Vale Tudo Relics: Grappling with Greatness

Considered a sort of grappling Olympics, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championship was created by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 1998. The idea? To match all grappling arts against one another under the same rules. The 14 competitions that have been held have resulted in any number of interesting clashes, bringing together legends of jiu-jitsu, mixed martial arts, sambo and wrestling in classics that went down in history. However, the third edition, held March 1-3 in 2000, stands out as the greatest of all-time. As champions were crowned in six divisions, fans were treated to historical battles like Tito Ortiz-Matt Hughes, Ricardo Arona-Jeff Monson, Mark Kerr-Josh Barnett, Jean Jacques Machado-Renzo Gracie, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Ricco Rodriguez, Murilo Bustamante-Mike Van Arsdale and Ricardo Liborio-Saulo Ribeiro, along with the David-versus-Goliath showdown between the aforementioned Kerr and Leonardo Vieira.

BIRTH OF ‘THE BRAZILIAN TIGER’

Despite his dominance in nationals and his impressive victory in a 40-minute war with idol Amaury Bitetti at the Carlson Gracie internal qualifiers, Arona knew there was no way he could be considered among the favorites in a 99-kilogram category full of stars and renowned names, from Bustamante, Ortiz and Van Arsdale to Hughes, Monson, Nino Schembri and Karimula Barkalaev. As an underdog, Arona was placed in the worst side of the bracket.

Arona easily got past Japan’s Hiromitsu Kanehara in the first match. From there, he only picked up steam. Arona next faced the reigning 88-kilogram champion in Barkalaev, the Dagestani wrestling instructor for the team set up by Sheik Tahnoun. Arona surprised Barkalaev with a takedown right at the start. With Barkalaev being urged on by the local crowd, tensions between the two men started to heat up—until an exchange of “heavy grips” on the back of the head turned into something of a “neck slap championship.” The situation soon deteriorated further.

“I responded with the same intensity to the slap he gave me,” Arona told me, “but he moved away and hit himself in the face. Then he turned into a demon and attacked me with punches and kicks.”

A vale tudo fight had broken out in the middle of an ADCC match. Arona listened to Mario Sperry in his corner, backed away and let the officials enter the fray to hold the out-of-control Russian. With Sheik Tahnoun looking on, Barkalaev reluctantly decided to accept the Brazilian’s apology and return to competition. Arona managed two more takedowns against the clearly unfocused Russian, and though they were not counted as points—Barkalaev managed to get up before the three seconds required for stabilization—they made his victory even clearer. When the judges decided in Arona’s favor, Barkalaev walked through the cheering Brazilians and made obscene gestures. Tahnoun’s response was swift. Barkalaev was fired and arrested less than an hour later, and he was deported from the country the following day.

Arona rested for less than half an hour before he was called in for his semifinal against Ortiz, who had advanced with a submission of Van Arsdale. The impact was felt in the match. Arona seemed to try to recover, while Ortiz came at him with everything. The former UFC champion managed to take down Arona twice but without establishing position. The Brazilian later answered with dangerous takedown attempts and pushed the match to overtime, much to Ortiz’s outrage. From there, the story changed. Arona upped his aggression and secured two takedowns, and even though he failed to establish position, he managed to win the decision.

“I didn’t lose this fight at all,” Ortiz said afterward. “There was no reason for an overtime.”

The victory over Ortiz only seem to increase Arona’s motivation in the final, where he attacked Monson from the outset, put him down and advanced to his back. From then on, it was a battle of takedowns from both sides. At the end of 20 minutes, the Brazilian’s superior aggression was taken into account in the judges’ decision. In addition to winning $10,000 and emerging as a revelation, Arona earned his black belt on the podium and received an invitation to start his vale tudo career in Japan’s Rings organization in a month’s time. Because of the abilities he put on display and his passion for tigers—he has seven tattoos of them—Arona took “The Brazilian Tiger” nickname as soon as he was hired by Pride Fighting Championships a year later.

