In the late 1990s, when
Pride Fighting Championships was in its golden
days and the
Ultimate Fighting Championship was in crisis,
the only way for great Brazilian talent to get a chance to join the
Japanese promotion was to stand out at the bloody
International Vale Tudo
Championship (IVC).
Having in his hands the largest talent platform in the Brazilian
market for Japan, IVC promoter
Sergio
Batarelli also attracted the interest of talents from the
American market, including
Chuck
Liddell and
Mark Kerr,
managing to perform shows at the same level as international
ones.
As at the time there was no television deal available, and no
possibility of making money through pay-per-view, Batarelli decided
to produce tapes of his shows, which were sold all over the world.
To optimize production expenses, the promoter began to two cards on
the same night.
It was like this on January 20, 1999, with the structure set up at
Augustu's concert hall in Sergipe, northeast of Brazil. The public,
unaware of the event numbers (IVC 8 and 9), could watch a total of
10 fights, including four Brazil vs. US matchups and two title
bouts.
Brazil vs. USA: Two Belts on the Line
The rivalry between the two greatest powers of MMA in the world was
always the formula used by Batarelli to ignite the local crowd in
almost every edition of the IVC. On that night, representatives of
the two countries disputed two belts. Claiming the heavyweight
belt,
Carlos
Barreto had the main event of the night with
Mark
Coleman's pupil,
Branden Lee
Hinkle, while
Rafael
Cordeiro faced American
Henry
Matamoros for the lightweight belt. There were also superfights
in
Francisco
Bueno vs.
Jason Godsey
and
Wanderlei
Silva vs.
Adrian
Serrano.
Silva, who was coming off a loss to
Vitor
Belfort a few months before at the UFC’s first event in Brazil,
had no trouble running over
Adrian
Serrano (1.79m/88kg) in just 22 seconds. At the end of the
fight, the Chute Boxe representative revealed to me how anxious he
was to have a rematch with Belfort. “That defeat was a fatality, we
are both very young. I'm sure we'll meet in the future,” predicted
the future Mr. Pride. After beating Serrano, Silva ran over
Eugene
Jackson in 32 seconds three months later in IVC 10. Two weeks
after that quick win he returned to the UFC, knocking out
Tony Petarra
in2 minutes, 53 seconds. Four months later, on Sept. 12, 1999,
Silva made his Pride debut, defeating
Carl
Ognibene via decision. The rest is history.
Cordeiro Wins 30-Minute “War”
Unlike his training partner Silva,
Rafael
Cordeiro (178m/70kg) didn't have an easy fight and had to fight
30 minutes to win the event's lightweight belt. Cordeiro was
invited to replace incumbent champion
Sergio Melo,
who had beaten him in the final of the IVC 7. A disagreement
between Batarelli and Melo, who refused to fight for $250, meant
that Rudimar Fedrigo's student got the change to face the American
Henry
Matamoros (1.72m/70kg), student of Romero Jacare (Alliance),
for the vacant belt.
The three-time Brazilian muay Thai champion started showing total
superiority, coming close to the knockout on three occasions and
raising the local crowd. But the warrior spirit of the US-born son
of Ecuadorians led Coleman and other Americans to his corner.
Pushed by his compatriots, Matamoros made the fight more
difficult.
After 20 minutes, Cordeiro got tired of hitting so much and started
to be hit by Matamoros who, even from below, managed to close
Cordeiro's left eye. At the end of the 30-minute war, the man who
would be voted the greatest MMA coach in the world twice (2012 and
2015), was declared the winner and new champion of the IVC.
Bueno Possessed
In another Brazil vs. USA match,
Andre
Pederneiras' heavyweight student,
Francisco
Bueno (1.82m/105kg), justified his rising hype by running over
American
Jason Godsey
(1.88m/103kg) in just 1:39. The Brazilian was so nervous about his
debut that he threw the American through the ropes and, even though
he was almost on the ground, he kept hitting to the point that
Batarelli had to strangle him to stop.
When the fight was restarted, Bueno took down his opponent, mounted
and finished with punches, leading the crowd to delirium. One who
didn't like Bueno's victory at all was Godsey's coach, Phylis Lee,
who even appealed the result: “I'm disgusted. This is a sport, not
a street fight, Batarelli should have disqualified him.”
“Carlao” Taps Hinkle, Kisses Coleman, Calls out Kerr
The fourth match between the US and Brazil was the biggest rivalry
in the vale tudo world at the time: Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu vs.
Hammer House wrestling.
After Barreto's victory (1.94m/108kg) over
Mark Coleman
disciple
Kevin
Randleman in the final of UVF 4, Coleman brought in
Branden Lee
Hinkle (1.87m/100kg) to face the heavyweight representative of
the Carlson Gracie school at IVC 8. As in the confrontation with
Randleman, Barreto started at a disadvantage, being knocked down
and even suffering a cut on his forehead as a result of his
opponent's heavy ground-and-pound. Barreto’s bleeding silenced the
crowd, which until that moment had not stopped screaming “Brazil!
Brazil!”
The referee was already thinking about intervening when Barreto
pushed the American off with his legs and came back to his feet,
blocking Hinkle’s second attempt at a double-leg and attacking with
a guillotine choke that ended the fight.
At the celebration, “Carlao,” with his forehead full of blood, went
towards rival Coleman and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He then
took the microphone and challenged the most feared man in the Vale
Tudo world by that time, Coleman´s friend and pupil
Mark Kerr. “Kerr
you are mine, wait for me,” screamed Barreto.
“Babalu” Wins a Classic and Challenges “Carlao”
This edition of the IVC was also marked by a confrontation between
two great Brazilian vale tudo schools:
Marco Ruas and
Carlson Gracie.
The Ruas team presented
Renato “Babalu”
Sobral (1.87m/105kg), a former Brazilian national wrestling
champion but a vale tudo unknown, who did not give
Fernando
Cerchiari any chances (1.90m/98kg) in their matchup. After a
quick exchange of blows, “Babalu” took down Cerchiari and started
to score with solid ground-and-pound. Sensing his opponent was
hurt, Sobral decided to make him stand back up, whereupon he backed
him into a corner and landed a hard shot.
Dizzy, Bosco sat on the ropes and Sobral took the opportunity to
push him out of the ring. Upon falling, it was clear that the
Carlson representative did not want to return to the ring anymore.
Batarelli started the count and declared the Ruas representative
the winner. After the fight Babalú asked for the microphone and
challenged Barreto, holder of the heavyweight belt.
One of the most anticipated fights of the event, the rematch
between
Jose
Landi-Jons and
Milton
Bahia, ended up not happening, because “Pelé” had an elbow
injury and ended up leaving the card. In his place, Batarelli
invited the winner of the Ultimate Brazil alternative fight,
Tulio
Palhares.
Palhares started well and managed to take down Bahia, but he soon
reversed it and started to deliver powerful blows from inside
Tulio´s guard, defining the fight at 4:38 with a barrage of
punches. At the end of the fight, Bahia once again challenged
Landi-Jons. Unfortunately, that rematch that never took place.
Chute Boxe and Luta-Livre (Budokan) were present in another
long-awaited match where
Pedro Otavio
(1.90m/105kg) should have no trouble finishing Rudimar Fedrigo's
disciple,
Silvio
“Urutum” de Souza (1.81m/82kg). Knowing the skills of the
people from Curitiba in the standing fight, “The Pedro” wasted no
time and soon took the fight to the ground. After several armbar
attempts, Otavio decided to go to the mount, where he forced
Batarelli to stop the fight due to punches at 10 minutes, 20
seconds.