Characters / Universal Wrestling Federation Shooto Vale Tudo Japan

Where Ground-And-Pound Debuted In Japan

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1994

Chris Bass

• The Apprentice: To Gerard Gordeau.
• I Know Karate: Trained at the Kamakura dojo and was a Dutch Kyokushin champion.
• Jobber: Had only one fight in Vale Tudo Japan 1994 against Bud Smith, he lost.

Rickson Gracie

"Rickson was the champion of our family. I've never seen a specimen like him, not in my whole life. He was the perfect athlete with the perfect art, jiu-jitsu. Every opponent was like butter, and he was hot iron."

— Renzo Gracie

"If we fight for money, I'll stop hitting you when you ask me to. If we fight for honor, I'll stop hitting you when I feel like it."

— Rickson Gracie to Yoji Anjo

• The Ace: Of the Gracie family. He is undefeated in MMA, Vale Tudo, BJJ and submission grappling matches.
• Affectionate Nickname: His father called him "Urso" (Portuguese for "Bear").
• Always Someone Better: His cousin Rolls Gracies was considered the best of the Gracie family until his death in 1982. Rickson took up his role soon after.
• The Apprentice: To his dad Helio Gracie and Georges Medhi in Judo.
• Badass Boast: He claims to have a fight record of 400-0 though his father Helio says that he counts in sparring and amateur matches.
  • He also has criticized fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Fedor, Brock Lesnar, etc and claims he is 100% sure he can still beat all of them.
• Badass Family: To MMA fans his family name says it all.
• Badass Teacher: He mostly teaches BJJ nowadays, though he has been teaching people since he was 15.
• Big Brother Mentor: His cousin Rolls was this to him, Rickson himself was this to his other brothers and cousins.
• Bullying a Dragon: The infamous incident with Yoji Anjo.
• The Chessmaster: He exhibited the Gracie Humaita trademark flaws, including very basic takedowns and poor striking, but as seen in his match with Funaki, he was excellent in overcoming those handicaps with sensible gameplans and getting the fight done in his way.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: He always wore white trunks in his MMA matches and there is of course his gi.
• David Versus Goliath: Was David in his fights with Rei Zulu.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: He was on the receiving end of this as his only loss was against Ron Tripp in a Sambo match though he states he was not aware of the rules.
  • His first fight with Rei Zulu was Zulu’s first loss.
• Defeat Means Respect:
  • He beat Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist Mark Schultz twice after 30 minute submission grappling match, and a 20 minute match with Mark respecting him afterwards and learning BJJ under Rickson's student Pedro Sauer.
  • On the receiving end, he and Brazilian Judo champion Luis Virgilio Castro once grappled to a standstill in which Castro got the better of him, and they congratulated deeply each other afterwards.
• The Dreaded: Is officially considered the greatest BJJ practitioner in history, and enjoys a surreal reputation as a gym grappler, which has been kept and perpetuated by the Gracie family and foreigners alike. How much of it is truth is a Riddle for the Ages, as Rickson never was very active in competition and rejected most of the matches which were offered to him through his career. However, when Masakatsu Funaki himself is scared out his head from you, you know you are definitely THE Dreaded.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Rei Zulu dubbed Rickson as "Chicken Body" because of the vast weight difference between the two.
• Establishing Character Moment: To the Brazilians his fights with Rei Zulu, to the Japanese and Americans his victories at Vale Tudo Japan 1994 and 1995.
• Guest Fighter: He only competed in the first two Vale Tudo Japan events, not in Shooto itself, he won the tournaments of both.
• Heartbroken Badass: The death of his son Rockson is, according to him, the major reason he retired from fighting.
• Heroic Build: His physical build was the most standing out of all the Gracies, who didn't use to be musclebound. This is mostly due to his passion for yoga.
• Hero Killer: To the Japanese, he has beaten Yoshinori Nishi, Yoji Anjo, Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Koichiro Kimura, Yuki Nakai, Nobuhiko Takada and Masakatsu Funaki. To the Luta Livre guys in Brazil he beat Hugo Duarte twice. To the Brazilians in Maranhão he beat Rei Zulu twice.
• Honour Before Reason: While Royler tried to talk him out of it, Rickson vowed not to punch Yuki Nakai in the face for their fight. Subverted in that he actually broke his vow by punching him a few times as he got frustrated with Nakai’s Defiant to the End attitude.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: A 9th degree red belt. He is also ranked in Judo and Sambo.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He gave one to Yoji Anjo.
• Precision F-Strike: The story goes that when Anjo asked Rickson if he was ready for a fight Rickson's response was
  "I was born ready, motherfucker!"
• Unknown Rival: He has many of these; Akira Maeda, Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazushi Sakuraba, Bas Rutten, Marco Ruas, and these are just the most famous ones. The list of people who have challenged him or tried to put together a match with him unsuccessfully goes way longer.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: For Shooto and arguably for the whole U-System as people for a time doubted the effectiveness of shoot wrestling when he effectively curbstomped his way through the Vale Tudo Japan tournaments and Nobuhiko Takada.
• Worthy Opponent: Yuki Nakai. Strangely enough, Nobuhiko Takada as well (to put it, Rickson accepted the rematch because he felt Takada had warrior spirit - which it was arguably true, considering Nobuhiko was a failure of a fighter and yet was signing up to get his ass kicked again). Rickson also says that his toughest fight was with Rei Zulu.

