Shooto announces man vs. woman fight in Brazil, promoter promises safety

Andre Pederneiras is best known among MMA fans as the head of famed MMA team Nova Uniao, where UFC champions Jose Aldo and Renan Barao train.

But the trainer and manager might become infamous for another reason, if he follows through with plans for an event this week in Rio de Janeiro.

Pederneiras is promoting a fight between a man and a woman at Shooto 45, which takes place Friday in Rio de Janeiro, according to a report today from MMAFighting.com.

Nova Uniao’s Emerson Falcao (0-1) and Team Nogueira’s Juliana Velasquez (0-0) will meet at bantamweight in a three-round bout.

In a story posted on the website of Shooto’s broadcast partner, Pederneiras declined to specify the ruleset under which the pair would compete.

“But we guarantee that everything will be done within the law and safely,” he told Combate.com.

A rep for the Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) condemned the Dec. 27 booking and said it could scrap plans to bring Shooto under the commission’s umbrella.

“If Andre is really putting that fight together, and if it’s in his plans to work together next year, for sure it won’t happen,” CABMMA Director of Operations Cristiano Sampaio today told MMAjunkie.

Sampaio said the commission, which currently regulates UFC events held in the country, has no authority to stop the event.

Pederneiras could not be reached for comment by MMAjunkie, but at least one of the fighters is eager to compete next Friday.

“Andre Pederneiras came up with the idea,” Velasquez told MMAFighting.com. “He asked Team Nogueira for a female fighter, and my team believes I’m ready, so I accepted the challenge. My expectations are the best. I’m well trained to get there and win.”

Team Nogueira representative Pedro Marques told MMAjunkie that Velasquez and the team want to show she’s a female fighter ready to move to the next level.

“Juliana (accepted) that fight with our coach staff,” Marques said. “She really is in another level, and now is the best time to send that message, so we expect her to prove a point in the event. She has been training with men before, and it will not be new for her.

“Shooto will (release) to the media the rules, but we sure understand (the fight) is reasonable for the safety of the athletes.”

Falcao, who lost via submission in his first pro MMA fight in April, said on Monday that he is injured and could not accept the booking, according to MMAFighting.com.

The Combate story also added a correction that the bout would be the first co-ed bout since the establishment of the Unifed Rules, but stated another one took place at a “clandestine event” promoted by Rio Heroes between Ediane Gomes and “a man identified only as ‘Carlos.’” Gomes won via submission.

Stay tuned to MMAjunkie for more on this story as it develops.

(Pictured: Juliana Velasquez)

Updated at 2:57 p.m. ET on Dec. 17, 2013, with quote from Pedro Marques.