Boxing, the Brazilian MMA fever

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Boxing, the Brazilian MMA fever
By Marcelo Alonso Collaborated André Araújo

MMA has been influenced by different sources since it was presented to the world by Rorion Gracie in 1993. After the BJJ control, with Royce (US) and Rickson (Japan) showing to the world the Soft Art was the best style in a style-against-style dispute, some other fights left their mark on the sport, such as the Wrestling (with Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr) and, right after it, the Muay Thai (due to Pedro Rizzo and Wanderlei Silva performances).

Time passed by and then the cross-training era came, when most of the MMA teams hired BJJ, Wrestling and Muay Thai trainers. When the news seemed to have ended, the Russians appear at the rings, with fighters such as Emelianenko Fedor and Sergei Kharitonov bringing an aggressive Boxing skill together with a good Wrestling. In Brazil, this movement could be seen at the best MMA academies, which hired Boxing trainers to adapt the Boxing skills to the MMA.

However, another phenomenom may be attacking the MMA world in a different way. Needing to sharpen their hands, some of MMA fighters are also competing at the Boxing amateur tournaments. After winning the traditional Luvas de Ouro, Jefferson Tank, like Rodrigo Minotauro and Rogério Minotouro was invited to represent Brazil at Boxing Pre-Olympic tournament in 2003. And, talking about Minotouro, Little Nog has just won the Brazilian Boxing Nationals, in Salvador, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The Brazilian Nationals also had some Meca fighters such as Fabrício Morango, Carlos Baruck and Rodrigo Durok.

Dórea and the Nog bros

Mixing an amazing ground technique - result of years and years of BJJ training - with a good Muay Thai technique developed by Luis Alves and a brave heart, Rodrigo Minotauro (BTT) got invincible for three years at the Pride Heavyweight. When everybody thought that Rodrigo would keep his invincibility till his retirement, the Russian Emelianenko Fedor appeared at Pride. With heart, an aggressive Boxing skill and a good Sambo technique, the Russian defeated Nogueira and became the number 1 at the Heavyweight category. Since then, almost unconsciously, Rodrigo started the Boxing era in the Brazilian MMA.

Ulisses Pereira at Chute Boxe

The Battle of 2005 between Rogério Minotouro and Maurício Shogun at Pride Middleweight GP second round attracted Chute Boxe's attention to the Boxing. One month after the fight arrived at Curitiba another Brazilian Boxing star, Ulisses Pereira, who also trains the former WBO Lightweight champ Acelino Popó Freitas. Like BTT and Chute Boxe, Ulisses and Dórea are the biggest names at the Boxing scenario in Brazil. This rivalry now is reaching the MMA rings. 'In my opinion, Rogério trained Boxing to a Boxing fight, not for a MMA combat. I'm training Shogun and Wanderlei to fight MMA!', Ulisses provokes.

Cláudio Coelho, the first one

If Chute Boxe, Brazilian Top Team and most of the Brazilian MMA teams do Boxing nowadays, this was totally different in the past. The first one to adapt the Boxing skills to the MMA in Brazil was Cláudio Coelho. In 1990, at the time that Luta-Livre and Jiu-Jitsu were in a war, Cláudio Coelho got invited by Carlson Gracie to train the BJJ athletes to the challenge at the Grajaú Gym, in 1991.

Aus: http://www.tatame.com.br/ingles/index.htm