David Levicki

• The Apprentice: To Gerard Gordeau.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Was in UFC 2 where he lost to know kickboxer John Rhodes.
• I Know Wing Chun: He also trained in Judo, kempo and Karate at the Kamakura Dojo.
• Jobber: Lost to John Rhodes in the UFC, to Rickson Gracie at Vale Tudo Japan 1994 and to Herman Renting in RINGS.
• Stout Strength: About 300 pounds.
• Ranger: A former Army Ranger.

Bud Smith

• '80s Hair: A mullet.
• A Day In The Lime Light: Was a finalist of Vale Tudo Japan 1994 and fought Rickson Gracie.
• The Apprentice: To Dale "Apollo" Cook.
• I Know Karate: And trained Kickboxing at Apollo Gym and was a UKF Lightheavyweight champion.
• Red Baron: "The Badass".
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: On his Kickboxing trunks actually.

Yasushi Warita

• The Apprentice: To Shin'ichi Koiso.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Competed in the 1994 Lumax Cup as a Shorinji Kempo representative before coming to Vale Tudo Japan 1994 and Shooto.
• Guest Fighter: From Kensakurakai Shorinji Kempo Dojo.
• I Know Karate: As well as Shorinji Kempo and Aikido.
• Kaiju Defense Force: Was once part of the JSDF and trained in Jieitaikakutōjutsu (aka Self-Defense Forces Martial Arts) with a specialization in Hand-to-hand combat (Toshu Kakutō Jutsu) and won the Toshu Kakutō Jutsu Japan Open in 1993.
• Jobber: A short career with one win, 4 losses and a draw.

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1995

Wayne Emons

• The Apprentice: To Dale "Apollo" Cook.
• I Know Karate: A black belt in Kempo. He also trained in Kickboxing and a little Jiu-Jitsu at Apollo Gym and is said to have also trained in ninjitsu.
• Jobber: A short career of 1 win and 3 losses.
• Red Baron: "The Viking".

Todd Hays

• The Apprentice: To Dale "Apollo" Cook.
• Cool Teacher: A football and bobsleigh coach.
• Game-Breaking Injury: He sustained an injury to his shoulder which caused him to leave the Vale Tudo Japan 1995 tournament.
  • In 2008, Hays attempted a comeback to bobsleigh in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. On December 9, 2009, Hays sustained an injury during practice at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Winterberg, Germany. Medical personnel for the US Bobsleigh Team evaluated Hays' condition in and stated Hays suffered from an intraparenchymal hematoma which was originally suspected to be a concussion. The doctors in turn forced Hays into retirement to avoid any further brain damage.
• Hidden Depths: He is an American bobsledder. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002, breaking a 46-year medal drought for the US national bobsleigh team. He also won two medals in the four-man event at the FIBT World Championships with a silver in 2003 and a bronze in 2004. He finished third four times in the Bobsleigh World Cup, earning them twice in combined men's (2003-4, 2005-6) and once each in the two-man (2005–06) and four-man events (2003–04).
• I Know Kickboxing: A champion of America with a bit of Jiu-Jitsu, amateur wrestling and trained at Apollo Gym.
• Money, Dear Boy: He had chosen to enter the tournament and fight to make money, as he wanted to be able to finance his true dream; to compete in the Olympics as a bobsledder.
• Red Baron: "Hollywood".

