Martial arts crew at Bope gathered on promotion day. Publicity photo.

For it being the venue for this Thursday night’s installment of Shooto Brazil, “O Globo” newspaper dropped in on Brazil’s elite police task force Bope’s headquarters to speak with two police officers called on to face fighter’s imported from Argentina for the André Pederneiras-promoted event.

One of those officers is André Felix, a 36-year-old who has spent the last ten years on the special task force. As the Thai boxing instructor at the Bope, he trained hard for his impending MMA debut and could even pursue a career in it, if all goes well.

“Getting in the ring to do MMA is the extreme of a fighter’s life. And the battles police officers go through daily put us in extreme situations. MMA gives us control. Often the police use firearms unnecessarily because they don’t know martial arts or because they can’t control their adrenaline, do to the inability to control certain situations,” says Félix in the article by Carlos Eduardo Mansur.

“The rookie fighters from Bope are impressive in how cool-headed they are, they get hit and don’t blink,” says Pederneiras in praise.

Shooto at Bope headquarters will only be attended by officials, but it should be broadcast via pay-per-view.

Turma de artes marciais reunida em graduação no Bope. Foto: Divulgação.

Por conta da realização no Shooto dentro do QG do Bope carioca, nesta quinta-feira, o jornal “O Globo” foi à sede dos “caveiras” conversar com os dois policiais escalados para enfrentar argentinos no evento de André Pederneiras.

Um deles é André Félix, 36 anos e dez na tropa de elite. O instrutor de muay thai do Bope preparou-se forte para a estreia no MMA e pode até seguir carreira, se for bem.

“Entrar num ringue para lutar MMA é o extremo da vida do lutador. E os confrontos do dia-a-dia como policiais nos colocam em situações extremas. O MMA nos dá autocontrole. Muitas vezes, o policial usa armas de fogo de forma desnecessária por não conhecer artes marciais, ou por falta de controle da adrenalina, por falta de controle das situações”, disse Félix, na reportagem de Carlos Eduardo Mansur.

“Os lutadores novatos do Bope têm uma frieza impressionante, apanham de olho aberto”, elogiou ainda Pederneiras.

O Shooto no Bope terá apenas oficiais na plateia, mas deve ser transmitido via pay-per-view.