Wagnney unleashes a shin kick back in the WEC. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa.

Former WEC fighter Wagnney Fabiano (Nova União) has been confirmed to make his Bellator debut joining his teammate Marlon Sandro in the 2012 featherweight GP. Sandro fought in last year’s GP, coming up short against Pat Curran in the tournament final.

Now Wagnney holds a record of 14 wins and three losses, and he has not fought since submitting to Joseph Benavidez via guillotine choke in November 2010 at WEC 52.

Also in the running for next year’s GP are Ronnie Mann and Daniel Straus. Bellator’s promoters are also putting together bantamweight, welterweight, middleweight and lightweight tournaments for next year.

Caiçara finishes in style. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

While in Canada thousands packed the arena to watch the UFC, in São José dos Campos, São Paulo state, the same was true for Real Fight 8. A tradition in the city, the fans who crowded in to watch the event were treated to Brazil routing Argentina by 3-0 besides local hero Carlos “Caiçara” Galvão adding another triumph to his ledger.

In the matches between the neighboring South American nations, José Conceição landed a takedown and made it to back mount on Ernesto Cristoforato, finishing with a rear-naked choke in just 1:19 minutes. Then it was Pablo Desiró’s turn to quickly dispatch Emiliano Insaurralde. In just 41 seconds, he got the takedown, mounted and achieved the knockout.

In one of the most highly anticipated fights of the night, Carlos “Caiçara”, the brother of ADCC champion André Galvão, used his Jiu-Jitsu to up the score to 3-0 for Brazil. The black belt got the takedown and worked his way to mount before deftly catching his opponent in an armbar, also in the first round.

Moto-Serra throws a kick. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

In the main events, Danillo Moto-Serra used ground and pound and leg kicks to good effect in securing a unanimous decision over Ricardo Silva. The Claudio Godoy black belt took the fight to the ground, where he made it to mount and landed a barrage of strikes for the knockout in just 2:32 minutes of fighting. Now Elias Silvério defeated Gilmar Manaus by unanimous decision.

Godoy punches from mount. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

Of the fights on the card to attract fans from elsewhere in the state of São Paulo, the one between Claudir Dutkevis and Junior Maranhão, a student of the UFC’s Charles do Bronx, caused the most excitement. After a hard-fought three rounds, Claudir would win the unanimous decision.

Check out the complete results from the show:

Real Fight 8
São José dos Campos Tennis Club
December 10, 2011

Artur Vidal defeated Guto Kojak via desistance at 1:24 minutes of R1;

Tiago Machado submitted Francisco Caiçara via triangle at 2:53 minutes of R1;

João Paulo submitted Allan Popeye via rear-naked choke at 2:38 minutes of R2;

Claudir Dutkevis defeated Junior Maranhão via unanimous decision.

Brazil versus Argentina

José Conceição submitted Ernesto Cristoforato via rear-naked choke at 1:19 min of R1;

Pablo Desiró defeated Emiliano Insaurralde via TKO at 41 min of R1;

Carlos “Caiçara” Galvão submitted Mauricio Ariel via armbar at 3:33 min of R1.

Main events

Elias Silvério defeated Gilmar Manaus via unanimous decision;

Claudio Godoy defeated Salvador Minniti via TKO at 2:32 min of R1;

Danilo Moto-Serra defeated Ricardo Scrippe via unanimous decision.

In the main fight, Michael Chandler faced the lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and was almost knocked out at the second turn. In a sensational twist, Chandler ended with the sequence of seven triumphs of the American, when applying for a connection of blows and then grabbing his back and ended the fight with a rear naked choke, during the fourth round. With the victory, Chandler took the lightweight belt from Alvarez.

Middleweight champion,  the judoka Hector Lombard used his fists to defeat the ex-UFC and Strikeforce Trevor Prangley. With a upper in the chin, Trevor made ​​him swing and fall, and with four hits defined the duel in the second round. It was the Cuban’s 20th straight victory.

Marlon Sandro came back full of energy after being knocked out by Pat Curran during hi last performance. Against Rafael Dias, he used a half-guard and finalized with a triangle choke, tapping out Rafael and ending the duel. Among the girls, Jessica Aguilar was more complete than Lisa Ellis-Ward during the three stages and won by unanimous decision.

During the preliminary fights,  Cosmo Alexandre was relentless and he needed only 20 seconds to apply a knockout over Avery McPhatter, with two knee hits, the Muay Thai world champion has achieved his first victory in MMA. Valdir Araujo was better than Ailton Araujo in the three partials and won by unanimous decision, same result obtained by

Fabio Mello against Farkhad Sharipov, and by Brett Cooper against Jared Hess.

Bellator 58

Hollywood, Flórida

November 19, 2011

Michael Chandler applied a rear naked choke over Eddie Alvarez during R4

Hector Lombard defeated Trevor Prangley by knockout during R2

Marlon Sandro applied an arm triangle choke over Rafael Dias during R1

Jessica Aguilar defeated Lisa Ellis-Ward by unanimous decision

Brett Cooper defeated Jared Hess by unanimous decision

Cosmo Alexandre defeated Avery McPhatter by knockout during R1

Valdir Araujo defeated Ailton Barbosa by unanimous decision

Hebert Goodman defeated Jonas Billstein by disqualification

Fabio Mello defeated Farkhad Sharipov by unanimous decision

Now Marlon Sandro had been putting on a good performane the featherweight GP final against Pat Curran, until a lapse of caution cost him his consciousness and the win. Jiu-Jitsu black belt Renê Nazaré put in a fine standup display, resulting in his opponent Juan Barrantes being unable to continue after the second-round break.

Check out the whole story in pictures sent in by our collaborator Gil Gomes, from the BTT.

Renê Nazaré in action / Photo: Phillip Hays

Marlon Sandro started out well in the Bellator featherweight GP final against Pat Curran. The aggressor for much of the fight, but met with a kick to the head that abruptly ended the action, dropping an unconscious Sandro to the canvas, where Curran followed up with three more strikes before te referee stepped in.

Now black belt Renê Nazaré showed his boxing is up to speed. The Brazilian had a good showing in the first round that continued in to second, cornering Juan Barrantes and tagging him with strikes. Landing a takedown, he worked the ground and pound and tried for a guillotine, but it was his merciless use of the elbow that had the greatest effect, as manifest in the battered state of the Costa Rican’s eye. Following a doctor’s check, Barrantes was barred from returning to action. The win is the tenth in the Brazilian’s undefeated career.

In the all ex-UFC figher matchup, Seth Petruzelli got the better of Ricco Rodrigues, landing a lethal uppercut and following up with hammer strikes on the ground for the win over the former UFC champion.

(Collaborator Junior Samurai)

Complete results:

Bellator 48
Connecticut, United States
August 20, 2011

Pat Curran defeated Marlon Sandro via TKO in R2;
Cole Konrad defeated Paul Buentello via unanimous decision;
Seth Petruzelli defeated Ricco Rodriguez via TKO in R1;
Renê Nazaré defeated Juan Barrantes via doctor’s intervention in R2;
Nik Fekete defeated Mark Griffin via TKO in R2;
Saul Almeida defeated Tateki Matsuda via unanimous decision;
Jeff Nader defeated Dan Cramer via TKO in R3;
Ryan Quinn submitted Brett Oteri via guillotine in R1;
Andrew Calandrelli submitted Matt Nice in R1.

Marlon at Bellator / Publicity photo

Marlon Sandro, a former Sengoku champion considered one of the world’s top featherweights, takes on Pat Curran this Saturday in Connecticut, USA, in the Bellator featherweight GP final.

The Nova União ace did well in his last two appearances, qualifying him for the tournament final. First he had a lively fight with Junior PQD, winning by split decision, and in the semifinal that followed he took a unanimous decision over Nazareno Malagarie.

If he wins today, the André Pederneiras student will automatically qualify to face Joe Warren for the divisional belt.

Also featuring on the card, former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez takes on Seth Petruzelli, the first man to beat internet sensation Kimbo Slice.