Craig Pittman

"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

• The Bus Came Back: Had 2 more MMA fights after Vale Tudo Japan 1995, one in 2011, the other in 2012.
• David Versus Goliath: Was Goliath against Yuki Nakai. There was a 100 ib weight difference.
• Guest Fighter: From World Championship Wrestling.
• I Know Amateur Wrestling: Was on the wrestling team of University of Kentucky and was a wrestler in the Marines and won several championships. His biggest victories came in the 1989 and 1991 USA Senior Greco-Roman Championships, in which he won the heavyweight division. He also placed seventh in the heavyweight division at the 1989 FILA Greco-Roman World Championships after losing to Aleksandr Karelin.
• Red Baron: "The Pitbull".
• Sergeant Rock: Was a former marine and achieved the rank of sergeant. It also became part of his wrestling persona.
• Scary Black Man
• Wrestler in All of Us: Trained as a professional wrestler at the WCW Power Plant under Terry Taylor and The Assassin.

Tommy Walkingstick

• The Apprentice: To Dale "Apollo" Cook.
• I Know Karate: As well as Jiu-Jitsu and Kickboxing at the Apollo Gym.
• Jobber: Had only one fight at Vale Tudo Japan 1995 against Kenji Kawaguchi, he lost.
• Mighty Glacier
• Red Baron: "The Warrior".
• Stout Strength

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1996

Mushtaq Abdullah

• A Day In The Lime Light: He beat Sanae Kikuta with a forearm choke at Vale Tudo Japan 1996. Then he quickly lost to Enson Inoue at a Shooto event.
• Awesome Aussie: He is Iraqi-born, but is now an Australian national.
• I Know Amateur Wrestling: A member of the Australian national team, a 5 time Oceania Champion, silver medalist at the 1995 Commonwealth Championships, a bronze medalist at the 1995 Pacific Ocean Games, a bronze medalist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, 3 time representative at the World Championships, and a representative at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Royler Gracie

"You can’t train MMA forever, but you can train jiu-jitsu all your life."

• Always Someone Better: Was beaten twice by Marcio Feitosa and was beaten once by Eddie Bravo and was mostly dominated in their rematch that ended in a draw.
• The Apprentice: To His father Helio Gracie.
• Badass Family: To MMA fans his family name says it all.
• Big Brother Mentor: His cousin Rolls was this to him.
• Cool Teacher: He ran Gracie Humaita’s Academy with his father for many years.
• David Versus Goliath: Against Zé Mario Sperry, a superheayweight at the time, it was Royler's first submission loss in competition. This also applies for his MMA fights.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Was in Rickson’s corner during his Vale Tudo Japan runs before Royler himself fought in the 1996 show.
• Hero Killer: At Vale Tudo Japan 1996, he beat Noboru Asahi, who was around Shooto before they added ground-and-pound, with it removed as part of the rules meaning he beat him at his own game.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: A 7th degree coral belt. He also trained in Judo at both Sion (former Vasco da Gama) and at the Regatas Flamengo club to improve his base and ended up competing in the Judo Brazilian Nationals reaching a silver medal. He also trained in boxing and savate with Claudio Coelho.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Was the smallest of the Gracies and one of their best fighters. A list of accomplishments include a 3 time ADCC champion, 2 time Pan American Champion, and 4 time Featherweight World Jiu-Jitsu Champion with a bronze in the absolute division in 1996.
• Shocking Defeat Legacy: Became the first Gracie to lose in MMA competition after his loss to Kazushi Sakuraba.
• The Worf Effect: Was dominated in his fight with Kazushi Sakuraba before the referee stoppage becoming the first Gracie to lose in MMA competition.

Sanae Kikuta

"Oh, what a detail, he wants to bring the fight to the mat."

