"Carlao" Barreto was the greatest HW in Vale Tudo

pankrat

pankrat

Silver Belt
@Silver
Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Messages
13,235
Reaction score
7,549
He tore up the tournament scene in '97 finishing Kalman, Bobbish and Randleman the same night in epic battles.

A 6'4" rangey HW with mobility and world-class BJJ, regarded as one of the best guard players in Vale Tudo.
Kept it very competitive in the feet vs prime Igor Vovchanchin in a controversial decision in Pride.

Here dominates Kevin Randleman standing before submitting him, in what could very well be the MMA fight with highest standards of athleticism up until that point



Underachieved. Judges took away Ws over Igor and especially Beneteau in his only fight in UFC,

Not a great puncher for a HW, not the best TD artist and cardio issues but certainly one of the most well-rounded big men from the 90s, and one of the few HW-LHWs from that era that could be competitive in modern day imo.

An intelligent and well-educated man btw, does a good job commenting

full
 
Last edited:
leatherneck said:
this is really just a good opportunity to remember how great Igor was.

maybe the most underrated HW EVER.
Click to expand...

Why is Igor underrated in your opinion? He is easily the most praised HW from that era in sherdog, his name is brought in these boards like 100 times more than Barreto, who was not far from his level and arguably beat him in his prime in Pride
 
cookdaddy said:
Good heavyweight yes, great heavyweight, I don't know. Where does Tra Telligman compare to Barreto?
Click to expand...

Maybe not great as he was an underachiever - with dubious decisions in key fights - but he had the skills and potential to be one of the greats from his era imo

Telligman is very underated but how is he comparable to Barreto?

Carlos was much more accomplished: IVC champion. Eight man Brazilian Vale Tudo tournament winner.

They don't have common opponents other than Igor in competitive fights. Tra fought a more washed up, fat Igor though. Besides, Telligman didnt beat anybody who would be even top5 win for Barreto.

Barreto actually dominated Telligman in Pride. I think he was a league above him in both credentials and skill-set
 
Last edited:
Carlos Baretto was Top 5 fighter at the end of the '90s.
Has wins vs Randleman, Rothwell, Hoffman, Telligman, Pedro Otavio, Varleans, Ilyukhin... pretty good for pioneer era.
It is a shame he never got more fights in major promotions like Pride and UFC. Could have made a bigger impact.

HW - 1999 - Nov 26 - Stephen Quadros-FightSport
1. Igor Vovchanchin (Ukraine) - Ended Francisco Bueno's unbeaten streak with a brutal KO. Out gunned former top dog Mark Kerr to achieve a controversial "no contest". Split decision over Barreto. Beat up Shoji & TKO'd Gary Goodridge. Owns the best record
2. Pedro Rizzo (Brazil) - KO of Kohsaka makes him th 'people's champ'. TKO'd Tre Telligman. Split decision over Mark Coleman. KO'd Tank Abbott. WVC eight man tournament and WVC superfight winner. Undefeated in NHB. Ruas Vale Tudo.
3. Mark Kerr (USA) - Abu Dhabi victory over Barreto proves he can "roll" with the best. Hammered Hugo Duarte. Dispatched Pedro Cesar via submission. Still undefeated with two UFC four man tourneys under his belt. Hammer House.
4. Carlão Barreto (Brazil) - Gave Vovchanchin a tough go. Defeated Pedro Cesar to retain IVC belt. Choked out Hinkle in IVC 8. Eight man Brazilian Vale Tudo tournament winner. Carlson Gracie team.
5. Tom Erikson (USA) "The Big Cat" is back! Finally re-entered the NHB scene with a decision over Gary Goodridge (Pride). The sky's the limit. Undefeated with a KO win over Randleman. Four man Brazilian Vale Tudo tournament champ. RAW Team.
6. Kevin Randleman (USA) - Beat Pete Williams to gain the UFC heavyweight title. His controversial loss to Bas Rutten didn't hurt his reputation. Decisive win over the fading Maurice Smith. His brashness is good for the sport. Hammer House.
7. Enson Inoue (USA) - Defeated Randy Couture by armbar. UFC, Pride and Shooto veteran. Grappling Unlimited.
8. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Japan) - The man who whipped Tim Lajcik, Kimo and decisioned Pete Williams. Gave Bas Rutten all he could handle. AMC Sports.
9. Renato Babalu (Brazil) - Advanced in the RINGS tournament with two big wins. Strong Luta Livre combined with formidible punches and kicks. Ruas Vale Tudo.
10. Pete Williams (USA) - Spectacular KO win over Mark Coleman. Super Brawl champion. Lion's Den.