MASTER TECHNICIAN

Rivals Alexandre “Soca” Freitas and Royler Gracie faced each other again after starring in the 1999 final at 66 kilograms. Gracie beat Barret Yoshida with a sweep, outclassed Jiri Wakabayshi by an unbelievable 22-0 score and then guaranteed his place in the final with a 10-0 win over Anthony Hamlet—a man who had eliminated Andre Pederneiras black belt Joao Roque, one of the tournament favorites. On the other side of the bracket, Freitas defeated Takumi Yano by a wide margin, took the back of Alexandre Plavski in his second match and submitted Joe Gilbert in the semifinal. “Soca” attacked the American wrestling champion with a foot lock in the opening minutes. Gilbert countered with a kneebar, which resulted in an injury for Freitas.

“If it were a jiu-jitsu championship, I wouldn’t fight in the final,” Freitas told me. “I’ve had surgery on each knee twice, and I only fought because there was a prize involved. I can’t even hear about surgery.”

Gracie had submitted Freitas with a foot lock the previous year. Aware that an oversight could lead to the same kind of ending, “Soca” adopted a more defensive stance in their rematch. It made life easy for Gracie, who piled up points and banked $10,000 with his second ADCC gold medal. He was also awarded $1,350 for being the most technical athlete in the competition.

SHOWSTOPPERS

After being named the tournament’s most technical athlete a year prior, Jean Jaques Machado faced a much more competitive 77-kilogram bracket in 2000. It featured Renzo Gracie, Vitor Ribeiro, Marcio “Cromado” Ramos Barbosa, Leonardo Vieira, Marcio Feitosa, Hayato Sakurai, Caol Uno and Dennis Hallman.

Machado once again put on a show but did so while sharing the spotlight with Gracie—a cousin who had appeared in a vale tudo fight in Japan a week earlier. In his first match, Machado needed only three minutes to sweep, take the back and submit Barbosa with a rear-naked choke. He took no notice of Mikey Burnett in his second assignment, as he pulled guard, swept, mounted and submitted the UFC veteran with a choke from the mount. In the semifinals, Machado repeated the same recipe. The difference? Vieira, who had eliminated Ribeiro in one of the most memorable battles of the competition, was the opponent. He resisted Machado’s bids for submission but wound up losing 9-0.

On the other side of the bracket, Gracie secured his place in the final by taking the back against Hallman and luta livre representative Israel Albuquerque, then submitting Feitosa with a guillotine choke in five seconds. It guaranteed him the prize for the fastest finish in the competition. The final between cousins was measured and, as a result, disappointed the audience. Machado was more offensive—he tried several sweeps and triangles—but wound up losing because he pulled Gracie into guard.

If there was lack of emotion in the final, the third-place match between Vieira and Feitosa made up for it. A Gracie Barra rep, Feitosa achieved an overtime takedown to come out on top in a classic, claiming a $3,000 prize for his efforts.

A HISTORIC FINAL

Brazil arrived with a true Dream Team at 88 kilograms in 1999: Bitetti, Renzo Gracie, Ricardo Liborio and Fabio Gurgel. No one consider the possibility of surprises. However, Barkalaev and Alexander Savko, more familiar with the rules at the time, ended up taking gold and silver in the division. In 2000, Brazil gained its foothold. Saulo Ribeiro, who had participated at 99 kilograms in 1999, decided to drop to his original weight and bring order to the competition alongside Ricardo Liborio, guaranteeing any jiu-jitsu fan’s dream final.

To secure his spot opposite Savko, the Royler Gracie-trained Ribeiro swept Jerry Bohlander in a 2-0 victory and submitted Dave Menne with a rear-naked choke. Savko, meanwhile, defeated Marcus Vinicius Corval with a takedown and Flavio Cachorrinho, who was deducted a point for pulling guard. The Russian was unable to impose his game against Ribeiro in the semifinals. Ribeiro managed to execute a sweep and progress to the back, nailing down his spot in the final. The Carlson Gracie-trained Liborio reached the final by submitting Toshiyuki Oyama with a rear-naked choke, moving to the back and passing guard against Roberto Roulette and beating Jorge Patino on points. Patino was seriously injured on a throw—Liborio landed on his arm—but still competed in the third-place match with Savko despite two torn ligaments.

In a classic final, Ribeiro’s competition experience made the difference. Liborio tried for a takedown, only to be thrown off-balance and forced into full guard when his opponent successfully defended it. Ribeiro moved to half guard, where Liborio attacked with a leg lock and a foot lock. In his haste to shield his already injured knee, Ribeiro allowed a reversal and wound up underneath his counterpart. The match later returned to the feet, where Ribeiro upped his aggression. Certain he was ahead, Liborio moved backwards. When time ran out, the judges announced Ribeiro as the winner.

“I got a foot lock and went for it, which for us is a sweep,” Liborio said. “I didn’t understand why they didn’t give me the points.”

Ribeiro looked elsewhere for his cue.

“I was very attentive to the table,” he said. “After he did that leg lock advantage and started to walk backwards, I saw that the judges were writing on paper.”

‘SMASHING’ SUCCESS

Those who believed Mark Kerr only knew how to secure takedowns and drop hammers had hush their criticisms in 1999, when he beat Carlos Barreto, Josh Barnett and Sean Alvarez to win gold in the heaviest division. A year later, “The Smashing Machine” returned in even better form, mixing his excellent takedown game with suffocating positional control. Kerr defeated eight opponents to win not only his division but the absolute competition.

At 99-plus kilograms, Kerr took down and submitted Josh Barnett and Antony Netzeler with a rear-naked choke and a keylock. He then eliminated Rigan Michado, who received a negative point for pulling guard, in the semifinals and had no problems taking down Ricco Rodriguez to repeat as champion. Unlike in 1999 when fatigue resulted in his not entering the absolute tournament, Kerr came in determined to win the event’s biggest prize.

Of the 80 competitors present, 36 signed up for the absolute tournament. The choice of whittling that number down to 16 was left to Tahnoun, who took advantage of the opportunity to book a classic David-versus-Goliath showdown between wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Leonardo Vieira, a 73-kilogram competitor, would face Kerr, at 110 kilograms. When those two were announced, the entire gym rose to its feet. After escaping a fall from Kerr, Vieira leaned on fast movements and feints in an effort to anger the hulking wrestler. Those tricks were not enough, as the Brazilian was eliminated on points.

“Just his grip on my ankle hurts,” Vieira told me afterward.

In the second match, Kerr took down Van Arsdale and moved to the semifinals against Ricardo Almeida, who had submitted Barnett and Vitor Ribeiro to advance. “Cachorrao” pulled Kerr into his guard and hunted an armbar, only to have him escape. Almeida continued to attack until the end but lost because he had pulled guard.

“His mistake was trying to adjust the armbar, which ended up giving me space to remove my arm,” Kerr told me shortly after the match concluded. “It didn’t snap, but maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up hurting because that’s not very normal for my joints.”

Unlike in 1999, Tahnoun decided to let the entire absolute bracket play out on Saturday, leaving only the finals for Sunday. Kerr won $40,000 after taking down, passing guard and mounting Alvarez. Almeida walked away with $3,000 for winning the third-place match against Rodrigo Medeiros.

Meanwhile, the enormous anticipation for the superfight between 1999 absolute gold medalist Roberto Traven and 1998 absolute gold medalist Mario Sperry wound up not being met. The fear of losing the $40,000 prize resulted in the two men showing too much respect to one another. The Carlson Gracie-trained Sperry attempted eight takedowns, all of which were defended by Traven. After 30 minutes, Sperry won the prize and another gold dagger from Tahnoun. The only competitor to participate in the first three ADCC events without losing a point, Sperry exited the stage thinking about a 2011 superfight opposite Kerr.

“With Kerr, I will need to train even more to change my game, as I like to play on top,” Sperry said afterward. “Anyway, I think it opens up some spaces that we can take advantage of.”