It was designed to be a celebration for three Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars: Amaury Bitetti, Jorge Pereira and Crezio de Souza. Instead, it was remembered for a fight in which Eugenio Tadeu protégé Alan Carvalho made his debut as a luta livre representative and stunned one of the Carlson Gracie academy’s premier lightweights.
Vale Tudo O Lutador was held on Dec. 19, 1996 at Canecao—the largest concert venue in Rio de Janeiro. It marked the first and only time a vale tudo event took place there.
At the end of 1996, Yan Bonder, the main creative force behind Tatame magazine, decided to partner with Ricieli Santos to create a new combat sports publication: O Lutador (“The Fighter”).