• Arch-Enemy: Alexander Otsuka.
• Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Head fighter of Grabaka.
• Badass Teacher: Founded the Grabaka gym, where he has trained fighters such as Kazunori Yokota, Akihiro Gono, Genki Sudo, and Kazuo Misaki.
• Boring, but Practical / Combat Pragmatist: An incredibly methodical grappler, he used to take his time and not waste a single move. Famously enough, he could spent hours doing lay and pray if he could later secure a submission that way.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Started training in MMA with Satoru Sayama at in the sixth grade. He left on the feeling that he wasn't being given enough attention in the combative aspect.
• Butt-Monkey: Even although he is a high level fighter beyond all doubt, he has been at the receiving end of many funny incidents, like his fight with Otsuka, his KO by Nogueira, his failed vale tudo challenge to Yuji Sakuragi, his defeat to Renzo Gracie in ADCC by a point after dominating the match, and his presence in some of what are labelled as the most boring MMA matches ever.
• Canon Immigrant: Though he trained in the Shooto system, he did not entered the promotion until he had gained fame by winning two Lumax Cups, fought in RINGS, and having some time in PRIDE, and even so, he only competed in one event (two if you include his earlier fight in Vale Tudo Japan 1996) before moving to Pancrase. Same with UWF-i, as he trained at their dojo for a time and never debuted there.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Won the ADCC championships by trampling multiple BJJ champion Saulo Ribeiro. Until today, not counting female competitor Sayaka Shioda, he is the only Japanese ADCC champion.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Had some fights and matches in RINGS before his career took off.
• Everyone Went to School Together: With Yuki Sasaki who he met during his time with Seidokaikan, trained together in Shooto and eventually invited Sasaki to join Grabaka.
  • He also applied twice to the entrance exam for NJPW, during his second try he was fellow examinees with Kenichi Yamamoto.
• Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Ended in the short end of this during his match in UFO against Minotauro Nogueira. His opponent was known as a BJJ supernova who had tapped out all kinds of grapplers, so Kikuta naturally was worried about his matwork and not the rest of his skills. When the fight came, the Japanese spend a round battling Nogueira on the mat... only for then to be felled by a random punch.
• Four-Man Band: One of the four founders of Grabaka and is the leader.
• Gender-Blender Name: "Sanae" is more used as a female first name in Japan. Kikuta commented it in an interview as being awkward sometimes.
• Groin Attack: Suffered a few of these in his PRIDE fight with Alexander Otsuka. He still won the fight.
• Identical Stranger: Stylistically speaking. Despite his background, Kikuta's submission method was weirdly evoking of the oldschool Gracies of all people. He buttscooted and pulled guard a lot, liked to stall for opportunities, and used the guard much more than his Japanese peers. It was most in his active leglock acumen that one could see that he was a shoot-stylist after all and not a jiujiteiro.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With longtime sparring partner Yuki Sasaki.
• I Know Judo: One of the best judo based grapplers, trained under Toshihiro Koga. He also trained in Seidokaikan Karate, trained in Australia under Stan Longinidis in Kickboxing, and naturally shoot wrestling under Sayama and Naoyuki Taira, who also trained him in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and shootboxing at Strapple MMA Gym.
• Minored In Ass Kicking: Was an All Japan Amateur Shootboxing Heavyweight Champion.
• Power Trio: With Grabaka mates, Yuki Sasaki and Takeshi Yamazaki.
• Red Baron: "Newaza King" ("The King of Groundwork"), "Newaza Baka Ichidai" ("Number One Grappling Idiot"), "Newaza Sekaiichi" ("The Best In The World in Groundwork"), "Grabaka no Sosui" ("Grabaka's Commander"), "Ryuri no Kakutoka" ("The Wandering Fighter").
• Start My Own: His personal style of grappling is called Kiku-Jutsu.
• The Worf Effect: Despite the billing as a two-time Lumax Cup winner, Kikuta had a somewhat lackluster run in PRIDE, being worfed by Renzo Gracie in one of the most dense and uneventful matches ever and later being stopped short by a rookie Daijiro Matsui. He got better in Pancrase, however.

Eric Lavigne

• The Apprentice: To Rickson Gracie.
• French Jerk
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: One of the first French guys to learn the art, was part the French Jiu-Jitsu team that competed in the first ever Mundial in Brazil in 1996 and is now a black belt.
• Jobber: Had only one fight at Vale Tudo Japan 1996 against Todd Bjornethun and lost.

John Lewis

"John Lewis was my first MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach & one of my main two trainers throughout the first 12 years of my career. There is none better."

— Chuck Lidell

• A Day In The Lime Light: Though he didn't win, he is first person to dominate a Gracie in his fight against Carlson Gracie Jr. During this era there where no judges so the result ended officially in a draw but clearly Lewis had dominated his opponent and tarnished the invincible reputation of the Gracie family.
  • He also drew with Rumina Sato at Vale Tudo Japan 1996 after dominating most of the fight, Sato however would get his revenge by submitting Lewis at Vale Tudo Japan 1997.
• Authority Equals Ass Kicking: A co-founder of the Lewis/Pederneiras Vale-Tudo team.
• Badass Teacher: Owns a MMA school called J-Sect Jiu-Jitsu, has trained guys like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Egan and Enson Inoue, Ricco Rodriguez, Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Marc Laimon, Robert Drysdale, Frank Trigg, Gilbert Yvel and many others. He also notably trained Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, which introduced them to the UFC.
• Hidden Depths: He has also had a career in the entertainment business, being the owner of John Lewis entertainment group, as well as having been a recorded musician.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Trained at Nova Uniao and is a 5th degree black belt under André Pederneiras, originally trained under Rickson Gracie to the rank of blue belt, and also trained under John and Carlos Machado at one time. He is one of the infamous Dirty Dozen in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu meaning that he is the 4th American out of 12 individuals worldwide to be awarded a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is also the first man to receive a black belt in Judo under Gene Lebell and trained with him from white to black belt. He also is a 1st dan black belt in Japanese ju-jitsu under sensei Philip S. Porter, a 2nd dan black belt in Sho Kon Do (a form of Japanese Kickboxing) under founder Dan Koji, and trained in boxing under “Siagon” Skipper Kelp.
• Instant Expert: Downplayed as he was at blue belt before André Pederneiras graded Lewis to black belt in 1995, going straight from blue to black belt. Lewis agreed to put his black belt to the test, to silence a few voices in the community who did not agree with the promotion.
• Jack of All Stats: Has been mentioned by many as one of the first true mixed martial artists in MMA, considering he mastered many different styles in a time when only style specialists were fighting MMA.
• Ur-Example: His gym was first ever MMA gym in the state of Nevada.

