The terror room in Curitiba / Picture originally posted on Twitter

Having taken to Twitter to plead for a spot at UFC Rio, Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cristiano Marcello saw his request fulfilled in the form of a matchup against Sweden’s Reza Madadi at the HSBC Arena this October 13.

The Rio de Janeiro native was a participant on season 15 of the TUF reality show and ended up getting knocked out by Sam Sicilia on what was his octagon debut. Now, he’s seeking his first win in the UFC.

To do so, the former Chute Boxe rep is training balls to the wall in Curitiba, facing a daily rote he has dubbed “the room of terror”.

“I’m training with my physical conditioning coach, who’s turning out to be a great trainer. It truly is a room of terror. Truth is, we’ve been doing some precious work on improving my explosiveness and agility. I’m stoked. Functional training together with weights has been great,” said the Jiu-Jitsu professor.

“I’ve been practicing everything I can—lots of Thai boxing with Bruno Carvalho [an M-1 fighter], wrestling with Marcelo Zulu and grappling with my black belt Ocimar Costa,” added the brown belt bronze medalist at the 1999 and 2000 World Championships.

Always remembered for the triangle he used to subdue an enraged Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennet behind the scenes at Pride FC, Cristiano remains confident in his Jiu-Jitsu, which is useful in any danger situation he may find himself in.

“The truth is that in the dressing room at Pride I believed in my Jiu-Jitsu, and you have to believe you can do it. When you find yourself in an extreme situation, what works is what you trained; it’s your subconscious at work. My whole life I trained refined Jiu-Jitsu, and I managed to impose it in most of my fights; especially during that moment of danger,” he recalled, before explaining how he plans not to get caught off guard at the UFC event in Rio.

“You have to understand that in MMA the fight starts on the feet. Of course I plan to impose my game and take it to where I’m most confident, show my Jiu-Jitsu. Of course that’s what I want, but I’ll have to go through all kinds of turbulence to get there. I just hope I can put him through some turbulence first. He’s got sharp wrestling, doesn’t come from a striking background, but I know he’s going to want to keep it standing. Well I’m not going to avoid that. In the end, though, I want to impose my Jiu-Jitsu and welcome him with my triangle or armbar,” he revealed.

UFC 153 – ALDO VS EDGAR
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2012
HSBC ARENA, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

José Aldo vs Frankie Edgar
Quinton Rampage vs Glover Teixeira
Jon Fitch vs Erick Silva
Phil Davis vs Wagner Caldeirão
Demian Maia vs Rick Story
Rony Jason vs Sam Sicilia
Gabriel Napão vs Geronimo Mondragon
Diego Brandão vs Joey Gambino
Gleison Tibau vs Francisco Massaranduba
Sergio Moraes vs Renee Forte
Luiz Banha vs Chris Camozzi
Cristiano Marcello vs Reza Madadi

Bruno Carvalho and Cristiano Marcello / Publicity photo

Pleased as punch after his team, CM System, turned two years old, black belt Cristiano Marcello called up GRACIEMAG.com just before embarking for Japan. Traveling with him is Bruno Carvalho, considered by many to be one of the best Brazilian strikers around, whose record now comes to six wins and just one loss. Bruno is one of the attractions at this coming Saturday’s Dream event, where he will face Eiji Mitsuoka.

“He fights with his right leg forward, despite him not being a south paw. He does that to go for the takedown. He’ll stand and bang but he surely won’t want to do that against Bruno. To tell you the truth, he’s quite predictable and likes going for the takedown. I believe we’re going to win this one,” says Cristiano in analysis.

However, Carvalho’s hopes are that, through Dream, the doors will open for him to fulfill a great dream of his.

“Everyone knows what Bruno’s striking skills are like and he’s never had an opportunity to fight in K-1, the world’s main striking event. So we’re taking the reverse route. A good performance at dream and – who knows? – maybe he’ll get called up for K-1. It would be a dream come true for Bruno,” says Cristiano.

And there are another two fighters from Cristiano’s team to see action in the coming days: Daniel Acácio will be at Clube de Luta and Junior Baby will be fighting at Max Fight.

“I don’t know the exact numbers but over these two years of the team’s existence we’ve had over 200 fights and come up big in over 80% of them. Our money’s on the young guys loaded with desire. Now we’ll have this international bout, our first athlete in a major world event, and we’re in hot pursuit of our objectives. We’ll have plenty to celebrate this year yet,” says Cristiano in closing.