(Collaborator Junior Samurai)

Check out the card:

Bellator 48
Connecticut, USA
August 20, 2011

Pat Curran vs Marlon Sandro
Cole Konrad vs Paul Buentello
Ricco Rodriguez vs Seth Petruzelli
Rene Nazare vs Juan Barrantes
Nik Fekete vs Mark Griffin
Saul Almeida vs Tateki Matsuda
Dan Cramer vs John Clarke
Ryan Quinn vs Brett Oteri
Andrew Calandrelli vs Matt Nice

Marlon at Bellator / Publicity photo

Bellator 47 brought big excitement to Ontario, Canada’s Casino Rama this Saturday, with Brazil’s Marlon Sandro outgunning Argentina’s Nazareno Malegarie in their featherweight semifinal tilt. The Nova União ace pushed the action throughout the three-round affair, earning the André Pederneiras student a spot in the grand prix final, where he will meet Pat Curran, who made it through after beating Ronnie Mann by unanimous decision in the other semifinal that evening.

(Collaborator Junior Samurai)

Check out the complete results:

Bellator 47
Ontario, Canada
July 23, 2011

Pat Curran defeated Ronnie Mann via unanimous decision
Marlon Sandro defeated Nazareno Malegarie via unanimous decision
Neil Grove defeated Zak Jensen via technical knockout in R1
Chris Horodecki defeated Chris Saunders via unanimous decision
William Romero defeated Daniel Langbeen via unanimous decision
Alexandre Popó Bezerra submitted Jesse Gross via rear-naked choke in R1
Alex Ricci defeated Alka Matewa via technical knockout in R2

Marlon displays Sengoku belt. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

There was no lack of excitement at Bellator 46, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida. The event featured four featherweight GP quarterfinal matches and five superfights.

The one with the most expectations surrounding it was an all-Brazilian affair. Former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro faced a game Junior PQD in an action-packed three-rounder that played out mostly on the feet, with Marlon managing a knockdown in the first. The two rounds that followed were evenly matched, earning Marlon Sandro a split-decision nod on his debut on American soil.

In the other featherweight GP matchups, Ronnie Mann put away Adam Schindler with a left-hook knockdown and follow-up strikes on his grounded opponent.

Argentina’s Nazareno Malegarie, a student of the UFC’s Thiago Tavares, submitted Jacob Devree with a third-round inverted guillotine and qualified for the tournament semifinals.

Now Pat Curran literally ran roughshod over Luis Palomino. Showing keen boxing skills, the 2010 bantamweight GP winner was more aggressive and landed a number of strikes before sealing the deal with a Peruvian neck tie, all in the first round.

The other Brazilian in the event, Antonio Bezerra Popó, needed just 3:27 minutes to finish Sam Jones with a triangle, bringing his tally to nine wins in ten fights.

(Collaborator Junior Samurai)

Full results:

Bellator 46
Hollywood, Florida, USA
June 25, 2011

Featherweight GP

Quarterfinals
Pat Curran submitted Luis Palomino via choke in R1
Marlon Sandro defeated Junior PQD via split decision
Nazareno Malegarie submitted Jacob Devree via inverted guillotine in R3
Ronnie Mann defeated Adam Schindler via TKO in R1

Undercard
Jessica Aguilar defeated Carla Esparza via split decision
Tony Johnson defeated Derrick Lewis via unanimous decision
Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra submitted Sam Jones via triangle in R1
Dan Cramer defeated Josh Samman via unanimous decision

Aldo with UFC belt / Photo: publicity

A special spectator, Palhinha, drew a lot of attention to himself in the front row at UFC 129, near the octagon. The Brazilian from Belém do Pará screamed himself hoarse for his idol Lyoto Machida but also for featherweight champion José Aldo, who quickly made his way to talk to the karateka following the event. He’d heard Palhinha shouting the whole time.

Aldo’s coach, Dedé Pederneiras, was brimming with pride: “He did everything like we’d planned it. The only thing he he did that was off the program was go for that guillotine, when he sat back. He’d never done that in training,” he told GRACIEMAG.com’s editor, Marcelo Dunlop.

