to be in the event and face the best opposition, as always.
"I am very motivated and I'm prepared to fight both middleweights and heavyweights. I would like to fight Fedor, that is a good athlete and the fighter that beats him is done for life. I like to fight with the best ones, then find that this year I catch the dude, or "Cro Cop." I am prepared to fight with everybody."
Arona Picking on Wanderlei
Ricardo Arona is one of the main candidates to contend for the middleweight crown of PRIDE and does not hide his desire to go after this prize. "I've been waiting for a long time to get a shot," he said. "For three years I tried to get this fight, but always something happened. But at last, it is a thing that is written and it'll happen; we can't delay it anymore, now he has nowhere to run."
The jiu-jitsu black belt does not agree that Wanderlei is at the same level. "Wanderlei is far from honoring his black belt—he is in the beginning of blue at most. This was nothing but media and marketing."
Hermes Franca Faces Yves Edwards in Euphoria
Hermes França is not going to face Rich Clementi for the semifinal of the Euphoria on February 26. With the absence of Joachim Hansen and with the possibility of Yves Edwards going to PRIDE, the organization has decided to showcase a confrontation between Franca and Yves Edwards, rematching the fight from UFC 47 that had the American as the winner.
"This is a chance that I've been waiting for a long time," Franca said. "That fight is going to be one year old soon and it was about time for me to get a rematch."
"The strategy is going to be aggressive all the time. I'll beat him even if I have to hit him with a two-by-four on the head."
Storm Samurai in Octagon
Storm Samurai is already one of the top MMA events in Brazil. Rafael Cordeiro, the promoter of the show, told us that in 2005 the idea is to exchange its ring for an octagon.
"Already we are with all the mounted structure and with certainty this is going to be the biggest event of MMA that Brazil ever saw," he said. The next edition of the event will be March 5, and, according to Cordeiro, Jorge Patino "Macaco," Edcarlos "Monstro" and the ADCC Brazilian Trials Champion Gabriel "Napão" are certain to participate on the card.
Tony DeSouza Returns
Tony DeSouza will come back to the ring in April in the South American Open Championship, in Peru, against Angelo Dias. DeSouza comes off an excellent season and discusses his good performances in MECA and in Jungle Fight in 2004.
"This year that passed was very good to me; [I] made excellent fights. I love to fight in Brazil because it is there that are the best fighters."
He also spoke about his three fights in the UFC. "[The] UFC was in the start of my career as fighter. I liked [the UFC] very much and wait one day to come back to fight there, therefore the UFC is a great show." The presence of DeSouza in the next Jungle Fight also is almost certain.
News and Notes
"I am in search of a classic!" Wallid Ismail, promoter of the Jungle Fight, told The Brazilian Notebook. To this end, Ismail is trying to put two great fights that, on paper, will be classic MMA fights—Renato "Babalu" against "Paulão" Filho and Evangelista "Cyborg" against Jose "Pelé" Landy.
The organization of SHOOTO Brazil presented its rankings. The idea of the promoters is to get the top fighters to fight in Japan. The No. 1 fighters in each weight class are: Jose Aldo (60kg), Fábio Mello (65kg), Danilo Cherman (70kg), Luis "Besouro" (76kg), Ivan "Batman" (83kg), Andres "Marola" (91kg), Vitor Vianna (100kg) and Gabriel "Napao" (above 100kg).
Jean Silva is already in London, where on February 26 he faces American Chris Brennan in Cage Rage 10. Now in Chute Boxe, Jean promises a knockout. " I'm training hard for this fight; I'm a machine. I am training much Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu, and I am calm for this fight. I'm scoring me a knockout." Jean Silva will have reinforcements in the final phase of his training in the form of Rudimar Fedrigo, Wanderlei Silva and Evangelista Cyborg, who will also fight in the show.
Leandro Ribeiro Gomes, promoter of the 3rd Submission Wrestling São João da Barra, announced an MMA super fight between K-1 Brazil champion Jeferson "Tank" and Dimitri Wanderley. 3º Submission Wrestling will take place on February 18 and 19.
After impressing those that saw his first MMA fight in WEC 13, where he beat Shonie Carter, Jorge "Van Damme" Oliveira talked about his victory. "I was better in the stand-up. Then I decided to keep the fight on the feet and to try to [score a] knockout, but [Carter] could take a punch and hit in return. It was hard and dangerous. It was an excellent fight."
