After winning three fights in one night to become UVF 4 champion in
Rio de Janeiro,
as I reported here previously,
Kevin
Randleman, disciple of two-time UFC champion
Mark Coleman,
achieved something unimaginable. He united jiu-jitsu, luta-livre
and muay thai, longtime rival disciplines in Brazil, in pursuit of
a common goal: to answer the challenge Randleman made four months
before after winning his belt.
The fact is that the statement from the Hammer House
representative, published in one of the most important Brazilian
newspapers, Jornal do Brasil, saying that he “expected a jiu-jitsu
representative with the courage to face him in the next edition,”
stirred the enthusiasm of the entire fighting community in Rio de
Janeiro. Whereas at UVF 4, the promoters Sergio Magnago and
Joao
Alberto Barreto had difficulty in reaching financial agreements
with representatives of the main teams, for
UVF 6 there was a big line of representatives
willing to defend jiu-jitsu and luta-livre. From those many
volunteers,
Mario “Sukata”
Neto (jiu-jitsu),
Ebenezer
Fontes Braga (muay thai and luta-livre) and
Carlos
Barreto (Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu) were chosen to represent
Brazil in the UVF 6 tournament, held on March 3, 1997, at
Metropolitan concert house.
From Chain Link to Sisal Rope
The possibility of the biggest world vale-tudo classic taking place
in the final of the tournament, between Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu
and American wrestling, as represented by Hammer House, for the
first time on equal terms on the scales, made the fans turn out in
force . Almost 5,000 fans filled the Metropolitan to push the
Brazilians.
It's worth contextualizing that in addition to Randleman's victory
at UVF 4, two classics had just taken place:
Fabio Gurgel
vs.
Mark
Kerr and
Murilo
Bustamante vs.
Tom Erikson,
with the American wrestlers winning both fights. At that moment,
Hammer House founder Coleman was unanimously considered the
greatest heavyweight in the world. In this global context, even the
historical rivalry between luta-livre, muay thai and jiu-jitsu was
left aside and for the first time, the disciplines came together,
pushing Ebenezer, “Sukata” and “Carlao.”
Unfortunately, the organization was not up to the task. The
problems started on the show stage. The octagon did not arrive from
Campos, 300 km/186 miles from Rio, and the promoters had to rent an
old boxing ring from Santa Rosa, a local teacher. A few hours
before the show, Randleman discovered that he would not be fighting
in a cage and rebelled. “I’m a wrestler, I’m not going to fight in
this piece of s---.” Coleman had a hard time convincing his friend.
Even worse, as the enclosure was being assembled a few hours before
the event, one of the ring ropes broke. It was replaced with a
plain rope made of sisal.
Barreto recalled, “As soon as I arrived at the gym, they told me
that Coleman had already seen the rope and was coaching the
Americans to throw me there, because it wouldn’t withstand it. I
remember that I didn't believe it at the time, but that's what
actually happened. In my first fight, the first thing [270-pound]
Geza
Kalman did was push me onto the sisal rope. The rope couldn't
support our almost 530 pounds of combined weight and broke. I hit
my back on the stage, hit myself in the ribs and fell headfirst
onto the floor with him on top of me. Imagine multiplying my weight
with his, it could have been something much more serious, but thank
God, I managed to return to the fight.”
When the action resumed, Barreto took advantage of Kalman's next
attack to submit him with a guillotine just over three minutes into
the fight. His next opponent would be decided in just five seconds,
the time it took for 330-pound American
Dan Bobish to
knock out boxer Jucymar Hipolito.
Ebenezer Lends Barreto a Hand
If Randleman thought he would have an easy path to the long-awaited
final with “Carlao,” he was surprised in the first fight of the
tournament, when he faced one of the toughest representatives of
Brazilian muay thai, Braga, who already had nine vale tudo fights
and just one defeat to
Jorge
Pereira. “I remember that right at the weigh-in I said to Luiz,
how much do you want to bet that they'll give me that stronger
black guy? There was no other way,” recalls the Niteroi native, who
despite representing luta-livre and muay thai inspired even the
jiu-jitsu fans with his big heart. Ebenezer played a fundamental
role in the tournament, as he wore Randleman out across 20 minutes
of fighting. After throwing the Brazilian several times and using
his well-known explosiveness to deliver very hard blows, the
American won the decision. Meanwhile, on the same side of the
bracket, the other Brazilian representative, Mario Sukata, was
beating
Gary
Goodridge, who in the sixth minute asked to stop for no
apparent reason.
