Cacareco to fight at Shine too. Photo: Foto: Carlos Ozório

The next installment of Shine takes place the coming 15^th of May in North Carolina. Today, GRACIEMAG.com already commented on Jiu-Jitsu black belt Bráulio Estima’s training for the event (see here). However, there are a lot of other beasts to see action, mainly Brazilians looking to carve out a place for themselves in the American MMA scene, and all carrying a good deal of experience.

Murilo Ninja is a former EliteXC champion; Eduardo Pamplona has fought for M-1; Alexandre Cacareco son his last seven fights in the first round; Luiz Azeredo brings experience at Pride; Junior Assunção has fought in the UFC before; and, rounding out the list, Luciano Azevedo has fought at Pride FC, too.

Check out how the card looks now:

Shine Fights
May 15, 2010
North Carolina, USA

Ricardo Mayorga vs Din Thomas

Travis Galbraith vs Murilo “Ninja” Rua

Eduardo Pamplona vs Nick Thompson

Braulio Estima vs Rick Hawn

Alexandre Ferreira vs Jamal Patterson

Chad Robichaux vs To be defined

Luiz Azeredo vs Junior Assunção

Luciano Azevedo vs To be defined

Bráulio agora vai usar o perigoso triângulo invertido no MMA. Foto: Carlos Ozório

Campeão peso e absoluto na última edição do ADCC, em 2009, Bráulio Estima está ansioso para estrear no MMA. Contratado pela organização americana Shine, Carcará acredita ser uma grande responsabilidade defender a arte suave nos ringues e cages, ainda mais por ser um top mundial na modalidade. Entretanto, segue confiante.

“Estou animado, cara. Não estou nervoso, gosto de lutar. Não posso esperar para entrar no ringue. Acabei de voltar de um treino duro e me sinto ótimo. Tenho tempo de sobra para entrar em forma”, diz ao MMAJunkie.

Bráulio deve fazer parte do treinamento com o também faixa-preta da Gracie Barra Renato Babalu. Além disso, contará com a ajuda do renomado treinador Greg Jackson. Numa entrevista recente ao GRACIEMAG.com, o pernambucano não pôde confirmar o oponente na estreia, mas disse: “Vou lutar com um cara que tem cinco vitórias e está invicto! É um top mundial em sua arte marcial.”

Segundo a reportagem do MMAJunkie, o adversário é tricampeão nacional de judô.

Estima também comentou a derrota do amigo Rolles Gracie, batido por Joey Beltran no UFC 109.

“O desempenho dele não foi nem perto do que nós esperávamos e do que ele esperava. Ele teve um monte de lesões durante o treinamento. Machucou a costela e teve que parar a preparação por algumas semanas. Mas ele estava muito animado para lutar e colocou muita pressão em si mesmo”, fala.

O GRACIEMAG.com traz uma entrevista exclusiva com o Gracie, que em nenhum momento usou as lesões como desculpa. Confira clicando aqui.

Now Bráulio will use his dangerous reverse triangle in MMA. Photo: Carlos Ozorio

Champion of his weight class and the absolute at the lat ADCC championship, in 2009, Bráulio Estima is anxious to make his MMA debut. Under contract to the Shine organization, “Carcará” feels that defending the Gentle Art in the ring and cage is a great responsibility, more so as he is a top-ranked competitor in the style. Nevertheless, he remains confident.

“I’m excited. I’m not nervous; I like fighting. I can’t wait to get in the ring. I just got back from a tough training session and I feel great. I have plenty of time to get in shape,” he told MMAJunkie.

Bráulio should do part of his training with another Gracie Barra black belt, Renato Babalu. Furthermore, he will count on the backing of renowned MMA trainer Greg Jackson. In a recent interview with GRACIEMAG.com, the Brazilian was unable to confirm who his opponent for  his debut will be, but said, “I’m going to fight a guy who’s undefeated in his five-fight career! And he’s one of the best in the world in his martial art.”

According to the article, the opponent is a three-time national judo champion.

Estima also remarked on the loss suffered by his friend Rolles Gracie, at the hands of Joey Beltran at UFC 109.

“His performance wasn’t even near what we and he expected. He carried a ton of injuries in training. He hurt his rib and had to stop training for a few weeks (Rolles also injured his foot). But he was excited about fighting and put a lot of pressure on himself,” he says.

GRACIEMAG.com posted an exclusive interview with the Gracie, who at no moment used injuries as an excuse. Check it out by clicking here.

Shogun in Pride. Photo: Susumu Nagao

Famous in the MMA world, Murilo and Mauricio Rua, better known as Ninja and Shogun, respectively, await word of when they shall return to action. Ninja is waiting on Dream, while Shogun waits on the UFC, as his fight with Lyoto Machida, for the light heavyweight belt, could be postponed or sped up. Meanwhile, work at Universidade da Luta, in Curitiba, doesn’t stop.

“I’m training full time, but, for now, nothing is certain yet. I believe I should be in Dream in March and in Shine in April. God willing, all will go well. This is why I won’t be at Bitetti Combat in Brasilia. But I’ll fight at Bitetti again this year,” Ninja told GRACIEMAG.com.

Shogun’s case depends on an answer from the UFC. His fight is set for May 1, in Canada. However, as an important boxing bout is set for the same day, with star Manny Pacquiao, the date may be moved.

“My brother is training full time to keep up his stamina. He doesn’t yet have a fixed date for his fight, but he’s doing maintenance work. We’re training every day, doing physical conditioning, Jiu-Jitsu and muay thai. We’re carrying on normally, as though our fights were a sure thing,” he says in finishing.

Check out the highlights of the brothers in action: