A LOOK BACK: FESTIVAL DE MUAY THAI 2 – DEC 7thIn the last MMA event held in Rio de Janeiro a mix of muay thai matches plus two MMA fights finished the scene through Festival de Muay Thai 2. The event was held in moderate conditions, inside the Acqua Fish academy and with a low attendence watching. However these two realities did not erase the shine that a few of the fights held that day.
Basically the muay thai matches were disputed between fighters from the same team (Team Diogo Tavares), but from different academies. This was weird for me to see teammates trading heavy strikes on the feet, so I sought more information and I got it from Gustavo ‘Ximu’ Machado (one of the organizers) who told me they were from the same team, but from academies located in different districts.
The first two fights had brutal exchange of strikes and but did not please the crowd too much. The third match involved the pupil of Gustavo Ximu and Eduardo Pachu, Carlos Eduardo against kickboxer Mauricio Rossi. Eduardo fought better in first stanza with low kicks, while Rossi connected good body shots. They kept a little balanced in this round, but a slight impression that Eduardo had done better stayed. Round two did not elapse much time and in a display of technique and accuracy, Rossi connected with a spinning-kick at the stomach of Eduardo who felt in pain and could not proceed anymore, losing by KO at 17 seconds.
The following matches all went the distance and only the fight involving the lightheavyweights Marcio Sakuraba and Domingos caused some emotion by the two combatants. Sakuraba (the nick name of Marcio) had lead in his leg; all of his low-kicks nearly demolished Domingos during the three rounds. The pace that Sakuraba kept during the stanzas rendered him fatigued in the end of the last round, and Domingos took advantage to unload a barrage of straights, crosses and uppers. But the Brazilian with nickname of Japanese idol survived and earned a split judges’ decision.
MMA fights showed more excitement at the women’s fights than the men’s one. Not because they were women, but due to the fact of the possible outcomes before the ultimate one. Michelly dos Santos had a better game, but collided with the huge will of Monique on the feet. When Michelly got to take Monique down, this was very close to the end of first round and I am sure that Monique was saved by the bell. With better instructions of her corner Michelly shot and took Monique down early round #2, she got side control and the mount over Monique, who tried to defend but was caught with an armbar in 1m00sec.
Leandro Brodinho of Gracie Barra CT made quick work against Leandro Porto (Team Indio/Bruno Bastos) at second MMA match of the night. Brodinho took Porto down and got the side control. Using strictly the strength, Porto reversed the position and got the top, Brodinho worked fast again and swept with technique getting the mount position. From there, Brodinho landed punches and then sunk a triangle at 1:25 of round #1.
– Main event –
The last muay thai match of the night showed us one of the most determined fighters of Gracie Barra Combat Team, Eduardo Pachu, against the unstoppable Michel Costa. The story of these guys is really interesting, while Pachu is known such as fighter who is competing in every kind of tournament (BJJ, Submission, Muay Thai and MMA), his main focus is the muay thai and he is trying to reach better opportunities for him. Costa is a very skinny fighter who gives up around 5kgs or more to his opponents and even so the heavier guys do not knock him out. The same thing happened at this main event, even with Pachu being close of knock Costa down twice, this close situation was never a huge problem to Costa who bounced and kept trading punches and kicks against the more skilled Pachu. At the end of the fight Pachu got the victory by split decision.
FULL RESULTS
Muay Thai:
Ricardo Dias def Bernardo de Souza by split decision
Renato Cupolillo def. Jonas Garcia by unanimous decision
Mauricio Rossi def. Carlos Eduardo by KO at :17 – R2
Alex def. Vinicius Guimarães by split decision
Fabrício de Souza def. Gláucio by KO at :04 – R1
Rafael Mussum def. Saulo by split decision
Marcio Sakuraba def. Domingos by split decision
Aline Sério def. Carla Cristina by split decision
MMA:
Michelly dos Santos def. Monique by armbar at 1:00 –R2
Leandro Brodinho def. Leonardo Porto by triangle at1:25 – R1
Main event, Muay Thai:
Eduardo Pachú def. Michel Costa by split decision