“We got tense at the end of the fight,” admits chief training partner Marlon Sandro.

“I saw his neck exposed and went for it, I thought I could get it,” said Aldo in response, already with the belt dangling from his arm, Nikes on his feet, and wearing Nova União shorts. Then he added: “I knew I’d won the earlier rounds, so I took it easy playing guard in the last one. I’m a Flamengo (soccer team) fan and like excitement. That’s why I liked the fight – that excitement in the end!”

Now it’s more than likely he’ll face the undefeated Chad Mendes, more than likely at UFC Rio, which anyone following GRACIEMAG.com on Twitter (@graciemag_br) knew even before Aldo had stepped into the octagon this Saturday.

“Now UFC Rio is coming up and the foreigners will get to see what it’s like fighting in their opponents’ hometown. Chad Mendes is a really tough guy who’s been moving up the ranks in the event. If the boss gives the go-ahead, it will be a good fight; I’m a UFC employee.”

However, Dana White says the fight may end up taking place at another event, perhaps in Philadelphia.

Mark Hominick, the opponent at the 129th installment of the show, didn’t fold. White also had nothing but good things to say about the doctors not interrupting the fight, even after a worryingly huge welt developed on Mark’s forehead – the fighter went straight to the hospital alongside his wife, who is near the end of her pregnancy.

“It was an awesome fight! Mark really brought the goods, he’s a great fighter, really tough. I knew his boxing was great and had sharpened up his muay thai for this. I looked to kick his legs a lot and strike. But all my fights leading up to this one were tough, not just this one. It was great for the crowd to see that I’ll go a full five rounds,” said Aldo, breaking down the fight.

Despite the black eye, there’s only one thing concerning the champion for the time being: the upcoming final game of his beloved soccer team, Flamengo, against Vasco da Gama on Sunday.

“I don’t know if I’ll get to see the game, I’m catching a flight to Orlando tomorrow.”

Aldo at UFC 129 weigh-ins / Photo: Josh Hedges

When José Aldo stepped up on stage at the Ricoh Centre to meet up with the other six UFC champions he was a kind of dizzy. He was weak with hunger from shedding pounds to weigh in a few minutes later. “He’s hungry for victory,” whispered training partner on team Nova União Marlon Sandro.

After making weight the Amazonas native nicknamed “Scarface” by fans went to his hotel room, where he has been in concentration since his arrival on Thursday and didn’t come out even to watch his beloved team Flamengo on TV at a Brazilian restaurant on Wednesday. He opted to surf the internet instead.

After weigh-ins he took to rest and slowly nourished him back to strength. This is the time when team Nova União works on another important aspect: the codewords they use during the fight.

“When he fought Faber, yelling instructions in Portuguese was no good because he does Jiu-Jitsu, he understands some, and there are always Brazilians in his corner. These days there’s always a Brazilian in everyone’s corner, so we developed a system of codewords. In the days before the fight we pass them on to him for him to remember them automatically in the octagon,” says Marlon.

How about an example, Marlon? “You’ve never heard us shouting ‘Nas coxinhas, nas coxinhas!’ before?” (meaning “on the skinny thighs”), said Marlon, “That’s a codeword for a move.” So if you hear some nonsense being spouted, reader, don’t get confused. It’s Aldo getting ready to go into full gear.

Aldo with UFC belt / Photo: publicity

Acclaimed best fighter of 2010 José Aldo sort of kept in the shadows at the press conference for UFC 129, where he will make his promotional debut since the fusion with the WEC, defending his belt against Mark Homenick. However quiet in the interview, the current number one featherweight in the world promises he’ll show who his is in the octagon come Saturday night.

“For sure. But I see no problem in that (reporters not asking much of him); what’s important is being there in the octagon. That’s where I’ll show who I am,” he asserted.

On his opponent’s style:

“Perfect, two attackers. He’s going to do his game and I’ll do mine. We’ll see who’s who when the time comes. The one whose head is less in it is going to fall,” said Aldo in closing.

