Wallid Ismail
Wallid Ismail | |
---|---|
Brazilian | |
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
Weight | 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) |
Division | Middleweight |
Fighting out of | Rio de Janeiro |
Team | Carlson Gracie Team |
Trainer | Carlson Gracie, Georges Mehdi, Ary Almeida |
Rank | Coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Carlson Gracie[1] Black belt in Judo under Georges Mehdi |
Years active | 1991–2002 |
Mixed martial arts record | |
Total | 12 |
Wins | 9 |
By knockout | 2 |
By submission | 5 |
By decision | 2 |
Losses | 3 |
By knockout | 1 |
By decision | 2 |
Occupation | Fight promoter |
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Last updated on: December 11, 2009 |
Wallid Farid Ismail
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. Ismail is considered one of the first professional fighters in BJJ because of his specially dedicated training, as he had many sponsors and did not have to teach or have another job, unlike most of the other competitors in the country at the time.[3] In mixed martial arts, Ismail is also considered a pioneer, having his first official fight in the Vale Tudo event Desafio - Jiu Jitsu vs. Luta Livre in 1991, also having competed for the UFC, and PRIDE, most of his wins in MMA came by way of submission.
After his career, he became heavily involved in the business side of MMA. He is the founder and promoter of Jungle Fight, Brazil's largest MMA promotion,[4] and also manager of multiple fighters.[5]
Background
Of
Victories over the Gracie family
Ismail was willing to face the Gracie family's main branch due to their enmity with their relative Carlson. Ismail had also expressed: "I always felt belittled for not being born with the Gracie name. Some of the Gracies never trained at all, but they got all this attention. Other people trained just as hard, but no one paid them the least bit of attention."[8]
After his first championship wins, Ismail had a famous duel with Ralph Gracie, whom he believed the Gracie family had trained specifically to beat him for three years. The Carlson Gracie apprentice defeated Ralph at the Copa Rio Sport Center, winning a referee decision.[8] In 1993, Wallid scored another victory over a Gracie when he defeated Renzo Gracie,[9] who would have been training for two years for revenge.[8] Ismail then challenged the main members of the family, Rickson and Royce, stating that he would fight them in any style anywhere.
Only Royce accepted the challenge, though demanding special conditions for the fight, like having no point scoring and no time limit, thus making the fight only winnable by submission. With renowned Hélio Vigio as the referee, the bout took place on December 17, 1998, and was won by Ismail after four minutes and fifty three seconds, choking Gracie unconscious with the Relógio (also known as clock choke or koshi-jime in judo),[10] a move that has been associated with Wallid ever since. The bout had a significant international repercussion due to Royce's previous career in Ultimate Fighting Championship,[11] to the point Keith Vargo from the Black Belt magazine stated, "One thing is certain: Royce Gracie is no longer the messiah of unarmed combat he once was."[12]
After the match, Ismail challenged Rickson again, but the latter was declared inactive in the sport.[8][11] Royce's side tried then to negotiate a rematch, which was accepted, but according to Ismail, they withdrew from the proposition after several months.[8] Rickson later criticized Ismail, calling him an "average fighter" and stating "I never felt like he's someone I have to respect as a fighter."[13]
Wallid was also famous for his personal enmity with Ryan Gracie. Ryan agreed to fight Wallid at mixed martial arts match at World Extreme Cagefighting in January 2000; however, Ryan dropped out of the event, and instead proposed fighting in April 2001, but he had to drop again after being arrested for fighting in a bar.
Feud with Edson Carvalho
In 1996, Wallid was involved in a violent incident with Edson Carvalho, a judo black belt and fellow Carlson Gracie trainee. The matter took place in Georges Mehdi's judo school, which both Ismail and Carvalho were attending at the time. After heated words among the two, a sparring turned into an all-out fight when Ismail and Carvalho attacked each other. Mehdi intervened to break up the brawl and expel them out of the academy, but the two fighters resumed fighting as soon as they were in the street. Seeing the situation, Mehdi opted for calling the police, but it arrived too late and didn't compromise to break up the violence, and meanwhile Wallid was brutally beaten down and left unconscious and profusely bleeding. After the incident was finally over, Ismail had to be attended by Mehdi himself and spent a week in an ICU, with 20 stitches in his head, both orbital bones broken and many other facial injuries.
The incident had deep repercussions. Carvalho's coach, Antônio Lacerda a.k.a. Mestre da Morte, declared himself prideful of his trainee's act and actually paraded through the city with the bloody gi jacket of Ismail.[2] Carlson Gracie, who was teaching in United States at the time, returned to Brazil and attacked Lacerda in a public meeting, challenging him to a fight, but nothing came from it. Ismail claims that Edson's brother Ricardo Carvalho intervened actively in the brawl and that it became a 2-on-1,[14] but Mehdi himself dismissed this version and assured that the fight was fair.[15]
"The fight started in my academy. I ordered Wallid and Edson to stop. They conceded but soon started it again. Then I sent them outside, because my academy is not the place for this type of fight. Since they would not let go of each other I had to push them outside close the doors and call the cops. And the fight out there went on for half an hour since the police was not coming quickly. Sometimes I opened the door and tried to separate them but it was like separating a dog fight. Edson did not obey me and then I asked Wallid to stop it, asking for mercy he replied "not even dead". It is important to remind you that at no moment Edson's brother helped him: Wallid and Edson fought alone. When the police arrived with reinforcements, Edson left. I took Wallid with a totally disfigured face to the restroom and had him cleaned. Afterwards he was taken to the hospital wherein he stayed for days"
Mixed martial arts
Early career at Vale Tudo
In 1991, Wallid Ismail, at the time a brown belt, caused controversy for publishing incendiary and provocative articles in newspaper
He later went to compete at Universal Vale Tudo Fighting. He first fought Australian Dennis Kefalinos, winning in short time, and went to face Japanese
In 1998, he defeated Johil de Oliveira by submission due to strikes, and then defeated Gary Myers via decision.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 1997, Ismail had his debut for Ultimate Fighting Championship at the UFC 12 event, where he was paired with Pancrase fighter Kazuo Takahashi. The fight would become infamous for its irregularities and disregard for the rules, as Takahashi seemed to be uninformed of the event's ruleset, continuously grabbing the fence in response to takedown attempts, while Ismail intentionally ignored them later on.
When Wallid first tried to take Kazuo down, they hit the cage wall and stayed on it, grabbing the fence despite the referee's continuous warnings. Shortly after, Wallid went on to score multiple successful takedown attempts, though Kazuo went on to knock Wallid down with a right hand, which at first seemed to end the fight, but the Japanese wrestler stood waiting, believing his opponent would receive a 10 count like it was done in Pancrase; when he learned that the match would continue, he tried to kick Ismail, but it happened to be an illegal attack because he was wearing
After the bout, Ismail criticized his opponent for holding the fence, though he also stated him being in bad shape as another reason for his defeat.[8]
PRIDE
Ismail then signed with
Ismail returned at
Post fight career
In 2003, Ismail did several special appearances for
The same year, Ismail also proposed aggressively a rematch with Royce Gracie under mixed martial arts rules, criticizing Gracie as a "fake fighter."[18]
Wallid also founded the
He became manager of multiple MMA fighters from Brazil, many which pass through Jungle Fight. He most notably manages
In a May 2021 interview with
Mixed martial arts record
12 matches | 9 wins | 3 losses |
By knockout | 2 | 1 |
By submission | 5 | 0 |
By decision | 2 | 2 |
Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 9–3 | Yasuhito Namekawa | Decision (unanimous) | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002 | December 12, 2002 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama , Japan
|
|
Win | 8–3 | Kazunari Murakami | TKO (punches) | UFO - Legend | August 8, 2002 | 2 | 3:03 | Tokyo, Japan | |
Loss | 7–3 | Alex Stiebling | Decision (unanimous) | PRIDE 19 - Bad Blood
|
February 24, 2002 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
Win | 7–2 | Shungo Oyama | Technical Submission (arm triangle choke) | PRIDE 15 - Raging Rumble
|
July 29, 2001 | 2 | 2:30 | Saitama, Japan | |
Loss | 6–2 | Akira Shoji | TKO (punches) | Pride 4 | October 11, 1998 | 2 | 1:26 | Tokyo, Japan | |
Win | 6–1 | Gary Myers | Decision (unanimous) | IVC 5 - The Warriors | April 26, 1998 | 1 | 30:00 | Brazil | |
Win | 5–1 | Johil de Oliveira | Submission (punches) | IVC 3 - The War Continues | October 12, 1997 | 1 | 9:48 | Brazil | |
Loss | 4–1 | Kazuo Takahashi | Decision | UFC 12 - Judgement Day | February 2, 1997 | 1 | 15:00 | Dothan, Alabama, United States | |
Win | 4–0 | Katsumi Usuta | Submission (rear-naked choke) | U - Japan | November 17, 1996 | 1 | 3:10 | Japan | |
Win | 3–0 | Katsumi Usuta | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UVF 2 - Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2 | June 6, 1996 | 1 | 3:59 | Brazil | |
Win | 2–0 | Dennis Kefalinos | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UVF 1 - Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 1 | May 4, 1996 | 1 | 2:10 | Japan | |
Win | 1–0 | Eugenio Tadeu | TKO (injury) | Desafio - Jiu Jitsu vs. Luta Livre | September 26, 1991 | 1 | 16:18 | Grajaú, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Submission grappling record (incomplete)
See also
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Jungle Fight
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- Paulo Thiago
References
- ^ Rogers, Kian. "Wallid Ismail And Carlson Gracie Jr Promoted To Coral Belt In BJJ". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Wallid Ismail | BJJ Heroes: the jiu jitsu encyclopedia". BJJ Heroes. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
- ^ "MMA Legend: Wallid Ismail". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "Nos 18 anos de Jungle Fight, presidente Wallid Ismail avisa: 'É só o começo'; confira mais". Extra Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). 14 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ a b PVT (2021-08-13). "Wallid Ismail aponta falha de Deiveson e afirma: 'Focado, ele é imbatível'". Portal do Vale Tudo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ "Wallid Ismail | BJJ Heroes: the jiu jitsu encyclopedia". BJJ Heroes. 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ [1] Archived March 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g Rodney Ley, Wallid Ismail Opens Fire! 'The Gracie Exterminator' Speaks About Royce, Ralph, Renzo and Rickson, Black Belt Magazine, September 1999
- ^ "Ten Years Ago, on December 17, 1998, Wallid Ismail Defeated Royce Gracie in Jiu-Jitsu | News Archive". Adcombat.com. 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
- ^ de Souza, Diogo (22 May 2023). "Throwback: Watch Wallid Ismail Defeat Royce Gracie". Jitsmagazine. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ a b Wallid Ismail Challenges Rickson, Ink Panther Deal, Black Belt magazine, June 1999
- ^ Keith Vargo, Royce Gracie is Only Human, Black Belt magazine, April 1999
- ^ Robert W. Young, Rickson Gracie: The Legend of No-Holds-Barred Fighting Speaks Out on the State of Grappling Arts, Black Belt magazine, March 2001
- ^ Wallid Ismail, revista Tatame, 1995
- ^ Georges Mehdi, "O depoimento do Prof. Medhi à revista Kiai nº19 - ano 4", 1995
- ^ a b c "The Biggest Rivalry in Martial Arts History: BJJ vs Luta Livre | BJJ Heroes". Retrieved 2022-02-18.
- ^ a b Sherdog.com. "Desafio - Jiu-Jitsu vs. Luta Livre". Sherdog. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
- ^ a b c "August 2002 News Archive". Ichiban Puroresu. August 2002. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ [2] Archived April 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [3] Archived January 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cruz, Guilherme (2021-08-02). "Wallid Ismail rips top-ranked UFC strawweights for ducking 'Brazilian Chimaev' Amanda Lemos". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Wallid Ismail: Paulo Costa Will Remain at Middleweight for Next UFC Appearance". Sherdog. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ "Wallid Ismail and his 'Long Translations' MMA Video". MMA-Core. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
- Sherdog.com(May 28, 2021)
- ^ Israel Adesanya ‘couldn’t give a f—k’ about Paulo Costa hump rumpus: ‘It was justified’ Jesse Holland, mmamania.com (October 12, 2020)