Photos: André Bottino's personal archives

December 8 was an historic day in Amman, Jordan, as the Desert Force Fight Championship debuted there, with members of the royal family princes Hachem Bin Hussein and Hussein Mirza in attendance.

André Bottino, handler of American fighter of Mexican descent Marcos Marquez, was there and wrote in about the experience:

“The event was impeccably organized. Everything was splendid. We were treated like true princes by receptive and happy people. Despite the cultural differences, everything was a lot different from what we imagined, positively,” he says.

Bottino with Bodão and Michelan

“Regarding the fights, a number of them were great, and the event was loaded with finishes. Cristiano Marcelo fought really well, Francimar Bodão landed one of the greatest knockouts I’ve ever seen in my life, and the fight between Bruno Carvalho and Marcos Marquez was the best of the night. Bruno won, but both fighters were given their due props,” he says.

“But the experience went well beyond the fights and the event. Proof of their professionalism, the fighters made the most of the trip to get out and see some of the country together, regardless of whether they fought each other or not. We made friends and had unforgettable moments. Jordan will forever hold a dear place in all our hearts,” said André, who sent in these pictures from the trip in exclusively to GRACIEMAG.com.

Cristiano Marcello in action at BC 8. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

With a quick submission over Guido Caneti at this Saturday’s Bitetti Combat 8 event in São Paulo, Cristiano Marcello now takes off for Jordan, where he will fight at Desert Fighting Championship on the 8th.

For his last fight, at Bitetti Combat, the black belt was expecting to have a rematch with Aleandro “Mandarina” Solano. After agreeing to the bout, though, the Costa Rican fighter ended up pulling out.

“The guy is a wimp chicken who doesn’t follow through with his commitments. He said he’d come, so he should have been here. Or he should have said he didn’t want to first,” he spat.

Check out the GRACIEMAG.com video interview (in Portuguese) below, where the black belt and leader of CM System academy breaks down the fight between his student Mario Soldado and hard-hitting American Jordan Smith.

Cristiano Marcello and the folks from CM System. Photo: Carlos Ozório

Not having fought since September 2007, Cristiano Marcello returned on the right foot and quickly put away Argentina’s Emiliano “Cobra” Vatti at Bitetti Combat 6. After the match, the Jiu-Jitsu black belt was pure joy.

“I was really happy because he was a tough guy with 28 fights under his belt, contrary to what I had imagined. These days there are no free means and I think he was brave to have come face me here in Brazil. I showed that I’m in rhythm, after more than two years away. I’d told you before I’d win by knockout or submission. I want to go on to greater things out there, but for now I’ll be back at Bitetti. The event was broadcast abroad and a lot of folks called me saying I did really well. I’ll leave analyzing my fight to you all. It is difficult to talk about me, but I’m very happy,” said the fighter, who will take his opponent at BC6 with him to CM System, where they will train together.

With the win, Marcello hopes new doors will open in his career.

“I think that it’ll happen. I have 13 fights, 11 wins, all by knockout or submission. It’s time. I’ll tell you something, I’m stoked, happy with my team and everything that is happening in my life. I guess I’m honored. I have a lot of friends in the realm where I work. I think the doors will open. ”

The next step, though, is to help Fabrício Morango, who faces Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 111.

“I will now help (Fabrício) Morango prepare for the UFC. For those who don’t know, he’s my cousin. I couldn’t help him for his other fights, but now I will contribute and make to most of it to learn, too. We have to keep on evolving. ”

However, he guarantees his team, CM System not be left behind in Curitiba while he is away.

“There are 20 black belts. I count on the likes of Bruno Carvalho, Marcelo Zulu, Daniel Acacio, Ocimar Coast … I have good backup. Of course things only move forward when the owner is around, but I’ll be involved in everything that goes on there. For them it will be good, because I’ll be there opening doors for everyone. In March three fighters of mine will fight, so I can’t stop thinking about them. Thank God I can work as Cristiano the coach and the fighter. I am very happy,” he said in conclusion.

The night was highlighted with the victory of the black belt and South American Jiu-Jitsu champion Alexandre Ceconi (Rilion), who finished the fight in the first attack with an arm-lock.

The fight between Batman and the Soldier was very tough, but Ivan won by unanimous jury decision. He now dreams of more fights in his category, up to 77kg. In the last few challenges, he was fighting in the category of up to 88kg.

“It was a very good year for me and I hope that 2010 will be even better. I want to go to fights abroad in big events,” said Batman, who in 2009 represented the US in the M-1 Challenge in Russia.