The Wanderer Between Worlds
Tim Leidecker Jun 7, 2008
There is an endless debate between fighting experts on how much
submission wrestling and sport jiu-jitsu credentials count in mixed
martial arts.
Some pundits maintain that only a few conclusions can be drawn from Abu Dhabi Combat Club and Brazilian jiu-jitsu events. Others take the view that those competitions are directly related to MMA.
A good indicator is the career of Brazilian Marcio Cruz (Pictures).
"Pé de Pano" -- a Portuguese nickname that means "cloth foot" and alludes to Cruz's flexibility -- was voted the greatest jiu-jitsu practitioner of the new millennium by a panel of experts in Gracie Magazine in May 2004.
Within a time span of just six years, Pé de Pano won everything there is to win on the mat and knew he had.
"Is there a name in the history of jiu-jitsu that can be compared to mine?" he boldly asked.
Consequently, there was only one challenge left for him: mixed martial arts, a sport even more complex and certainly more lucrative than grappling.
In his MMA debut win over Japanese judoka Keigo Kunihara (Pictures), he looked like a fighter who was completely new to the striking game. In his sophomore fight against Frank Mir (Pictures), he raised more than a few eyebrows when he taught the former heavyweight champion, who had been the UFC's benchmark for BJJ in the heavyweight division, a lesson in ground fighting.
Against Jeff Monson (Pictures), Pé de Pano finally showed vastly improved striking. He bloodied up Monson's face and punished him with leg kicks despite losing a split decision. But against another former champion in Andrei Arlovski (Pictures), he showed shortcomings in his ground game, which is perfect for BJJ but had serious holes for MMA.
With the arrival of fellow grappling standout Fabricio Werdum (Pictures), the emergence of Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) and the signing of former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), Pé de Pano's services became superfluous and Zuffa released him at the end of 2006.
He appeared briefly in the IFL in a non-televised bout against countryman Rafael Feijao in June of last year and hasn't fought since. Instead Pé de Pano has adopted the same strategy for MMA that he had used during his jiu-jitsu career: evaluate his weaknesses to elevate his game.
"I started out thinking that it would be easy to leave jiu-jitsu for MMA, but it didn't work out like that," he told Sherdog.com. "I didn't realize that it was a totally different sport, and that meant starting over from scratch. I always knew how to fight on the ground, but now I don't just want to be an MMA fighter who is good on the ground. I want to be a good MMA fighter who is good at all aspects."
To improve his overall skills, Pé de Pano stopped competing and rededicated himself to training for 12 months at Gracie Fusion in Rio de Janeiro. Together with fellow Sengoku veterans Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures) and Antonio Braga Neto (Pictures) as well as Delson Heleno (Pictures), Flavio Luiz Moura (Pictures), Rafael dos Anjos and Master Roberto "Gordo" Corrêa, he has worked on striking and his clinch game in addition to keeping his first-rate jiu-jitsu sharp.
On Sunday, exactly 358 days after his last fight, he will return to the MMA ring at Sengoku 3 in Saitama, Japan, and take on Pride and Hero's veteran Mu Bae Choi (Pictures). The Korean wrestler, who turns 38 later this month, has twice the MMA experience of Pé de Pano, but he is still the underdog.
Pé de Pano has studied the man from Seoul closely.
"I have seen his fights in Pride, and he likes to take his opponents down and he can also take a beating," he said. "I don't like to make specific plans for a fight. This way I am ready for any situation. I trained a lot of wrestling to be able to counter his main strength and I am ready to go. Sengoku is the new Pride, and I am very thankful that they allow me to display my skills."
With Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures), Josh Barnett (Pictures), Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures), Jeff Monson (Pictures), Roger Gracie (Pictures), Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures), Travis Wiuff (Pictures) and now Pé de Pano, Sengoku has the deepest heavyweight division this side of the UFC. The lanky Brazilian has a bone to pick with his counterparts, especially the two Americans.
Barnett recently called Pé de Pano's countryman and fellow BJJ star Roger Gracie (Pictures) "a green boy" whom he would "smash if they fought."
