Tag: Pele

Host of MMA fighters mourn the passing of football icon Pelé, brand him ‘Athlete of the Century’

Pelé UFCA host of well-known mixed martial arts fighters have paid tribute to the late football icon, Pelé – branding the Brazilian as the “Athlete of the Century” following his death on Thursday at the age of 82 in Sao Paulo.  Pelé, a three-time FIFA World Cup winner and forward regarded as arguably the greatest professional […]

Pelé UFC

A host of well-known mixed martial arts fighters have paid tribute to the late football icon, Pelé – branding the Brazilian as the “Athlete of the Century” following his death on Thursday at the age of 82 in Sao Paulo. 

Pelé, a three-time FIFA World Cup winner and forward regarded as arguably the greatest professional football player of all-time, passed away in his native Brazil due to multiple organ failure after he had battled colon cancer. 

Following his passing, Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro dedicated a period of three-days national mourning, with Pelé’s funeral set to take place next week at Brazilian football club, Santos’ stadium. 

In light of his death, countless tributes were paid to the Brazilian, with the likes of fellow footballing greats, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi issuing heartfelt tributes, with multiple monuments in his native Brazil lit in honor of the 82-year-old. 

Pelé remains the sole footballer to win three FIFA World Cups

Within the mixed martial arts community, a slew of tributes were paid to Pelé, particularly by his Brazilian compatriots, with the likes of former UFC championship-winning trio, Jose Aldo, Charles Oliveira, and Glover Teixeira all issuing heartfelt tributes to the serial World Cup victor.

“A loss that is immeasurable,” Jose Aldo posted on Instagram accompanied by a picture of Pelé. “Just thank you for everything you’ve done for the sport, King Pelé. Eternal!” 

“RIP KING Pelé,” Charles Oliveira tweeted. 

“Rest in peace Pelé, may God comfort the family,” Mauricio Rua posted on Instagram. 

“Farewell to the idol that inspired all Brazilians who dreamed of being football players (or athletes) as children,” Demian Maia posted on his Instagram account. “I was one of those children.
“Many thanks to the king of football @pele,” Wanderlei Silva posted on Instagram. “Shows how far you can go when talent and dedication come together.”

Give Thanks: ‘Pele’ vs. ‘Macaco’ III is Going Down in January

(Video courtesy of YouTube/TeflonMaster)

If you’ve followed MMA for more than a few years, you know who Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons is.

Anderson Silva — a longtime training partner of “Pele,” who lost to the Cuban-born fighter twice in muay thai competition — credits the original Chuteboxe team fighter with helping make him the dangerous fighter he is today.

Well, it appears that Pele is back to form after suffering a career threatening leg break back in 2008 and now the 38-year-old, who is undefeated in his four bouts since returning from the grisly injury, will take on Jorge “Macaco” Patino for the third time at MMA Combat 2 Kumite on January 20 in Brazil.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/TeflonMaster)

If you’ve followed MMA for more than a few years, you know who Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons is.

Anderson Silva — a longtime training partner of “Pele,” who lost to the Cuban-born fighter twice in muay thai competition — credits the original Chuteboxe team fighter with helping make him the dangerous fighter he is today.

Well, it appears that Pele is back to form after suffering a career threatening leg break back in 2008 and now the 38-year-old, who is undefeated in his four bouts since returning from the grisly injury, will take on Jorge “Macaco” Patino for the third time at MMA Combat 2 Kumite on January 20 in Brazil.

The pair’s original two fights — which saw Landi-Jons win in back-to-back match-ups — were legendary. Surprisingly, Macaco fought for the UFC and Strikeforce (and lost both bouts), yet Pele never got the call from either promotion.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/HelloJapan)

Another note of interest is that Landi-Jons, who spent the last four years training in British Columbia, Canada at Revolution MMA with the likes of Bill Mahood, Kultar Gill and Bibiano Fernandes, has reportedly returned to Chuteboxe to train with one of his original instructors, Rudimar Fedrigo.

The PRIDE vet whose biggest win came against a prime Matt Hughes, posted the news of his return to the once fabled camp on his Facebook page last night.


(Chuteboxe’s murderers’ row, circa 1999)

Stay tuned for more on the card and whether or not it will be broadcast or streamed.

On This Day in MMA History: 14 Years Ago Dan Henderson Made His MMA Debut

Dan henderson first fight by MMAGLORY

We’re going to try to do an almost daily “On This Day in MMA History” series starting with this appropriate first instalment that features one of the sports most popular and successful fighters, former Pride welterweight and middleweight and current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson.

14 years ago today “Hendo” made his MMA debut in Brazil against Crezio de Souza in the opening round of the Brazil Open ’97 lightweight (176lbs and below) tournament.  Henderson’s bracket of the one-day grand prix also featured Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons, while the heavyweight side featured Kevin Randleman and Tom Erickson.


Dan henderson first fight by MMAGLORY

We’re going to try to do an almost daily “On This Day in MMA History” series starting with this appropriate first instalment that features one of the sports most popular and successful fighters, former Pride welterweight and middleweight and current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson.

14 years ago today “Hendo” made his MMA debut in Brazil against Crezio de Souza in the opening round of the Brazil Open ’97 lightweight (176lbs and below) tournament.  Henderson’s bracket of the one-day grand prix also featured Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons, while the heavyweight side featured Kevin Randleman and Tom Erickson.

He recalled the circumstances surrounding his foray into MMA in the CagePotato Retrospective Interview Ben did with him a few months back:

“I’d only been training MMA for about two weeks when I had my first fight. Randy Couture called me and said he was going to do the [Brazil Open ’97] tournament. They had a heavyweight division and also a lightweight division. Plus, there was going to be some other wrestlers there — [Rico Chiapparelli was] trying to manage some guys, and started a team called the RAW Team.

But then Randy ended up getting a call from the UFC — he’d already put an application in, and ended up getting a call because somebody got hurt last-minute — so he fought in the UFC instead. I was pretty much just training with some local guys, preparing for the tournament. When they shut the cage and it was just me and the other guy and the ref in there, I said ‘oh shit.’”

After defeating de Souza by first-round TKO, Dan went on to face fellow American Eric Smith, who had beaten Pele in his opening bout, in the event final. Avoiding the Hammer House fighter’s initial bum rush, Henderson locked on a tight arm-in guillotine that Smith refused to tap to and paid for by being put to sleep.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/gersman20)

With those two fights began an impressive career and an impressive win-streak that would last three-and-a-half years and nine fights, including nods over Renato Sobral, Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Alan Goes and Carlos Newton.

At age 40 and with a solid 27-8 record under his many belts, Henderson is showing no signs of slowing down.

After knocking out Rafael Cavalcante in March with his trademark right hand, the consummate moneyweight fighter will now move up to face Fedor Emelianenko as a heavyweight on July 30 in Chicago at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson.