Surrounded by the green of the Amazon rain forest, the Hangar is likely Jungle's next venue. Photo: Publicity.
Last Sunday, on Our Lady of Nazareth day, in Pará, Brazil, the O Liberal newspaper gave an offering of a little medal to the Virgin of Nazareth, patron saint of the party regarded as the largest Catholic procession in the world.
But that wasn’t the only gift readers received. In the newspaper, there was also an interview with Wallid Ismail.
The president of Jungle Fight spoke about the event, repeating his assertion that the show on the coming 30th, in the capital of Pará state, “will make history.” Even discounting Wallid’s knack for marketing, the hook is a good one.
Wallid at 109 press conference. Photo: Josh Hedges.
The October 30 Jungle Fight event marks the return to his Amazonian roots. It was in the famous region that the promotion had its inaugural event, in 2003 in Manaus. And the party will be rich with pomp and circumstance, to be attended only by invitation, in a city with rich cuisine and enchanting locations. It was mentioned that Wallid’s event will be held at the Hangar convention center, a building of remarkable architecture.
In return for the support Jungle received, in a partnership with Romulo Maiorana Organizations, which owns O Liberal and a TV Globo affiliate in Belém, Wallid guaranteed five athletes from the region will participate in the event.
“Jungle Fight identifies very closely with Pará. Think about it: the first big star we produced comes from Belém, Lyoto Machida. He left Jungle Fight to become the champion of the UFC. That is significant,” recalls Wallid in the interview. “And now the first Jungle Fight belt went to an athlete from Pará, Yuri Marajó, who took the title beating the likes of Francisco Massaranduba. To give you an idea, Massaranduba was considered by Sherdog.com to be a top four prospect, or in other words, one of the four most promising fighters in his weight group.”
We’re waiting for Yuri Marajó to be called up for the UFC. We’re anxious, waiting for that call,” he added.
Wallid further celebrated the fact ORM’s corporate directing editor Ronaldo Maiorana trains and follows fighting. “Pará, with this partnership, will reach the whole world (via Premiere Combate and Sportv channels in Brazil, and ESPN). The idea is to show how close Belém do Pará is to Miami. The people of Pará will go to Miami, and the Americans will come get to know Belém,” said the black belt with enthusiasm.
Check out the provisory card:
Jungle Fight by Ortobom
Hangar, Belém do Pará, Brazil
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Under 77kg GP (semifinals and final on same night)
Gil de Freitas vs. Erick Silva (Minotauro Team)
Francisco Ayon (Combate Libre) vs. Fernando Martinez (Argentina)
Superfight:
Ildemar Marajó Alcântara vs. Jacko Quintana (Argentina)