Doug Murphy

• The Apprentice: To Matt Hume.
• Carpet of Virility
• I Know Pankration: Trained at AMC Pankration.
• Jobber: A short career with 1 win and 1 loss at Vale Tudo Japan 1996.
• Real Men Love Jesus: Is now a pastor.

Margot Neyhoft

• Action Girl
• I Know Muay Thai
• Jobber: A short career with 2 losses, one at Vale Tudo Japan 1996 against Yumiko Hotta.

Igor Zinoviev

"I watched him train at a gym and I was afraid to approach him. He was killing the bag. I thought, ‘He’s gonna kill my clients.’ They are professionals—dentists, lawyers. Then I found out that he taught kids. Then I thought, ‘He can’t be too bad.’ And the first clients he had fell in love with him."

— Alex Reznik, founder of Complete Body Development, a Manhattan-based outfit that offers a battalion of personal trainers.

"He always maintained his composure and was able to measure his opponents with deadly accuracy."

— Brett S. Atchley, a writer and photographer for Ultimate Athlete magazine.

"Zinoviev was a really good striker, and he had really good judo skills. He was better than almost anybody at striking. It was very hard to get him to submit. He could just stand there and be better than anyone."

— Frank Shamrock, from his autobiography; Uncaged: My Life As A Champion MMA Fighter.

• The Apprentice: To Gene Lebell and Gokor Chivichyan.
• Cool Teacher: Was a coach for Chicago Red Bears in the International Fight League. He is now a MMA and personal trainer and teaches at Ultima Fitness Performance.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Has only one loss in MMA against Frank Shamrock.
• Determinator: According to John Lewis and John Peretti, he was almost always dealing with injuries during his MMA fights. He had broken ribs when he fought in Battlecade Extreme Fighting 1, a shoulder injury when he faced Frank Shamrock, etc.
• Escape Artist: Was well known for being able to get out of bad positions in his fights. He was not called "Houdini" for nothing.
• Establishing Character Moment: His fight with Mario Sperry at Battlecade Extreme Fighting 1. Sperry quickly took him down and assumed side control, with the announcers thinking it was the end until Zinoviev did something virtually unseen in the American MMA scene of the 90's, he escaped from underneath a jiu-jitsu specialist. From then on, no matter how many bad positions the Brazilian could put his foe in, Zinoviev was able to pop out and escape. It ended with Zinoviev kicking Sperry, giving him a cut above his eye and having the fight stopped in Zinoviev's favor.
• Game-Breaking Injury: He suffered a career-ending collarbone injury from Shamrock's victorious KO slam.
• Hero Killer: Has victories over Mario Sperry and Enson Inoue.
• Husky Russkie
• I Know Judo: A former Captain of the Russian National Judo Team and a 1995 Empire State Games Judo Champion. He also trained in boxing, Sambo, jujitsu, and Kickboxing.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Subverted, he was sickly and weak as a youth due to meningitis, he was unable to walk until the age of four. To overcome this handicap, he swam for exercise, becoming skilled enough that he entered a Russian sports academy, double subverting this trope. He then spent two years in an elite special forces squad in the Soviet army, followed by four years on a municipal police force after his discharge from the army.
• Nerves of Steel
• Red Baron: "Houdini".
• The Worf Effect: Lost to Frank Shamrock in 22 seconds by being slammed unconscious.

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1997

Marcelo Aguiar

• The Apprentice: To Luta Livre mestre Joao Ricardo and Muay Thai mestre Luiz Alves.
• Cool Teacher: A Muay Thai coach to guys like Thales Leites.
• I Know Luta Livre: Trained at the Luta Livre Budokan Academy and also trained in Muay Thai at the Boxe Thai Academy.
• Jobber: In Shooto he lost 3 fights, he had better success outside of it.

Tom Erikson

"Tom Erikson is a monster. Bears should go to the carnival to wrestle him. I've never been manhandled like that in my life. He's a guy who you literally can't do anything against when you train with him. He takes you down at will, and holds you down until he feels like letting you up. It reminds me of when I was 10 years old trying to wrestle with my dad. I firmly believe that Tom beats more than half the heavyweights in the UFC right now."

— Sean McCorkle

"There is no secret to being tough, either you are or you are not. The only secret is how people choose to pretend to be tough about fighting. They are the ones who want to be tough and talk tough but when the chips are down and someone punches you in the face what are you going to do."

— Tom Erikson

• Bouncer: As seen in When We Were Bouncers by Paul “The Mauler” Lazenby.
• Carpet of Virility
• Cool Teacher: He was an assistant wrestling coach at Purdue University, where he had been coaching since 1997. In 2015 Tom accepted the head wrestling coach position at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. He also has trained MMA fighters like Jon Fitch, Sean McCorkle, Jake O’Brien, Nate Moore, Matt Mitrione.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Lost for the first time against Heath Herring at Pride 11 - Battle of the Rising Sun by rear naked choke.
• Determinator: Fought Aleksander Khramstovskly, Willie Peeters, and Murilo Bustamante at Martial Arts Reality Superfighting in his debut. His fight with Murilo Bustamante was a 40-minute stalemate.
• The Dreaded: He believed that he was not invited to the Pride Grand Prix tournament because Mark Kerr forced Pride to leave him out in order to avoid fighting him. Kerr denied this claim, and replied by saying that Erikson didn't want to be in the tournament in the first place. However, according to fellow Pride veteran Gary Goodridge, both Kerr and Ricco Rodriguez had it put specifically in their contracts with the promotion that they would not fight Erikson.
• Hero Killer: Beat guys like Willie Peeters, Kevin Randleman, Ed de Kruijf, Gary Goodridge, etc.
• I Know Amateur Wrestling: Wrestled for Triton College, he was a twice NJCAA Collegiate Champion in 1984 and 1985. He was also twice NCAA Division I Collegiate wrestling All-American, in 1986 and 1987, while competing for Oklahoma State University. He also competed at the 1997 World Wrestling Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in August 1997, finishing in fourth place in the 130 kg/286 lb freestyle division. He trained for MMA as part of his friend Rico Chiapparelli's Real American Wrestling team.
• Mighty Glacier
• Minored In Ass Kicking: Was somehow recruited to do a few Kickboxing matches despite his limited skills in that area. He does have one win against Jan Nortje, though Nortje got his revenge in the rematch.
• The Pig-Pen: Gary Goodridge once trained with Erikson and accidentally got some of Erikson's sweat from his chest hairs into his mouth, he ended throwing up and said it was the grossest thing that has ever happened to him.
• Red Baron: "The Big Cat", "Hakugei" ("The White Whale").
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: No official announcement was made to explain why Erikson got the decision win against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in the IWF grappling event. According to the given ruleset, Erikson won technically the first round and Kohsaka the second, and there wasn't any difference between the value of each. The entire affair was addressed in Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter without coming to an answer.
• Stout Strength: A superheavyweight at nearly 300 ib.
• The Worf Effect: His fights with Heath Herring, Fabrício Werdum, Antônio Silva, and Alexandru Lungu.

Carlos Newton

"There's only two sports in the Olympics that count, running and fighting, if you can't fight you got to run."

