IVC 8/9: The Night Rafael Cordeiro and Wanderlei Silva Showed the Power of Chute Boxe

In the late 1990s, when Pride Fighting Championships was in its golden days and the Ultimate Fighting Championship was in crisis, the only way for great Brazilian talent to get a chance to join the Japanese promotion was to stand out at the bloody International Vale Tudo Championship (IVC).

Having in his hands the largest talent platform in the Brazilian market for Japan, IVC promoter Sergio Batarelli also attracted the interest of talents from the American market, including Chuck Liddell and Mark Kerr, managing to perform shows at the same level as international ones.

As at the time there was no television deal available, and no possibility of making money through pay-per-view, Batarelli decided to produce tapes of his shows, which were sold all over the world. To optimize production expenses, the promoter began to two cards on the same night.

It was like this on January 20, 1999, with the structure set up at Augustu's concert hall in Sergipe, northeast of Brazil. The public, unaware of the event numbers (IVC 8 and 9), could watch a total of 10 fights, including four Brazil vs. US matchups and two title bouts.

Brazil vs. USA: Two Belts on the Line

The rivalry between the two greatest powers of MMA in the world was always the formula used by Batarelli to ignite the local crowd in almost every edition of the IVC. On that night, representatives of the two countries disputed two belts. Claiming the heavyweight belt, Carlos Barreto had the main event of the night with Mark Coleman's pupil, Branden Lee Hinkle, while Rafael Cordeiro faced American Henry Matamoros for the lightweight belt. There were also superfights in Francisco Bueno vs. Jason Godsey and Wanderlei Silva vs. Adrian Serrano.

Silva, who was coming off a loss to Vitor Belfort a few months before at the UFC’s first event in Brazil, had no trouble running over Adrian Serrano (1.79m/88kg) in just 22 seconds. At the end of the fight, the Chute Boxe representative revealed to me how anxious he was to have a rematch with Belfort. “That defeat was a fatality, we are both very young. I'm sure we'll meet in the future,” predicted the future Mr. Pride. After beating Serrano, Silva ran over Eugene Jackson in 32 seconds three months later in IVC 10. Two weeks after that quick win he returned to the UFC, knocking out Tony Petarra in2 minutes, 53 seconds. Four months later, on Sept. 12, 1999, Silva made his Pride debut, defeating Carl Ognibene via decision. The rest is history.

Cordeiro Wins 30-Minute “War”

Unlike his training partner Silva, Rafael Cordeiro (178m/70kg) didn't have an easy fight and had to fight 30 minutes to win the event's lightweight belt. Cordeiro was invited to replace incumbent champion Sergio Melo, who had beaten him in the final of the IVC 7. A disagreement between Batarelli and Melo, who refused to fight for $250, meant that Rudimar Fedrigo's student got the change to face the American Henry Matamoros (1.72m/70kg), student of Romero Jacare (Alliance), for the vacant belt.

The three-time Brazilian muay Thai champion started showing total superiority, coming close to the knockout on three occasions and raising the local crowd. But the warrior spirit of the US-born son of Ecuadorians led Coleman and other Americans to his corner. Pushed by his compatriots, Matamoros made the fight more difficult.

After 20 minutes, Cordeiro got tired of hitting so much and started to be hit by Matamoros who, even from below, managed to close Cordeiro's left eye. At the end of the 30-minute war, the man who would be voted the greatest MMA coach in the world twice (2012 and 2015), was declared the winner and new champion of the IVC.

Bueno Possessed

In another Brazil vs. USA match, Andre Pederneiras' heavyweight student, Francisco Bueno (1.82m/105kg), justified his rising hype by running over American Jason Godsey (1.88m/103kg) in just 1:39. The Brazilian was so nervous about his debut that he threw the American through the ropes and, even though he was almost on the ground, he kept hitting to the point that Batarelli had to strangle him to stop.

When the fight was restarted, Bueno took down his opponent, mounted and finished with punches, leading the crowd to delirium. One who didn't like Bueno's victory at all was Godsey's coach, Phylis Lee, who even appealed the result: “I'm disgusted. This is a sport, not a street fight, Batarelli should have disqualified him.”

“Carlao” Taps Hinkle, Kisses Coleman, Calls out Kerr

The fourth match between the US and Brazil was the biggest rivalry in the vale tudo world at the time: Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu vs. Hammer House wrestling.

After Barreto's victory (1.94m/108kg) over Mark Coleman disciple Kevin Randleman in the final of UVF 4, Coleman brought in Branden Lee Hinkle (1.87m/100kg) to face the heavyweight representative of the Carlson Gracie school at IVC 8. As in the confrontation with Randleman, Barreto started at a disadvantage, being knocked down and even suffering a cut on his forehead as a result of his opponent's heavy ground-and-pound. Barreto’s bleeding silenced the crowd, which until that moment had not stopped screaming “Brazil! Brazil!”

The referee was already thinking about intervening when Barreto pushed the American off with his legs and came back to his feet, blocking Hinkle’s second attempt at a double-leg and attacking with a guillotine choke that ended the fight.

At the celebration, “Carlao,” with his forehead full of blood, went towards rival Coleman and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He then took the microphone and challenged the most feared man in the Vale Tudo world by that time, Coleman´s friend and pupil Mark Kerr. “Kerr you are mine, wait for me,” screamed Barreto.

“Babalu” Wins a Classic and Challenges “Carlao”

This edition of the IVC was also marked by a confrontation between two great Brazilian vale tudo schools: Marco Ruas and Carlson Gracie.

The Ruas team presented Renato “Babalu” Sobral (1.87m/105kg), a former Brazilian national wrestling champion but a vale tudo unknown, who did not give Fernando Cerchiari any chances (1.90m/98kg) in their matchup. After a quick exchange of blows, “Babalu” took down Cerchiari and started to score with solid ground-and-pound. Sensing his opponent was hurt, Sobral decided to make him stand back up, whereupon he backed him into a corner and landed a hard shot.

Dizzy, Bosco sat on the ropes and Sobral took the opportunity to push him out of the ring. Upon falling, it was clear that the Carlson representative did not want to return to the ring anymore. Batarelli started the count and declared the Ruas representative the winner. After the fight Babalú asked for the microphone and challenged Barreto, holder of the heavyweight belt.

Milton Bahia asks for “Pele”

One of the most anticipated fights of the event, the rematch between Jose Landi-Jons and Milton Bahia, ended up not happening, because “Pelé” had an elbow injury and ended up leaving the card. In his place, Batarelli invited the winner of the Ultimate Brazil alternative fight, Tulio Palhares.

Palhares started well and managed to take down Bahia, but he soon reversed it and started to deliver powerful blows from inside Tulio´s guard, defining the fight at 4:38 with a barrage of punches. At the end of the fight, Bahia once again challenged Landi-Jons. Unfortunately, that rematch that never took place.

Chute Boxe and Luta-Livre (Budokan) were present in another long-awaited match where Pedro Otavio (1.90m/105kg) should have no trouble finishing Rudimar Fedrigo's disciple, Silvio “Urutum” de Souza (1.81m/82kg). Knowing the skills of the people from Curitiba in the standing fight, “The Pedro” wasted no time and soon took the fight to the ground. After several armbar attempts, Otavio decided to go to the mount, where he forced Batarelli to stop the fight due to punches at 10 minutes, 20 seconds.