The World Vale Tudo Championship
It was the marketing genius of Frederico Lapenda who packaged Marco Ruas as, "The King of the Streets" and paved the way for him and the generations of cross-trained fighters who followed him." アート・デイビー, the Creator of the UFC®
Lapenda also produced two golden-standard documentaries utilizing the fight footage and access to fighters over the WVC’s existence. “The Smashing Machine,” which was produced for HBO, focused on the life and tribulations of MMA heavyweight Mark Kerr. “Rites of Passage: The Rebirth of Combat Sports” (directed by Bobby Razak and co-produced by Craig Caryl) gave audiences an insight into the minds and lives of the extreme MMA fighters.
With fighters from across the globe, Alexandre “Cacareco” Ferreira won the 8-man tournament and Hugo Duarte won the Superfight, both representing Luta Livre, a famous Brazilian fighting style. Great fights on the beach were not the only thing that came out of WVC VIII, it also included Lapenda teaming up with Bas Boon to form Golden Glory, a MMA fighter management outfit that would assemble one of the most formidable stable of fighters in the sport and included Semmy Schilt, Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, Sergei Kharitonov, Gokhan Saki, Errol Zimmerman, Jon Olav Einemo, Ashwin Balrak, Nieky Holzken, Chalid Die Faust and Alexandru Lungu who have fought in numerous fight promotions such as K-1, Pride, Strikeforce, and the UFC.