Stories, mysteries and consequences of the fight where everything collided
On September 27 of 1997, a major MMA event unfolds in the Tijuca Tennis Club, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. On the program are stars like Murilo Bustamante, Jerry Bohlander, Renzo Gracie, Eugenio Tadeu and Oleg Taktarov. Everything runs smoothly till the final fight, between Renzo and Eugenio. The two fight a frantic battle, and the first round ends without a hitch.
But, in the second, when the fighters are pressed up against the fence (it takes place in a pentagon, hence the name Pentagon Combat), some spectators start to slip past the security and kick the fence. This is not a normal event. Soon, rival spectators are outraged by this and enter the mix. Soon there are dozens, hundreds. Suddenly, the lights in the gymnasium go out, plastic chairs sail through the air.
The repercussions are monumental. A youth in love with fighting, who answers to the name Pedro Rizzo, is unable to be there because he will be fighting at the European Muay Thai Championship in Holland, but finds out a few hours later, on CNN. MMA events in the city, if not in fact prohibited – and they are not, as Mayor Cesar Maia declares in “GRACIE Magazine 126” -, have been condemned and are no longer held. What happened?
Technique and animosity: Renzo presented his rival with a lot of danger on the ground, while Eugenio looked to come back using his shins (below).
NOCAUTE doesn’t intend to answer all the questions, on the tenth anniversary of the milestone that was Pentagon Combat – a milestone for the grandeur of the domestic event, a milestone in the growth of prejudice against MMA. Anyhow, we consult some of the main characters in the story, each with his own opinions and recollections, each side claiming one fighter or the other would have won the epic battle that never finished. Much of the story is poorly documented; many topics are taboo, and a large part we were led through by the memories and points of view of the interviewees. But we seek to provide a voice to both sides, to find out what gave rise to the events of that September 27, and what was left as a lesson.
Origins
Eugenio Tadeu and Hugo Duarte, two of luta livre’s greatest exponents, say the rivalry with Jiu-Jitsu started out of the need to demand respect. “I just thought there should be equality between the styles and respect between one another. I can’t say I’m gonna smash your face, I’ll submit you in 30 seconds, and leave it at that,” says Eugenio, now 44, adding that he holds practitioners of the gentle art in high regard.
Hugo Duarte, 44 as well, now working with Carlao Barreto at Black House, considers the rivalry to be something kosher, but still doesn’t hold back on his provocations: “We were the only fighting style, at the time, to fight for our due recognition.”
To Renzo Gracie, the rivalry has a well-defined initial milestone, involving Rilion Gracie and Mario Duma – Flavio Monina’s brother-in-law, taekwondo practitioner and friend of the luta livre crowd. That was back in the 1980s. “It was in Teresopolis. That’s what started things. After the fight between the two, we went to Naja gym [in Flamengo], Rolls took on Marinho toe to toe,” recalls the coach of the Pitbulls in the IFL.
A little later, on November 30, 1984, the Maracanazinho gymnasium watched a great battle between styles, and that was when Eugenio Tadeu was thrust into the limelight – by knocking out Renan Pitanguy, defender of Jiu-Jitsu who, as did the others, fought in his gi.
But the contention was ripe for leaving the rings, and in 1998, on Pepe beach, in Barra, a small crowd met for a legendary street fight. “Before Rickson moved to the United States, he heard Hugo Duarte wanted to fight him, that Denilson Maia wanted to fight him, and Rickson went to the beach one day and fought that fight where he slapped Hugo,” Royler Gracie recounts. “Rickson said, ‘Let’s go?’ and Hugo said, ‘Dude, I’m not ready.’ So Rickson slapped him across the face and said, ‘now you have to,’ so they had it out. On the beach, Renzo and Eugenio also had an altercation, but the crowd split it up.”
The fights continued, until, in October of 91, the styles clashed in the ring yet again, at “Desafio Jiu-Jitsu x Luta Livre”, in the Grajau Country Club and broadcast by Globo. Of the four fights scheduled – Wallid Ismail vs Eugenio Tadeu, Murilo Bustamante vs Marcelo Mendes, Marcelo Behring vs Hugo Duarte, and Fabio Gurgel vs Denilson Maia – Jiu-Jitsu only failed to win one, as Marcelo Behring was injured and could not compete. As it could be no other way, controversy reared its head. “When I left the ring against Wallid, some dudes wouldn’t let me go up to continue the fight, since the Jiu-Jitsu contingent was much bigger than the luta livre one,” says Eugenio. But Renzo’s version is well different: “It’s not that they didn’t let him go back. He ran away. Wallid beat the crap out of him and he didn’t return.”
Why the fight?
There are reasons to spare for the rivalry between Jiu-Jitsu and luta livre. But how did such a grand event as Pentagon Combat come about, and why did it exploit this rivalry? For those of you that thought it improbable to find the name of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, founder of the ADCC, here’ a surprise. Jiu-Jitsu master Nelson Monteiro, at the time, was in the United Arab Emirates with the extremely wealthy martial arts lover, and came up with the idea of putting on a large scale event. “It wasn’t even to exploit the rivalry,” relates Nelson, now owner of two gyms in California. “Those were the days of Jerry Bohlander, UFC champion, and we started matching fights – Bohlander versus Murilo Bustamante, Oleg Taktarov versus Sean Alvarez, who was a student of mine; but the main one would be Renzo versus Eugenio. The idea was to do a big event in Brazil and, if it worked, to go on doing events sponsored by the sheikh. But, as everything went wrong, he gave up on the idea. On the other hand, for not having gone well, the Abu Dhabi submission grappling tournament idea came about – or in other words, one door closed but another opened.”