The Carlson Gracie Seal of Quality
After cooling down in the locker room, Barreto began to feel the
pain of the rib injured in the fall, but thanks to the team's
excellent recovery work he managed to return well. “As they called
me too high and I hadn't warmed up, Carlson told me to walk a
little before engaging Bobish, but I stupidly chose to take him
down immediately,” recalled Barreto, who ate an immediate straight
left. “I saw about four Dan Bobishes in front of me. But his big
mistake was not waiting, when he came up and threw the first punch
I woke up, took guard and ended up catching him in a triangle.”
“Carlao” returned to the locker room even more confident waiting
for Randleman and the long-awaited finals battle. “I felt as if the
honor of jiu-jitsu and Carlson were in my hands. With each victory
the gym blew up, there were 5,000 people shouting ‘Jiu-Jitsu!
Jiu-Jitsu!’” recalled Barreto, remembering that he was completely
convinced that his teacher would make the difference. “Carlson had
this thing about making you believe that no one could beat you. I
remember him saying in the locker room, ‘Don't worry, if he gets
into your guard you'll catch him, you can submit anyone,’ and that
stuck in my head like a seal of quality.”
While “Carlao” took 7:47 to finish Bobish, Randleman spent almost
12 minutes to beat Mario “Sukata,” who had eliminated Goodridge.
The American took him down and spent most of the fight in half
guard trying to punch the Brazilian. Sukata closed a triangle, but
the American escaped, striking him again from half guard. At 11:24,
the Brazilian got tired and decided to give up.
Bustamante and Belfort Defend Coleman
It is worth noting that in a world like that of modern MMA there
would not even have been a final that night. After all, no athletic
commission would approve a fight between one man who had already
fought 13 minutes, broken a rib and suffered a knockdown, and
another man who had already fought for more than 32 minutes and had
his right eye completely closed as a result of Ebenezer's blows,
but as UVF 6 was held in 1997 under vale-tudo rules, “Carlao” and
Randleman took to the ring in front of a noisy crowd that even
threw a full glass of coke at Coleman's back, forcing
Vitor
Belfort and
Murilo
Bustamante to climb into the ring to calm things down. “Coleman
is a great fighter and deserves respect,” said Belfort. He was
promptly backed up by Bustamante, who said, “When we fight out
there [in America], we are treated well; if Randleman wins, we will
applaud.”
Both reached the final completely worn out, starting the fight very
cautiously. Barreto gradually took the initiative, kicking his
opponent, half-hoping for the American to pull him into guard.
Nothing happened until around 10 minutes in, Barreto took guard and
started attacking with punches and elbows. A very worn Randleman
practically did not react, opening space for the Brazilian to try
an omoplata and, soon after, a triangle that put the wrestler out.
When judge Sergio Magnago declared the end of the fight, not even
the language barrier stopped Carlson Gracie from mocking the
creator of Hammer House, attacking him shouting with his ridiculous
english: “Coleman! Coleman! Silipi Silipi!” at the same time he
made a gesture with both hands, as if he were sleeping. The
two-time UFC champion was left to greet Gracie with a yellow
smile.
Randleman took a while to believe that he had gone to sleep. “I was
harmed by having a ring instead of an octagon, I struggled a lot to
beat Ebenezer who escaped from the ring three times. I don't want
to make excuses. I faced high-level fighters, but I'm better than
‘Carlao’ and I'm ready to prove it in a rematch,” the American told
me right after the fight.
Barreto’s victory over Randleman, coming as it did in an era of
complete dominance for wrestling, restored the self-esteem of the
jiu-jitsu community, earning the cover of Tatame and Gracie Mag,
which at the time were the two main references in the national
martial arts press. “It was an unforgettable day. I broke my foot,
my rib, my hand, I had eight stitches in my eyebrow, I was out for
a month, but I left that ring with a wonderful feeling of
accomplishment. For me it was a great honor to have defended my
master Carlson, jiu-jitsu and Brazil and to have won. Later on,
Randleman and Coleman became great friends of mine. I have nothing
but respect for those two legends of the sport,” recalled the
current UFC Fight Pass commentator.