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.
Royce Gracie is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a member of the Gracie jiu-jitsu family, a UFC Hall of Famer, and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1's MMA events, and Bellator.
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.
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.
Kieran McGeeney is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player, who currently manages his native county, having previously managed the senior Kildare county team from 2007 until 2013.
American Top Team (ATT) is one of the primary teams in mixed martial arts. The gym was founded by Dan Lambert, who brought in former members of Brazilian Top Team Marcus "Conan" Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio, but there is no formal affiliation between the two teams. ATT's main academy is in Coconut Creek, Florida, and there are affiliated academies throughout the United States. ATT features professional fighters who have competed in many major promotions, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), PRIDE Fighting Championships, DREAM, K-1, Strikeforce, Bellator, Professional Fighters League (PFL) and ONE Championship.
João Manuel Roque is a Portuguese-Angolan former featherweight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt World Champion and a retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the Featherweight division in MMA.
José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior, commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist. He last competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Bantamweight division after previously competing at Featherweight, and was the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion. He became the first UFC Featherweight Champion following the UFC/WEC merger. Aldo is often regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time, and is considered to be the greatest featherweight of all time after defending his UFC title seven times and his WEC title twice.
Gunnar Lúðvík Nelson is an Icelandic professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which was awarded by Renzo Gracie after impressive results at the 2009 IBJJF Pan-Ams and the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. Nelson is a member of Mjölnir MMA in Iceland, and SBG Ireland.
Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is a mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym based in Pleasant Hill, California. The gym features professional fighters who have competed in many major promotions, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), PRIDE Fighting Championships, DREAM, and Strikeforce.
Chris Haueter is a 6th degree black belt Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner and coach. As one of the first non-Brazilians to achieve the rank of black belt and the first American black belt to compete at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, he is regarded as a pioneer of the sport. Haueter is also known for coining several unnamed Brazilian jiu-jitsu's positions.
Jack Slack is a pen name of an anonymous British freelance writer, podcaster, analyst and amateur historian of combat sport; most notable as a mixed martial arts (MMA) striking analyst, writing detailed, analytical breakdowns of fighters, fighting techniques and strategies, using videos, photos and animated GIFs.
Straight Blast Gym Ireland is a mixed martial arts academy and professional team based in Dublin, Ireland. It is run by John Kavanagh, and is part of Straight Blast Gym International. The team has produced several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, the most notable being Conor McGregor.
Dillon Danis is an American retired submission grappler and mixed martial artist. Danis competed in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. He also competed in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship.
Brad Katona is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Brave CF Bantamweight Champion. He is also the only fighter to win The Ultimate Fighter twice, winning The Ultimate Fighter 27 featherweight tournament and The Ultimate Fighter 31 bantamweight tournament.
Firas Zahabi is a Canadian martial artist who is the owner and head coach at Tristar Gym. Zahabi is known for his work with mixed martial artist Georges St-Pierre.
Peter Queally is an Irish mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has also competed for Extreme Fighting Championship, BAMMA, Cage Warriors and Fight Nights Global.
