Vale Tudo or vale-tudo, also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventually evolve into modern mixed martial arts (MMA). For years, "Vale Tudo" was used as a synonym for MMA in Brazil, but the term fell into disuse due to the emergence of stricter rules and the influence of the media to have a more "civilized" name. It is now used to refer to an early, more rules-free stage of the modern sport.
Renzo Gracie is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7th degree coral belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and coach. A third generation member of the Gracie family, he is the grandson of Gracie jiu-jitsu co-founder Carlos Gracie, grandnephew of Helio Gracie, nephew of Carlos Gracie Jr. and the son of Robson Gracie.
The Chute Boxe Academy is a Brazilian martial arts academy. It opened as a Muay Thai academy in 1978 in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Head trainer Rudimar Fedrigo later expanded the program in 1991 to include other aspects of modern mixed martial arts, such as wrestling and submission grappling. By 1995, the Chute Boxe team was considered a prime training ground for Vale Tudo fighters. In 2004, an American branch, Chute Boxe USA, was established in Los Angeles, California.
Mark Kerr is an American former wrestler and mixed martial artist. During his MMA career, he was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, and a PRIDE FC competitor. In collegiate wrestling, Kerr was a NCAA Division I champion. In freestyle wrestling, he won gold and silver medals at the World Cup and silver at the Pan American Games. In submission wrestling, Kerr is a four-time ADCC World Champion, winning his weightclass twice along with the absolute division and the Superfight Championship.
Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, submission wrestler, kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the UFC 7 Tournament Champion, and also competed for the World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), PRIDE Fighting Championships and the International Fight League, where he head-coached the Southern California Condors.
Kevin Christopher Randleman was an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randleman's background was in collegiate wrestling, in which he became a two-time NCAA Division I and a three-time Big Ten wrestling champion out of Ohio State University. Randleman competed in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes in MMA. In addition to competing in the UFC, Randleman also fought for other organizations such as PRIDE, WVR, and Strikeforce. He was previously associated with Mark Coleman's Team Hammer House, before training at Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. On May 16, 2020, the UFC announced that Randleman would be inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. Randleman is the first fighter to be posthumously inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Brazilian Top Team (BTT) is an academy and team specialized in Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts. It was established in April 2000 by Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, Mário Sperry and Luis Roberto Duarte, former members of the Carlson Gracie Academy, to develop and create new training techniques for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, submission grappling and mixed martial arts.
Carlos Newton is an Anguillian-born Canadian retired mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and Pride FC Japan MMA Legend. Known as "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizations including UFC, Pride FC, IFL, K-1, Shooto and most recently W-1. He is a 3rd Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt alongside his coach Terry Riggs under Renzo Gracie, at Warrior MMA in Newmarket, Ontario. Newton has always been considered a fan favourite and a "Submission Master" and has dubbed his personal fighting style — an amalgam of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Karate, and Boxing — as "Dragon Ball Jiu-Jitsu" in tribute to Dragon Ball, a Japanese manga and anime franchise. Newton is one of only a few MMA athletes to ever be allowed to compete in the UFC and Pride FC at the same time. In Canada he was the first Canadian UFC Champion at UFC 31 (Welterweight) defeating Pat Miletich.
Roger Gracie is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist (MMA) and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner and coach.
Dean Richard Lister is a retired American mixed martial artist (MMA) and submission grappler. He is a 4th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt, luta livre black belt, and coach. Lister is considered a pioneer of grappling and mixed martial arts.
Wallid Farid Ismail is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and promoter.
Travis Lutter is a retired American mixed martial artist who won The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Machado.
Robert Lewis Drysdale is a Brazilian-American Brazilian jiu-jitsu 4th degree black belt under Léo Vieira, a retired undefeated mixed martial artist and an instructor at his own BJJ academy. Having won multiple World Championships, he was referred to by Vice magazine as "America's jiu-jitsu superhero", regarded by BJJ Heroes as "the most accomplished American grappler of his generation" and as the best Submission Wrestler in the World by Gracie Magazine.
Daniel Emerson Bobish is a retired American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He was competing in the Super Heavyweight division. He is a former King of the Cage Super Heavyweight Champion. Bobish has fought in many MMA organizations including PRIDE Fighting Championships, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage. His fights typically did not go past the first round with the average length of his fights being 2:43.
The Machado Family are a family of Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners, mixed martial artists and grapplers. They are the founders of RCJ Machado Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and are cousins to members of the Gracie family.
Johil de Oliveira is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial arts veteran fighter, Luta Livre practitioner who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and Brazilian-based organizations such as World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), IVC, Jungle Fight, UVF, BVF, Bitetti Combat and International ones such as Shooto and Cage Rage. Nicknamed "Samurai do Fogo", he has been one of the major supporters of Luta Livre in Brazil and Worldwide, alongside Marco Ruas, Alexandre Franca Nogueira and Hugo Duarte.
Amaury Bitetti is a Brazilian mixed martial arts former fighter and promoter holding the rank of 7th degree black and red coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Considered by many as one of the best BJJ competitors of all time, Bitetti is a two-time world jiu-jitsu champion in open weight, the first-ever to win the category, and a two-time Brazilian national champion. After competing in Vale Tudo / MMA Bitetti founded the MMA fight organization Bitetti Combate.
Luta Livre, known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and combat sport created by Euclydes Hatem in Rio de Janeiro. Primarily a mixture of catch wrestling and kosen judo, there is also ground striking with the hands, feet, knees and elbows. Notable practitioners include Marco Ruas, Ebenezer Fontes Braga, Johil de Oliveira, Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Renato Sobral, Gesias Cavalcante, Pedro Rizzo, Darren Till and José Aldo.
Carlos André Pederneiras de Castro is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and mixed martial arts (MMA) coach and promoter. A former BJJ competitor, holding today a Red and Black 7th Degree Coral belt, Pederneiras is a six-time Brazilian National jiu-jitsu champion. During his short career as an MMA fighter, he challenged Pat Miletich for the UFC Welterweight Championship in 1999, and fought at the Shooto-run Vale Tudo Japan events.
