Eugenio Tadeu is a Brazilian grappler,

Vale Tudo 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 Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter. Tadeu was born in 1965. He was famous as a practitioner of

Luta Livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting'' or ''wrestling''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and comb ...

, or Brazilian

Submission wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as submission grappling, submission fighting, or simply grappling, is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and submission techniques. It is a hybrid discipline that incorporates elem ...

and was one of the last representatives of this art form. Tadeu is notable for representing Luta Livre in Vale Tudo/MMA events. Especially on the feud between Luta Livre and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Biography

In the ''JJ vs Martial Arts Challenge''

event in 1984. Tadeu defeated BJJ representative Renan Pitanguy by TKO. In 1991, he fought BJJ representative

Wallid Ismail Wallid Farid Ismail (, born February 23, 1968) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and promoter. Ismail holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) under Carlson Gracie, and is an IVC mixed martial arts world champion and BJJ Champion. Is ...

at the ''Desafio - Jiu Jitsu vs Luta Livre''

event. The match saw both fighters extensively exchanging strikes, Ismail used his aggressive jiu-jitsu to takedown Tadeu and apply an early form of

Ground-and-Pound Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

, punishing him with

headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...

s and by throwing him outside the ring multiple times. After 16 minutes of fighting, Ismail threw him outside the ring one last time and the tired and injured Tadeu wasn't able to come back in, giving the victory to Ismail by TKO. In 1988, as a retaliation for the street fight between

Rickson Gracie Rickson Gracie (; born November 21, 1959) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He is a member of the Gracie family: the third oldest son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Gracie, and half-brother to Rolker, Royce, Robin ...

and Hugo Duarte. Tadeu together with a group of 60-70 other Luta Livre fighters, some armed with knives and firearms, did a Dojo storm on Gracie Academy, seeking a rematch for the fight. Tadeu choose to fight

Royler Gracie Royler Gracie (born December 6, 1965) is a Brazilian-American retired mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Gracie ran the Gracie Humaitá school in Rio de Janeiro for many years under his father Helio's d ...

but the match was cancelled as police was called. A couple of days later, Rickson and Royler went to Tadeu's academy to settle the score and Tadeu fought Royler into an hour long draw. He was scheduled to fight

Ralph Gracie Ralph Gracie (born May 25, 1971) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt. A member of the famed Gracie family, he is the son of Robson Gracie and the brother of 11 Gracies, including Charles Gracie, Renz ...

but this never materialized. This was because Tadeu did not submit his visa in time.

Renzo Gracie fight

His most famous fight was with Renzo Gracie. Renzo and Tadeu were long time rivals. The rivalry has been described as being a Hatfield vs McCoy style rivalry because in South America machismo is the rule. Renzo once said "my name is not a bone to be carried in the jaw of a dog," before slapping the guy and declaring "you don't deserve my fist." This was Renzo's last bare knuckle fight. The riot from this fight led to MMA being banned from Rio de Janeiro. Renzo claimed he was dominating the fight, but was having issues due to the oil that was on Tadeu's body. After 15 minutes Renzo refused to rise and beckoned Tadau to grapple. Renzo punched a fan in the face, causing more fans to riot. The fight has been ranked one of the best fights to be ruled a no contest. The riot was featured on World's Dumbest Criminals and is listed as the #8 Worst Moment In MMA History by ESPN.

UFC

Eugenio Tadeu continued to represent Luta Livre, now in international events. He was invited to the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

where he participated at

UFC 16 ''UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998, in Kenner, Louisiana. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video. Hi ...

on the organization's inaugural

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

tournament. Tadeu fought Lion's Den graduate

Mikey Burnett Michael Wayne Burnett (born April 12, 1974) is a former American mixed martial artist who was a member of the fight team the Lion's Den. Burnett lost a controversial decision to Pat Miletich in a UFC title fight for the UFC Welterweight Champio ...

and lost to TKO after a 9:46 round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Marcelo Giudici , TKO (corner stoppage) , Meca World Vale Tudo 8 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

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, TKO (punches) ,

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Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for t ...

, Louisiana , , - , NC , align=center, 2–1 (1) ,

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) 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 C ...

, NC (fans rioted) , Pentagon Combat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 14:45 ,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Nigel Scantelbury , Submission (kimura) , UVF 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:20 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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, TKO (injury) , Desafio - Jiu-Jitsu vs. Luta Livre , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 16:18 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Renan Pitanguy , TKO (corner stoppage) , Desafio - Jiu-Jitsu vs. Martial Arts , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:02 ,

, Brazil , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tadeu, Eugenio Martial artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Martial artists from California Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Luta Livre Mixed martial artists utilizing vale tudo Sportspeople from Los Angeles Brazilian male mixed martial artists American catch wrestlers Brazilian catch wrestlers Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 1965 births 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen