UFC 153: Cristiano Marcello discusses parting ways with Chute Boxe Academy

With UFC 153 rapidly approaching, there’s no end to the countless ads, teasers, video blogs and promotional spots leading into the weekend. Because the card is being held in Brazil, there’s some extra spice and flavor, and having Anderson Silva as the main event, against a game opponent like Stephan Bonnar, certainly adds to the old school vibe of it all.

One of the more interesting things I’ve seen in this whirlwind of media hype, is a video series of Cristiano Marcello. The veteran lightweight from Curitiba Brazil, has been in the game since the early days, fighting in Brazil in vale tudo events, PRIDE, and now, finally, in the UFC. Some of the more hardcore, old school fans will remember him from the infamous, backstage altercation at PRIDE Shockwave 2005, between himself and Charles Bennett.

Marcello, once the head coach of the legendary Chute Boxe Academy, had a tumultuous time with the camp, and finally parted ways with them in 2009. He now runs his own academy, CM System, but strangely enough, is still considered the BJJ head coach at Chute Boxe, probably due to the number of their fighters that have sought training with him.

This video series documents Marcello’s training camp for UFC 153, where he’ll be facing tough Swede, Reza Madadi. There are a ton of great stories, including how he was fired from Chute Boxe, and some interesting tales from those days of old. The series is five parts, and this post will include the first three. As soon as I get the others, I’ll post them up for our readers. Enjoy!

You can follow Cristiano via his Twitter account, @CristianoBJJ

Cristiano Marcello – Fazendo história – Episódio 01 (via Crank MMA)

Cristiano Marcello – Fazendo história – Episódio 02 (via Crank MMA)

Cristiano Marcello – Fazendo história – Episódio 03 (via Crank MMA)

Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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