HW - 1999 - Oct 8? - Sav's NHB-Chris Savarese

1.Mark Kerr: The guy has been nothing short of an animal since coming
2.Tom Erickson: This guy is the best wrestler of them all.A big guy
3.Carlos Barretto: The best Hwt. BJJer out there. Is current IVC champ
4.Bas Rutten: Former 3 time King of Pancrase titleholder. A brutal
5.Enson Inoue: A complete fighter who gets better w/ every fight. Takes
6.Kevin Randleman: an elite wrestler w/ incredible stamina who is
7.Igor Vovchanchin: One word to describe him is POWERFUL. The winner of
8.Randy Couture: Has great wrestling skill and is great at ground
9.Mario Sperry: winner of the Austrialian UFC and numerous sport and
10.Pedro Rizzo: Is a WVT 8-man tourn and Superfight winner. Has wins
Honorable mention: Jeremy Horn, Dan Severn, Pete Williams, Ricardo Morais, Gary Goodridge, Mo Smith, Mark Coleman, Marco Ruas, Tsuyoshi Kosaka.


TATAME, Dec 1998:

https://web.archive.org/web/19981202030621/http://www.tatame.com.br:80/ttm302.htm

1º Mark Kerr
(Wrestling)
2º Pedro Rizzo
(Ruas Vale Tudo)
3º Igor Vovchachin (Kickboxing)
4º Carlos Barreto (Jiu-Jitsu)
5º Tom Erikson (Wrestling/Boxing)
6º Kevin Randleman (Wrestling)
7º Enson Inoue (Shooto/Jiu-Jitsu)
8º Maurice Smith
(Kickboxing/Universal Subission)
9º Bas Rutten
(Muay Thai/ Pancrase)
10º Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
(Judô/Universal Submission)

INTERNATIONAL VALE TUDO, March 1999
https://web.archive.org/web/19990504132015/http://www.valetudo.com.br:80/vote.htm

1 - Pedro Rizzo
2 - Carlão Barreto
3 - Tank About
4 - Bas Rutten
5 - Mark Kerr
6 - Hugo Duarte
7 - Marco Ruas
8 - The Pedro
9 - Pete Willians
10 - Gary Goodridge
 
pankrat said:
Yvel was as wild as they come.
Capable of crushing HWs or losing to WWs (I think Dani Tabera was clearly robbed vs him) and fight in the most stupid way, as vs Don Frye.
Click to expand...
the mike tyson-ish aggressive heavyweight hasn't been very successful in MMA because they always get taken down. yvel overachieved, to a degree, in my opinion.
 
He was okay. Not great at all but okay for the time.
 
LHWBelt said:
He was okay. Not great at all but okay for the time.
Click to expand...

He was okay by today standards. By '95-'00 was certainly elite. Arguably beat prime Igor in Pride, if that's not great for the time tell what it is.

Finished UFC champion Randleman and Sambo champion Ilyukin. Outclassed UFC veterans Bobbish, Varelaans, Hoffman, Telligman and Rothwell.

He was easily a top5 HW from the 90s, definitely not just "okay". Extremely underrated in Sherdog
 
pankrat said:
He was okay by today standards. By '95-'00 was certainly elite. Arguably beat prime Igor in Pride, if that's not great for the time tell what it is.

Finished UFC champion Randleman and Sambo champion Ilyukin. Outclassed UFC veterans Bobbish, Varelaans, Hoffman, Telligman and Rothwell.