UFC 129
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada
April 30, 2011

Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields
José Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
Lyoto Machida vs. Randy Couture
Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson

Preliminary card on Spike TV

Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald
Sean Pierson vs. Brian Foster

Preliminary card (Informal Canada versus USA)

Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza
Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts
Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia
Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen
John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson

Loro with his Ring of Combat featherweight belt / Photo: John Tabor

Sure he spent years as a top-ranked bantamweight and can even boast of being one of UFC champion José Aldo’s first teachers, but Marcos “Lôro” Galvão knows he’ll have his work cut out for him when he faces Joe Warren in the Bellator 41 main event this Saturday in Yuma, Arizona. That’s why it was so startling to hear him say he’s taking the fight so seriously he’s “taken a three-month vacation.”

Odd as it sounded, Lôro wasn’t kidding. But neither was he overlooking the dangers inherent in facing a world champion wrestler like Warren – one who barged onto the MMA scene emphatically, taking out former WEC champion Chase Beebe and all-time great Kid Yamamoto in his first two outings and going on to wrecking-ball his way through the Bellator Featherweight GP. It just means Loro’s fighting career had taken a back seat to his teaching career – and that the fans can look forward to a great fight come Saturday night, with two virtuosos in their respective martial arts likely to put on a great main event.

The three featherweights: Lôro, José Aldo, and Marlon Sandro / Photo: John Tabor

It wasn’t long ago that Loro was at the pinnacle of the world MMA ranks. Before the WEC became the premier lighter-fighter promotion, the standout Jiu-Jitsu black belt (among numerous achievements in the gentle art, he once won successive world championships as a blue belt and a brown belt, skipping purple belt altogether) was a fixture atop the World Shooto bantamweight rankings, beating top-tier fighters of the time like Kenji Osawa and Fredson Paixão. Then, two WEC losses sandwiched around a draw in a Shooto World title challenge set him back in his bid to become the world’s number one bantamweight. After the disappointing end to his WEC tenure came the switch to teaching mode, move to New York, and three-fight unbeaten run as a featherweight.

Lôro and his mentor, "Dedé" Pederneiras / Photo: John Tabor

“I feel so much better at this weight,” he said, shortly after winning the Ring of Combat featherweight title in December of last year. “I feel so much stronger, and I train a lot better.” Now being so pleased with the results obtained at his new weight, it would go to figure he’d be somewhat put off at having to face the champion of his new division at his new event but at a catch-weight closer to the one he just vacated. But Lôro’s chipper about the situation and happy he’s getting his shot:

“It’s a great opportunity for me. I don’t care that it’s not for the belt; I’m going to fight a champion in the main event and the event will be broadcast live on MTV2. I couldn’t ask for more,” he said. “He wanted this fight at a 137-lb catch-weight because he’s going to move down to try and win the bantamweight division, too. That’s fine, I can make bantamweight again. Here in America I learned the science behind making weight – it’s not so hard for me anymore,” he said, hinting at further changes since moving to North America.

Lôro grapples with Shaolin. Photo: Luca Atalla.

Now in New York, where when not on vacation he teaches Jiu-Jitsu and MMA full time at Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro’s Manhattan academy, he no longer trains regularly with the fierce Nova União outfit where he used to spar daily with the UFC’s José Aldo and Renan Barão, former Sengoku champ Marlon Sandro, and seasoned strikers like Johnny Eduardo; but that doesn’t mean the level he trains at has dropped off any: “I train MMA with the Millers and their guys,” he said, referring to Jim Miller, who is now at the top of the stacked UFC lightweight food chain, and his brother Dan Miller, who just went the distance with the dreaded Nate Marquardt as a late replacement at UFC 128. “They’re so strong it’s unbelievable. They’re technical too, but they’re just ridiculously strong,” he said of his new workout partners, when asked whether he would be ready for the kind of strength a world champion wrestler like Warren brings to the table; then explaining what is different for him now that he is in the States:“Those guys know how to train smart: I’ve learned how to train just enough not to overtrain, how to eat just enough not to go hungry and still make weight, and how to make the weight cut without suffering so much. People here have it down to a science.”

