Braulio Estima, 2009's world champion. Photo: John Lamonica
No sooner had Shine Fights 3 been canceled, due to an injunction from promoter Don King, who didn’t want his athlete Ricardo Mayorga to face Din Thomas, than GRACIEMAG.com contacted Jiu-Jitsu world champion Bráulio “Carcará” Estima, who would have made his MMA debut this Saturday against Rick Hawn in North Carolina.
In his first statement, he spat out almost everything he was feeling:
“I’m really frustrated. I feel like throwing up just thinking about all I had to give up for the fight, and now it ends this way,” he says.
“I trained like mad. I went through complicated situations in getting here. I missed my son’s first birthday, spent just two nights at home these last two months. In a nutshell, I invested a lot in my training, and I’m not talking financially. I abdicated training in the gi as well, and the World Pro went the way it did. And now there’s the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, in California this June, which I may have put at risk for nothing. I’m really bummed. At least Roger [Gracie] and Jacaré did well and saved the evening.”
Estima further commented on the mood after the show was canceled at the last minute.
“The mood here is one of confusion; no one knows how or when the next step will be taken. Things started coming up little by little. Rock by rock, until the mountain crumbled.
“The promoters said the athletes would get paid in the gymnasium. Then they said the lobby of the hotel, and Devin, the promoter, would show up at 9:30 at night.
“Now they’re saying he’ll get here at 3am, on a chartered jet from Miami, where Don King’s ruling was made. So the mood is one of disgust and confusion. And nobody knows how it all will end. The promoters say it will all be ok tomorrow and that Shine Fights will continue, with the next show in July.”
Bráulio tried to reschedule his fight for an event in England, but unsuccessfully.
“I tried to reschedule this fight for an event to take place this weekend in Birmingham, England, just so all this suffering, all this work, won’t go to waste. You have no idea how much I wanted to fight, how much I suffered for this,” he said in frustration.