• Afro Asskicker
• Always Someone Better: Lost twice to Matt Hughes.
• The Apprentice: To Tom Sharkey, Terry Riggs and Everton McEwan.
• Big Guy Rodeo: Perhaps the most famous one in MMA was the case between him and K-1 giant Jean Rivière at Newton's debut.
• Cool Teacher: Is now a instructor at his home gym Warrior Mixed Martial Arts.
• David Versus Goliath: In one of the most memorable NHB fights in history, with Newton giving up over 100 lbs to a much larger Jean Rivière on the Extreme Fighting 2 card in April 1996.
• Establishing Character Moment: His debut against Jean Rivière at Extreme Fighting 2. He dominated most of the fight, though he lost by submission due to sheer exhaustion, however the spectacle launched his career.
• Genius Bruiser: A York University student, did his study on geriatric medicine, having done research at Baycrest Hospital, one of the world leaders in geriatric care. He now has a full-time job in the field of architecture.
• Hero Killer: Has beaten guys like Erik Paulson, Kazuhiro Kusayanagi, Kenji Kawaguchi, Daijiro Matsui, Yuhi Sano, Luta Livre legend Johil de Oliveira, Pat Miletich, Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons, Renzo Gracie, Shonie Carter, etc.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: First started training at the Samurai Club and is now a 3rd degree black belt and a time Canadian Jiu-Jitsu Champion(including Open Weight Champion). He also has training in boxing, wrestling, Judo, krav maga, is a Warrior MMA black belt and was a 2 time Canadian Pankration Champion.
• Nerds Love Tough Schoolwork: Another aspect of his career that makes Newton's accomplishments all the more impressive is that Carlos never trained with a top flight camp and was going to medical school for the majority of his run in MMA. This is a guy who had a 4 year run at or near the top of the division while never giving MMA his full attention.
• Otaku: Has an affection for the Japanese Manga and Anime.
• Red Baron: "The Ronin".
• Shout-Out: Calls his style of fighting "Dragon Ball Jiu-Jitsu" and even did the kamehameha as a victory pose.
• The Worf Effect: Lost to Anderson Silva by a flying knee and punches combination, to Matt Lindland by guillotine choke and also to Shungo Oyama by submission due to punches.
• You Can't Fight Fate: A funny example happened during the fight between Kazushi Sakuraba and Newton. Before the event, Newton had been sparring with Bas Rutten, whose grappling style was similar to Kazushi's due to his time in the similarly catch-based Pancrase, and Rutten coached Newton to look after kneebars after tapping him out with one. Carlos went to the ring reassured, and after minutes of grappling, Sakuraba submitted him with a kneebar of all things.

João Roque

• Cool Teacher: Has his own gym, Clube Vizinhança. Some of his students are Bernado Pitel, Jonatas Gurgel "Tagarela", and Mark Andrew Bocek.
• Determinator: As a purple belt, while running a high fever and extremely debilitated he competed at the “Copa Nastra” winning the event in his weight class, after which he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with hepatitis. He also once fought with a dislocated finger.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: His first coaches of BJJ were Marcio Pinheiro and Gerson Velasco, and he stayed under their guidance until he was a purple belt, under Osvaldo Alves, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Red Belt and a legend in the sport of BJJ, that Joao Roque graduated to brown belt, then when Osvaldo had to move to Manaus, Roque joined André Pederneiras at Nova União where he earned his black belt. He is also a BJJ 1997 World Champion and a World Bronze Medallist in 1998, a 1996 Pan American Champion, a 1993 Brazilian National Champion, a 2 time Brasileiro de Equipes Champion in 1997 and 1999, and a 2 time Brasileiro de Equipes (Teams) Silver Medallist in 1996 and 1998.
• Power Trio: With Wendell Alexander and André Pederneiras in forming Nova União.
• Scary Black Man: Was born in Angola, more than likely the first African native to earn a black belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1998

Sergei Bytchkov

• Always Someone Better: Beaten twice by Luiz Firmino.
• Husky Russkie
• I Know Sambo: A national champion and trained at the Red Devil Sport Club.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong

Randy Couture

Branden Lee Hinkle

• The Apprentice: To Mark Coleman.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Fought in Vale Tudo Japan 1998 against Masanori Suda before he fought in RINGS.
• Guest Fighter: From Team Hammer House.
• Hidden Depths: Played tennis and was West Virginia College Conference Tennis Champion.
• I Know Amateur Wrestling: An accomplished wrestler. He also learned boxing and made his professional debut in 2008.
• Red Baron: "The Iron Lion".

Vladimir Matyushenko

"At the time, when I was a little boy, maybe 12 or 14, one of the reasons I was in sports was because back then, even then, it was kind of the end of the communist regime, but still communist. But everyone had to go meet up and go to stupid meetings and blah blah blah and all these politics. I hated it. My excuse was ‘hey I’m going training.’ If I go train, I won’t have to go to these stupid meetings and listen to all of this propaganda stuff. It was my way to get out."

