http://www.fightersonlymag.com/cont...cie-heads-new-old-school-fight-show-in-brazil Gracie is building a team MMA show (Mestre do Combate/Master of Combat) that will feature cities competing against each other, similar to the defunct IFL. Some of the rule changes from the norm... - weigh-in's the day of the fight to keep fighters in their natural weight classes - no fighter can be saved by the bell: near submissions or striking finishes can continue until the action subsides rather than the time expires - a ten minute first round and a five minute second round, no third round - instead of judges, there will be three votes cast in the event of a fight finishing without a winner: Rickson, the referee, and the public
Re: Rickson Gracie starting MMA league in Brazil with rules that honour warrior spiri I don't think there is another guy out there that combines the bullshit of traditional martial arts mystique with an actual outstanding fight record like Rickson. He has an 11-0 MMA record against what you might call hand-picked opponents and looked pretty good during his short MMA career, but claims to have a record of 400-0. Hélio once said that Rickson counts everything from sparring to amateur bouts (aka nonsense) and joked that if he counted everything too, he'd have a million fights. Rickson has been critical of several MMA stars in the past including Fedor Emelianenko, Brock Lesnar, and Minotauro Nogueira. Rickson once turned down a multi-million dollar offer to fight Sakuraba (aka The Gracie Hunter), with Gracie's defenders claiming the death of his son Rockson lead to his retirement and not the rumour that he demanded more and more money until PRIDE gave up on trying to set up the fight. Mestre do Combate is being set up (presumably) to compete against Jungle Fight, the successful mid-level promotion run by Gracie rival Wallid Ismail. JF has been around since 2003 and as of September has put on over 40 shows. Paulo Thiago and Erick Silva of the UFC both came up through the promotion and are coached by Ismail. JF is considered the best MMA promotion South of the United States.
