At the press conference the news was Sokoudjou taking the place of Pé de Pano. Photo: Publicity.

If it weren’t enough that summer has come in one of the hottest regions on the globe, the maiden Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) event promises to make things even hotter than the scalding sands of the Arab Emirates. The new event is to be in tournament format, and the winners advance till the grand finale, over more than two stages.

Before the show, to be held next Friday, the 14^th, the promoters held a press conference in the Emirates Palace Hotel. And there they announced news of Márcio Pé de Pano’s substitute, none other than Cameroonian star Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, a fighter who has appearances in the UFC and Pride FC on his CV.

With Pé de Pano’s exit from the open weight tournament, Brazil’s sole representative will be Marcos Oliveira, who has been training hard to put on a show for his students in Abu Dhabi.

The black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling champion from Rio de Janeiro is training boxing for his first fight under Professor Cezário. And he’s already looking ahead to facing Sokodjou in the final, to put Brazil into the lead in score – the Cameroonian has two wins over Arona and Minotouro, and two losses to Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva.

Another promising matchup in the tournament will be the one between the USA’s Jeff Monson, a favorite to take the title, and Russias Shamil Abdurahimov.

In Abu Dhabi, all hopes are on a solid performance from local Hassan, a student of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teachers on Emirates Team.

Sokoudjou at the mic. He is 2 and 2 against the last four Brazilian stars he faced

Check out the card below:

ADFC
May 14, 2010

PRELIMINARIES
Abou Hamdan (Lebanon) vs Loic (France)
Hassan Al Rumaithi (Arab Emirates) vs Massimiliano (Italy)
Tam Khan (United Kingdon) vs  Evasio (Italy)
Maiki Reiter (Brazil) vs Mullah (Iran)
Omarov (Russia) vs Azran (Iran)
Ben Ali (Tunisia) vs Mirabella (Italy)

TORNEIO
Marcos Oliveira (Brazil) vs Johan Romming (France)
Przemyslaw Mysiala (Poland) vs Nell Wain (United Kingdom)
Rameau Sokoudjou (Cameroon) vs Dave Herman (USA)
Jeff Monson (USA) vs Shamil Abdurahimov (Russia)

Photo: Carlos Ozorio

Gracie Barra black belt Renato Babalu is confirmed for the Dream light heavyweight GP. Still without an opponent, the Brazilian’s first fight should take place May 30, in Japan.

The GP offers Babalu a chance at revenge for his loss to Gegard Mousasi in his last fight, when he lost his Strikeforce belt. The Armenian is confirmed for the GP, along with Rameau Sokoudjou, who Babalu has beaten in the past.

Roger hits the mitts. Photo: Carlos Ozorio

Two-time absolute world champion of Jiu-Jitsu Roger Gracie could finally make his Strikeforce debut. According to MMAJunkie, he may appear on the card set for May 15 in St Louis, Missouri, to be broadcast live on Showtime.

Roger’s opponent hasn’t yet been named, but it is speculated that Kevin Randleman and Rameau Sokodjou, two veterans of the Pride and UFC events, are on the cards.

Despite his limited MMA experience, Roger won both his outings using pure Jiu-Jitsu. He submitted both Ron Waterman and Yuki Kondo while still in the first round.

On the same day Alistair Overeem is expected to face Brett Rogers and Antonio “Pezao” Silva is set to fight Andrei Arlovski.