RIO DE JANEIRO — Jiu-jitsu legends Rodolfo Vieira and Bruno Malfacine left the grappling world to focus on their MMA careers, and they experienced two different scenarios at Sunday night’s Shooto Brazil 74.
Inside the brand new Upper Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, nine-time jiu-jitsu world champion Malfacine was the first to enter the cage. Making his MMA debut against fellow debutant Romario Boaes, Malfacine only needed 94 seconds to get the finish, an armbar from the guard.
"It was an amazing debut,” Malfacine told MMA Fighting after the flyweight bout. "I was so relaxed all camp I told Fabio Gurgel and (Ricardo) Liborio on the week of the fight that something was wrong because I was too relaxed.