• Almighty Janitor: His nickname of "The Janitor" was coined by Dave Schultz as a joke to the U.S. wrestling team after Matyushenko beat members of their formidable squad (including Olympian Kevin Jackson) during a meet in Siberia. Their first impression of him had been when he was cleaning the mats in poor-looking clothing.
• The Apprentice: To Rico Chaippareli.
• Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Head fighter of Team V-Mat.
• Badass Family: Has a son named Roman who also trains MMA.
• Carpet of Virility
• Cool Teacher: The wrestling and MMA instructor at Dynamix MMA.
• I Know Freestyle Wrestling: An accomplished freestyle wrestling athlete who competed for both the Soviet Union and Belarus. He was a Soviet and Belorussian National Wrestling Champion. At 90 kg, he won a silver medal in the 1994 European championships, and placed 11th in the 1994 world championships. He is also two-time National Junior College champion at Lassen College. He also trained in Sambo and trained with the Real American Wrestling team for MMA.
• Red Baron: "The Janitor", "Shiodzuke Shokunin" ("Salted Craftsman").

André Pederneiras

• A Day In The Lime Light: Defeated Rumina Sato in his MMA debut.
• Authority Equals Ass Kicking: He owns Shooto Brazil.
• Cool Teacher: Owns Academia Upper aka Upper Sports Club (his first jiu-jitsu school) and Nova União. Has trained guys like BJ Penn, John Lewis, Marc Laimon, Vitor Ribeiro, Robson Moura, Marcus Aurelio, Renato "Charuto" Verissimo, Gustavo Dantas, etc.
• Embarrassing Nickname: His old master Carlson Gracie Sr called him a “Creonte”, a less then amicable way of calling someone you believe is a traitor when he opened the doors of his dojo to foreigners, namely John Lewis and BJ Penn, which was frowned upon by the Brazilian media and most of the coaches and fighters at the time.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: His first coach was Rodrigo Vieira, who he trained with until his brown belt. After that with Carlson Gracie Sr, receiving his black belt when he was 22 years old and is a 6 time Brazilian National Champion.
• Power Trio: With Wendell Alexander and João Roque in starting Nova União.
• Red Baron: “Dedé”.

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 1999

Haroldo Bunn

• A Day In The Lime Light: He beat Jean Jacques Machado at the CBJJ (now IBJJF) World Jiu Jitsu Championships of 1999 in the quarter finals by kneebar.
• The Apprentice: To André Pederneiras.
• I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: A black belt and trained at Nova Uniao. He also trained in Muay Thai and Doce Pares Eskrima.
• Jobber: A MMA career of 3 wins and 6 losses.
• Red Baron: "Cabelinho".
• SWAT Team: A member of the Brazilian Federal Police special unit COT (Comando de Operações Táticas).

Rafael Cordeiro

• The Apprentice: To Rudimar Fedrigo.
• Cool Teacher: Owns and is the head instructor of Kings MMA and was a nominee for the 2014 World MMA Awards "Best coach of the year" and Kings MMA itself was a nominee for the "Best gym of the year", respectively. He also won the 2012 and 2016 coach of the year awards. He was also one of the head coaches of Chute Boxe has helped trained guys like Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" and Murilo "Ninja" Rua, José Landi-Jons, Anderson Silva, Fabricio Werdum, Jamie Yager, Rafael dos Anjos , Beneil Dariush, Lyoto Machida, Jake Ellenberger, Mark Muñoz, Jason Miller, etc.
• Guest Fighter: From Chute Boxe.
• I Know Muay Thai: Trained at the Chute Boxe Academy. He first began martial arts with Taekwondo under Daniel Lee and is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
• Red Baron: "Mestre".
• Scary Black Man

Johnny Eduardo

"The biggest accomplishment in my career was when I realized I was capable of winning fights and make a living, doing what I love to do."

• The Apprentice: To Luis Alves and André Pedreneiras.
• Battle Couple: His girlfriend and mother to his 4th daughter, Vanessa "Miss Simpatia" Melo is also a MMA fighter, she once fought while she was pregnant though she didn't know of it at the time.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Made his professional MMA debut at the age of sixteen.
• Cool Teacher: A Muay Thai and MMA instructor.
• I Know Muay Thai: Trained at the Boxe Thai Academy, has Muay Thai tattooed on his stomach and is a 3 time Brazilian National champion and a 7 time Rio de Janeiro State Champion. He first begin in his father's kung fu academy learning kung fu, Karate, and Taekwondo. He later learned boxing, wrestling and is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a Rio de Janeiro State Jiu-Jitsu Champion representing Nova União.
• Red Baron: "Pretinho".
• Scary Black Man

Angelo Sérgio

• The Apprentice: To Luiz Alves.
• Cool Teacher: A Muay Thai instructor.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Has only one loss in MMA against Tetsuji Kato at Vale Tudo Japan 1999.
• I Know Muay Thai: Trained at Boxe Thai Academy.

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2009

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2012

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2013

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2014

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2015

Debuted in Vale Tudo Japan 2016