If the awaited battle served Nelson’s plans, and the purse was of “international level,” as Murilo Bustamante puts it, for Renzo and Eugenio there was another side to it. “When given the opportunity to settle unfinished business, I put the useful and the pleasant together,” says Tadeu. “I was in Japan, but when Nelson offered, I embraced the idea and came back. I fought in Brazil eight days after fighting in Japan,” recalls Renzo.
The invasion
Before the hurricane blows through.
September 27th again, now early afternoon. Pentagon Combat is no normal event, by any stretch of the imagination. The rivalry, the presence of major Brazilian and international stars – and, of course a ticket price to match, so that, in the end, the event had to turn out lucrative. But a handful of luta livre practitioners – 200 according to some, 300 according to others, and there were even some “Jiu-Jitsu people with no ideological link to the Barra Gracie crew” wrapped into the mix, according to Eugenio – they arrive before the doors open, pass through the fragile security and accommodate themselves in the Tijuca gymnasium, without paying entrance.
One could argue the organization could not have expected such an invasion, but in truth – which many involved mention, and is confirmed by the promoter Nelson Monteiro, is that they blew it regarding security. To Murilo, who beat the UFC champion that evening, this aspect detracted from the grandeur of the rest of the event. “Now, if I could go back again, I would’ve invested in better security,” confesses Nelsinho. “It was a stupid thing to be frugal about. Also, Tijuca didn’t have the infrastructure for an event like that. Some of the security guards I hired let people get in for five reais. I think another big failure was taking too many big stars to the event. Just Renzo and Eugenio’s fight would have been enough to make it a success. For having too many stars, everybody wanted to see the event. If it had taken place in the Maracanazinho, or a closed stadium in Sao Paulo, there would have been better infrastructure.
Murilo brings the crowd to their feet in his win over star Bohlander, now a policeman in the USA; grand event.
The winner
According to reports, it was time for the main event, the luta livre representatives left the stands and positioned themselves around the pentagon. Renzo started off with several submission attempts, but couldn’t end the bout in the first round. Eugenio had some good moments in the second, especially when he sent his opponent to the canvas with a low kick. After that, the fight could not carry on, and was left without an outcome. But what do our analysts thing?
“Eugenio was winning the fight,” says Hugo Duarte. “Renzo started out really well, but Eugenio held on, and when Eugenio started coming out on top, the lights went out.” Marcelo Tigre, who represented Jiu-Jitsu in the Pentagon, disagrees: “Renzo nearly won. If the invasion hadn’t happened, my friend would certainly have won the fight without too much trouble.” Nelson Monteiro goes further: “Renzo took Eugenio to school on the ground. I think, training in the gi, you progress quicker, become more dynamic. At the very end, Renzo got tired, but before tiring he put on a show.”
“Honestly, I won,” says Renzo himself. “I unleashed all the rage inside and won the fight. I was the last one to leave that ring. When I looked, he’d taken off. So you tell me how it ended.” Eugenio sees the result (or lack thereof) differently: “What interested me was not being winner or loser. What interested me was this: my being able to respect you and you treating me with respect, to be able to go to the same places; no exclusion or bullying, not being able to go to Barra, or not being able to go to Pepe.”
Tigre and his win were overshadowed by the confusion: “‘Fantastico’ filmed me with my face all swollen saying that to beat me they’d have to kill me. That was what they wanted to hear,” recalls the Banni Cavalcanti black belt.
Darkness
After reviewing decades of rivalry, it’s easy to understand why the brawl in Tijuca took place, but it still seems strange that it coincided with the lights going out in the gymnasium (even though there is at least one other record of lights going out during a big event: see Rodrigo Minotauro vs Bob Sapp). According to Hugo Duarte, the lights went out when Eugenio was starting to come out on top. But, besides it being hard to prove there were ulterior intentions – and even Hugo doesn’t seem to put too much faith in this rumor -, one thing doesn’t seem to add up, since, although both sides had their advantages, neither Renzo nor Eugenio were clearly losing the fight.
Conclusion
Was it worth it? Well, if we take into consideration MMA’s image – a sport that, even keeping to itself, tends to suffer prejudice – and, mainly, the fact the fight was the uncontestable cause of Tahnoon bin Zayed pulling out his financial backing of MMA, the consequences were no less than catastrophic. Could it be that beyond the Sheikh’s dollars, other masses of money wouldn’t have entered into Brazilian MMA? How big would the ADCC of MMA be? In the end, it’s all just speculation…
But perhaps interruption of the main fight had allowed everybody to leave with a little victory. “It was a major milestone. From then on I started respecting other styles,” states Eugenio Tadeu.
“Eugenio was a pebble in the shoe obliging us to train and progress,” says Renzo. “It was yet another battle. If it hadn’t been him, it would’ve been another.”
“Nowadays, folks have started making a lot of money fighting abroad, and this business is all over,” says Hugo Duarte; Nelson Monteiro complements this statement: “From then on, people started becoming professional, and MMA began. I don’t think there is that rivalry anymore, it’s now each to his own.”
If this story served to make things larger than life, to shake or shock the world of martial arts, that’s up to the individual to decide. But one thing is for sure, as remembered by Royler Gracie, taking a chapter from Carlson’s book of terminology and wisdom: “It was a time of great power for Jiu-Jitsu and luta livre.
Hugo Duarte, 44 as well, now working with Carlao Barreto at Black House, considers the rivalry to be something kosher, but still doesn’t hold back on his provocations: “We were the only fighting style, at the time, to fight for our due recognition.” 
