Man vs. woman fight was a troll for a good cause
Japanase MMA was infamous for its freakshow fights. Royce Gracie vs. Akebono, Fedor vs. Zuluzinho, and Hong Man Choi vs….
Japanase MMA was infamous for its freakshow fights. Royce Gracie vs. Akebono, Fedor vs. Zuluzinho, and Hong Man Choi vs. Jose Canseco are not bouts that would likely have been made anywhere else.
However, those do not top the news out of Brazil earlier this week – Guilherme Cruz writing for MMAFighting reports that Shooto Brazil 45 in Rio de Janeiro on Friday will feature a bout between a man and a woman.
Bantamweights Emerson Falcao (0-1) and Juliana Velasquez (0-0) will compete in a professional three-round bout. Falcao is part of promoter Nova Uniao. Velasquez is part of Team Nogueira.
Falcao reported he was hurt and would be unable to fight; it was then that Nova Uniao founder and Shooto Brazil president Andre Pederneiras thought outside the box.
“Pederneiras came up with the idea,” Velasquez told MMAFighting.com. “He asked Team Nogueira for a female fighter and my team believes I’m ready, so I accepted the challenge. My expectations are the best. I’m well trained to get there and win.
The news was picked up by MSN, CNN. SI, and countless other outlets.
As it turns out, Pederneiras was trolling, albeit for a great cause.
Multiple sources close to the situation informed MMA Fighting on Wednesday that the fight wouldn’t happen, and it was just a way to promote Shooto Brazil’s support to “Lei Maria da Penha”, a law created to stop violence against women in Brazil.
Pederneiras, Nova Uniao and Team Nogueira officials declined to confirm the information when contacted by MMA Fighting on Wednesday, insisting that the MMA bout would really happen.
“Man, if (Pederneiras), one of the most respected men in the MMA is telling you there will be a fight, you should believe him,” Falcao said. “Don’t you think so? Don’t you agree with me?”
Osiris Maia, member of the Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts Confederation (CBMMA) overseeing the weigh-ins on Thursday, confirmed to MMA Fighting that the fight is not real.
“We can’t do something like that,” Maia said. “(The promoter) can ask everything, even a MMA fight with three guys against one, but we obviously won’t allow it.”
“This ‘fight’ has a social representation that is more important for the society than to the sport,” he continued. “There’s no way a man should fight a woman. This is being done only to show the society the importance of ‘Lei Maria da Penha’. You can’t have a man beating a woman in a sport, so it shouldn’t happen anywhere. That’s what they want to show.”
