In Case of Riot, Hide Behind Bryan Vetell

This coming Saturday is "The Return of Macaco", a pro MMA event at Newark's Essex County College that features Jorge "Macaco" Patino, an old-school vale tudo legend, returning to combat to square up against Brandon Olsen of Montana - the main event on a card rich with Brazilian talent. In the co-main event, the massive IFL veteran Bryan Vetell takes on Steven Banks of South Carolina, while on the under card Marcus Rodrigues of Sao Paulo, Brazil, faces local boy Anthony Montanaro, Valter Roberto de Menezes of Sao Paulo faces Philadelphia's Lamont Lister, Flavio Roberto Alvaro of Sao Paulo faces Illinios' William Hill, and locals Jay Silva and Plinio Cruz will go at it. That's a lot of Brazilians, and it could translate into a night jam-packed with action. It could also translate into a decent-sized riot. Back in 1997, Renzo Gracie took on Eugenio Tadeau at a Rio de Janeiro event called Pentagon Combat, an event that degenerated into a chair-throwing, fighter-stabbing melee involving everyone in the place. And while MMA Journalist doesn't really expect The Return of Macaco to get as out of control, one mantra will be repeated silently throughout the night: in case of riot, hide behind Bryan Vetell.

The MMA Exchange Program

When I was a youngster dabbling in various martial arts in the pre-MMA era, I would sometimes visit a school and meet folks whose sole presence there - at that school, in this city, and even in this country - was to train, train, train. Get to the academy early and maybe you'd catch them rolling up their sleeping bags, or if you were one of the last students out the door maybe you'd witness them giving a far corner of the mat an extra wash because that's where they'd soon rest their head. There were Japanese kids here to study aikido or judo, there were folks from the West Coast staying for the month, and when BJJ came to town there were Brazilians crashing on the mats at Renzo's. Forget your usual semester abroad program - this was the version where you got ringworm in lieu of hooking up with chicks in the dorm, but damn did you get good at your art. Nowadays, the proliferation of fight promotions has spurned the growth of the "MMA exchange program", where fighters are brought in from far off lands to mingle with the local talent. Thanks to Renzo's ties with Gracie Barra back in Brazil, chaps like Delson Heleno and Fabio Leopoldo have competed here in the States, and when I interviewed Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro at his NYC school a couple weeks ago he mentioned bringing in some boys from Nova Uniao as well. And now we have Jorge "Macaco" Patino's Gold Team Fighters, which has a school out in Newark and is stocked with all sorts of vale tudo dudes from the old country. We on the East Coast have been blessed with some tough homegrown fighters who've mixed high school or college wrestling chops with submission savoir faire and striking. But with the MMA exchange program now in full effect, the status quo looks like it's about to get seriously shaken up.

Jorge "Macaco" Patino to Relive Brazil's Vale Tudo Glory Days in Newark, New Jersey

Jorge "Macaco" Patino, a grizzled veteran of many old-school Brazilian vale tudo battles, will be returning to action on February 7th at Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey, headlining an event called "The Return of Macaco". Patino, who's faced everyone from Pat Miletich in the UFC to Kazuo Misaki in Pride: Bushido, and who has competed in everything from Deep to Jungle Fight to Cage Rage, will square off against some dude with only a fraction of his experience named Brandon Olsen - and with luck, fans will be treated to a brutal and bloody battle culminating in a riot (think 1997's Pentagon Combat in Rio de Janeiro). Go to http://www.kapmma.com/ for more info.