"To tell you the truth, anyone who has a mouth can say what they want," Pé de Pano said of Barnett.
Even if he is not related by blood, Pé de Pano is part of the extended family and trains at Gracie Fusion. He was rather angered by Barnett's remarks.
"Barnett is one of the top fighters in the heavyweight category," he said. "So I will be working hard to reach the top myself and respond in the ring, should he ever challenge me like that."
Pé de Pano has clashed numerous times with Monson on the mat, with the Brazilian having the upper hand most of the time. Their most recent grappling duel ended in controversy when Monson used an illegal submission hold commonly referred to as the "can opener" to win the match. If that wasn't enough, the "Snowman" later handed Pé de Pano his first loss in MMA as well.
"I always think about a rematch against those who have beaten me, but at the moment, the thoughts are on winning my current fights and reaching the top of my category," Pé de Pano said before demonstrating that old flames never die. "If the opportunity is there, it would be a pleasure to fight him again."
There is at least one fighter for which Pé de Pano has nothing but admiration: interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures). Even though he hasn't achieved a fraction of the accolades Pé de Pano has won in jiu-jitsu, experts agree that there is nobody who uses ground fighting and submission skills in MMA as well as "Minotauro."
"I see Minotauro as one of the best fighters of all time," Pé de Pano said. "He has had some of the best fights of all times, and I hope that he keeps the title for a long time. I cannot even imagine a fight between him and me. He is the champion and I am only beginning."
At 30 years old, Pé de Pano can look back on 10 years of competition at the highest level. It will be interesting to see if one of the most dominant jiu-jitsu players of all time also has the learning ability, the desire to improve and the will to battle his way through a much tougher training regimen to become an excellent MMA fighter as well.
In the end, he has a promise for both his fans and his critics: "I want to thank those people who believe in my work. I will do everything in my power to honor this trust, and those who watch my fight on Sunday will see that I am not just talk, that yes, I have worked hard every day to become a great fighter."
Some pundits maintain that only a few conclusions can be drawn from Abu Dhabi Combat Club and Brazilian jiu-jitsu events. Others take the view that those competitions are directly related to MMA.
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"Pé de Pano" -- a Portuguese nickname that means "cloth foot" and alludes to Cruz's flexibility -- was voted the greatest jiu-jitsu practitioner of the new millennium by a panel of experts in Gracie Magazine in May 2004.
Pé is a five-time BJJ world champion and a six-time BJJ Pan
American champion. His career year was 2003, when he not only won
the absolute division at the prestigious Mundials -- the world
championship of BJJ -- but he also swept the super heavyweight and
absolute category at the Pan Am's and won a gold medal at the ADCC
submission fighting world championships in the 218-pound and up
division.
Within a time span of just six years, Pé de Pano won everything there is to win on the mat and knew he had.
"Is there a name in the history of jiu-jitsu that can be compared to mine?" he boldly asked.
Consequently, there was only one challenge left for him: mixed martial arts, a sport even more complex and certainly more lucrative than grappling.
In his MMA debut win over Japanese judoka Keigo Kunihara (Pictures), he looked like a fighter who was completely new to the striking game. In his sophomore fight against Frank Mir (Pictures), he raised more than a few eyebrows when he taught the former heavyweight champion, who had been the UFC's benchmark for BJJ in the heavyweight division, a lesson in ground fighting.
Against Jeff Monson (Pictures), Pé de Pano finally showed vastly improved striking. He bloodied up Monson's face and punished him with leg kicks despite losing a split decision. But against another former champion in Andrei Arlovski (Pictures), he showed shortcomings in his ground game, which is perfect for BJJ but had serious holes for MMA.
With the arrival of fellow grappling standout Fabricio Werdum (Pictures), the emergence of Gabriel Gonzaga (Pictures) and the signing of former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), Pé de Pano's services became superfluous and Zuffa released him at the end of 2006.
He appeared briefly in the IFL in a non-televised bout against countryman Rafael Feijao in June of last year and hasn't fought since. Instead Pé de Pano has adopted the same strategy for MMA that he had used during his jiu-jitsu career: evaluate his weaknesses to elevate his game.
"I started out thinking that it would be easy to leave jiu-jitsu for MMA, but it didn't work out like that," he told Sherdog.com. "I didn't realize that it was a totally different sport, and that meant starting over from scratch. I always knew how to fight on the ground, but now I don't just want to be an MMA fighter who is good on the ground. I want to be a good MMA fighter who is good at all aspects."
To improve his overall skills, Pé de Pano stopped competing and rededicated himself to training for 12 months at Gracie Fusion in Rio de Janeiro. Together with fellow Sengoku veterans Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures) and Antonio Braga Neto (Pictures) as well as Delson Heleno (Pictures), Flavio Luiz Moura (Pictures), Rafael dos Anjos and Master Roberto "Gordo" Corrêa, he has worked on striking and his clinch game in addition to keeping his first-rate jiu-jitsu sharp.
On Sunday, exactly 358 days after his last fight, he will return to the MMA ring at Sengoku 3 in Saitama, Japan, and take on Pride and Hero's veteran Mu Bae Choi (Pictures). The Korean wrestler, who turns 38 later this month, has twice the MMA experience of Pé de Pano, but he is still the underdog.
Pé de Pano has studied the man from Seoul closely.
"I have seen his fights in Pride, and he likes to take his opponents down and he can also take a beating," he said. "I don't like to make specific plans for a fight. This way I am ready for any situation. I trained a lot of wrestling to be able to counter his main strength and I am ready to go. Sengoku is the new Pride, and I am very thankful that they allow me to display my skills."
With Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures), Josh Barnett (Pictures), Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures), Jeff Monson (Pictures), Roger Gracie (Pictures), Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures), Travis Wiuff (Pictures) and now Pé de Pano, Sengoku has the deepest heavyweight division this side of the UFC. The lanky Brazilian has a bone to pick with his counterparts, especially the two Americans.
Barnett recently called Pé de Pano's countryman and fellow BJJ star Roger Gracie (Pictures) "a green boy" whom he would "smash if they fought."
"To tell you the truth, anyone who has a mouth can say what they want," Pé de Pano said of Barnett.
Even if he is not related by blood, Pé de Pano is part of the extended family and trains at Gracie Fusion. He was rather angered by Barnett's remarks.
"Barnett is one of the top fighters in the heavyweight category," he said. "So I will be working hard to reach the top myself and respond in the ring, should he ever challenge me like that."
Pé de Pano has clashed numerous times with Monson on the mat, with the Brazilian having the upper hand most of the time. Their most recent grappling duel ended in controversy when Monson used an illegal submission hold commonly referred to as the "can opener" to win the match. If that wasn't enough, the "Snowman" later handed Pé de Pano his first loss in MMA as well.
"I always think about a rematch against those who have beaten me, but at the moment, the thoughts are on winning my current fights and reaching the top of my category," Pé de Pano said before demonstrating that old flames never die. "If the opportunity is there, it would be a pleasure to fight him again."
There is at least one fighter for which Pé de Pano has nothing but admiration: interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures). Even though he hasn't achieved a fraction of the accolades Pé de Pano has won in jiu-jitsu, experts agree that there is nobody who uses ground fighting and submission skills in MMA as well as "Minotauro."
"I see Minotauro as one of the best fighters of all time," Pé de Pano said. "He has had some of the best fights of all times, and I hope that he keeps the title for a long time. I cannot even imagine a fight between him and me. He is the champion and I am only beginning."
At 30 years old, Pé de Pano can look back on 10 years of competition at the highest level. It will be interesting to see if one of the most dominant jiu-jitsu players of all time also has the learning ability, the desire to improve and the will to battle his way through a much tougher training regimen to become an excellent MMA fighter as well.
In the end, he has a promise for both his fans and his critics: "I want to thank those people who believe in my work. I will do everything in my power to honor this trust, and those who watch my fight on Sunday will see that I am not just talk, that yes, I have worked hard every day to become a great fighter."
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