you're one of my favorites, I can't wait to get it. was looking through some old jiu jitsu books on the internet and found out they reported on vale tudo/mma bouts way back in the fifties and stuff. interesting.
came across some old names who fought gracies, euclides pereira beat carlson gracie, supposedly fought wlademar santana four times, has a myspace page with some old pictures. evidently they showed vale tudo on local tv in northern brazil back then, mentioned ivan gomes (gomez?) as undefeated, along with the claimed 18 wins for carlson. some of the bigger matches got into the papers like the gracie kimura bout but if vale tudo was shown on local tv then I'm sure it made the papers too. alas I don't speak portugese and can't afford to go to brazil to hunt that stuff up.
did some more looking, I see names mentioned, and with the trusty google translator tried to make sense of some of it. touro moreno-evidently a boxer, must have had some wrestling experience as well. supposedly drew with and defeated waldemar santana, giving him a 'bad beating'. also fought zulu to a draw refereed by carlson gracie (jr?) loss to Oswaldo 'Paqueta' Gomes Rosa link to a video talking about the moreno-santana bout (in portugese) http://www.univision.com/uv/video/Touro-Moreno-VS-Waldemar-Santana/id/3268620225 Oswaldo 'Paqueta' Gomes Rosa - friend of carlson gracie, defeated touro moreno, claims a 11 fight career, lost 'four or five'. allegedly has a 4000 dvd set of vale tudo fights, including his fight with moreno. I'd love to see that stuff. hugo lira- vale tudo fight promoter, shameless cut and paste to follow: Fidelão: He learned from his brother Fidel. After training with Hayashi Kawamura and then trained with Chico Hemetério Christmas. . - Pantera North: He trained with Hayashi Kawamura. Aderbal Bezerra da Cunha -fought 50's and 60's, fought all the top names, santana, gomes, periera etc. . - Balbino: It began with Sergeant Ribeiro Coaching Wrestling. He was a longshoreman in Cabedelo-PB and started doing weightlifting, which today is known as bodybuilding. - . - Osmar Biuce: He was a student of Herondino and after Agathangelos. - - Pinheirão: Your coach Tom was the captain of the PM. . I consider him one of the bravest fighters. . He struggled up to four times a year. He came in, knocked down, he rode and finished the fight.. It was the toughest opponent that Ivan had. - - Bernardão: It was marine and had a very strong physical. He learned to fight in Rio de Janeiro. . Arm was 52 cm and 110 kg of muscle. - - Sales: After Ivan Gomes, one of the best fighters I have met. . - Waldemar Santana: Great fighter and great person. Sofreu muita discriminação por ser negro. Suffered much discrimination for being black. . He was a trailblazer, it was to Rio de Janeiro and after the fight with Helio Gracie, began to travel to Brazil seeking challenges. . Too bad it was little known in Brazil. if you prefer the link http://www.brasilcombate.com.br/entrevista-com-hugo-lira following these links around it appears that gomes and some of the others might have engaged in some pro wrestling, a highlight of gomes on youtube clearly shows worked and legitimate matches, the carlson gracie loss was claimed to be a bait and switch from a finish bout to a judged one and lost the decision. need a dedicated brazilian to unearth these treasures. adam pollack bilingual?