The Millers' and Shaolin's crews united / Photo: personal archives

But all the changes in approach and life he mentions urge the question: is there anything left of the methods that got him to the top of the Shooto rankings and into the WEC as a contender, during the previous incarnation of his career? The answer came as little wonder, given how the only man to stop Warren to date hails from Lôro’s hometown of Manaus and has the same martial arts background: “I’m still training Jiu-Jitsu. Bibiano (Fernandes) beat him – why can’t I?”

The other question begging to be asked we’ll just hang on to for if and when it happens: if he successfully puts the brakes on Warren’s dominant run in Bellator, will he take a real vacation?

Marlon in photo by Carlos Ozório

A former Sengoku champion considered to be one of the best featherweights in the world, Marlon Sandro is celebrating some news. The black belt will now also appear at the American Bellator event, while continuing to fight in Japan, which will become all the more interesting now that Dream and Sengoku will likely join forces with each other.

“I signed a two-year contract with Bellator, but I’ll still fight in Japan for at least another year and a half. There’s a strong push for Sengoku and Dream to unite, so things will get really interesting. In the United States, though, I can only fight at Bellator,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.

Accustomed to fighting in the Land of the Rising Sun, Marlon knows he will encounter different reactions from people in the United States.

“Both countries value athletes a lot. But in the USA the crowd tends to be more vocal. If they like a fight, they get really excited about it. If they don’t like it, they boo. I’ve accompanied José Aldo and Vitor Shaolin to their fights over there, which was good so I could see how things work,” he says.

Marlon should soon see action in one of the Bellator Gps, probably starting in June. In the meantime, he is looking at his likely opponents.

“I’m still getting to know the promotion’s fighters; I started analyzing them now. I used to keep up with the event because of Patrício Pitbull, I rooted for him a lot. So he’s one of the fighters I know a bit about. But I still have to study the rest of them, because I want to get in there and try for that belt,” says the Nova União hard-hitter in closing.

Live Jiu-Jitsu is aiming to collect one hundred gi’s by the summer. They will be collecting gi’s on both Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at the 6 th AZ Open. Additionally, On The Mat (OTM) Fight Shop has been gracious enough to assist Live Jiu-Jitsu in this gi-drive. They will be offering a 15% discount for any new OTM gi to those who donate their old one (good condition). A good reason to donate to a great cause just got better!

Nova União founder and team leader André Pederneiras (right) donating gis to Tatame Legal of Fabiano "Babu" Freitas (left) / Photo: publicity

The tournament will be held February 26th & 27th at Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona. Gi’s will be collected near the front entrance.

For more information about Live Jiu-Jitsu, its causes, or how you can help, visit their website www.livejiu-jitsu.org or via email at  emaillivejiujitsu.org@gmail.com.

Robson Moura (left), from catastrophe-stricken Teresóplis, will teach at the seminar. Photo: Facebook page of Danilo Cherman (right)

The recent catastrophe in the mountain region of the state of Rio de Janeiro has mobilized the martial arts community to help provide much-needed supplies to the surviving victims. Bottled water, powdered milk, toothpaste, soap are all scarce and necessary items in the afflicted areas, where official mortality numbers are nearing 700 but estimates exceed two thousand.

With several members of the team from the region and a tradition of solidarity among teammates, Nova União will hold a food-drive seminar at 7:30 pm this Tuesday, January 18, that will gather stars like UFC champion José Aldo, Marlon Sandro, Ronys Torres, Danilo Cherman, seven-time world champion Robson Moura (who is from the ravaged town of Teresóplis, where he will hold another benefit seminar on Thursday) to teach their highly-acclaimed Jiu-Jitsu techniques to any and all who bring non-perishable food, water, medical supplies or personal hygiene items like soap and toothpaste to donate to the cause.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Place: Academia Upper, 88 Marquês de Abrantes, Flamengo (just a few steps from Flamengo subways stations), Rio de Janeiro
Time: 7:30 pm
Cost: donation of necessary items like water, food, personal hygiene items, mattresses – whatever and however much is available to participant
Bring: gi