He was easily a top5 HW from the 90s, definitely not just "okay". Extremely underrated in Sherdog
Click to expand...

I watched him a few times and he was super inconsistent. I stand by my okay comment. What ability of his was great?
 
LHWBelt said:
I watched him a few times and he was super inconsistent. I stand by my okay comment. What ability of his was great?
Click to expand...

His BJJ was great, was known as one of the most talented guard player in vale tudo.
His athletic ability was great too, a rangey 6'4", agile and very strong.
Had also decent standup skills and throws which made him arguably the most well-rounded HW back in the day.

Obviously you have to compare him with his era, otherwise you could say nobody from 20-25 years ago was nothing but "okay" at best. Was Igor a great striker? Probably not that great standing 5' 8" by modern standards. Barreto kept it very competitive in the feet with Igor btw

It's true that "Carlao" was inconsistent, his conditioning wasnt always the best, had rather weak punching power for a HW and never fully developed his huge potential, but there is no way you can say from '96 to '00 he was just "okay": He was a legit top5 HW from that period with great athleticism, BJJ and well-rounded skills
 
HW around the late 90's was generally a bit disorganized which makes it hard to have an exact idea of levels, added to that most of the fighters involved did also have a strong tenfancy to inconsistency.

Carlos was though I think certainly up there with the leading names of the era but never really got an org behind him in terms of hype.
 
moreorless87 said:
HW around the late 90's was generally a bit disorganized which makes it hard to have an exact idea of levels, added to that most of the fighters involved did also have a strong tenfancy to inconsistency.

Carlos was though I think certainly up there with the leading names of the era but never really got an org behind him in terms of hype.
Click to expand...

He didn't perform at his best in key fights in UFC/Pride - dubious judges decisions didn't help - but Barreto can't be assessed without considering he was the greatest HW of the Brazilian valetudo scene, which was a big deal back then.

His win over Ilyukin and especially winning the UVF 8 man tournament beating Bobbish and Randleman in the same night would have been huge accomplishments at the time under any promotion
 
pankrat said:
His BJJ was great, was known as one of the most talented guard player in vale tudo.
His athletic ability was great too, a rangey 6'4", agile and very strong.
Had also decent standup skills and throws which made him arguably the most well-rounded HW back in the day.

Obviously you have to compare him with his era, otherwise you could say nobody from 20-25 years ago was nothing but "okay" at best. Was Igor a great striker? Probably not that great standing 5' 8" by modern standards. Barreto kept it very competitive in the feet with Igor btw

It's true that "Carlao" was inconsistent, his conditioning wasnt always the best, had rather weak punching power for a HW and never fully developed his huge potential, but there is no way you can say from '96 to '00 he was just "okay": He was a legit top5 HW from that period with great athleticism, BJJ and well-rounded skills
Click to expand...

Eh I think i can. I dont think everyone who ever made it to top 5 is great is any era. Anthony Smith made top 5 recently for example. Is he great? Nah. Circumstances and a few good fights got him there but he's not great.
 
LHWBelt said:
Eh I think i can. I dont think everyone who ever made it to top 5 is great is any era. Anthony Smith made top 5 recently for example. Is he great? Nah. Circumstances and a few good fights got him there but he's not great.
Click to expand...

I'd not say circumstances favoured Barreto at all in the rankings... more like the opposite, the guy didn't get any hype behind him by Pride/UFC and was in the losing end of very dubious decisions that affected his standing in the rankings

I think your idea of him as a fighter is largely based on that, and you are also not aware at all of his accomplishments in the valetudo scene, which define him as a fighter and back in the day were as legit accomplishments as early UFC/Pride

BTW Anthony Smith is very underrated in Sherdog. Maybe I'd not call him great but he is certainly not just an "okay" fighter
 
Last edited:
pankrat said:
I'd not say circumstances favoured Barreto at all in the rankings... more like the opposite, the guy didn't get any hype behind him by Pride/UFC and was in the losing end of very dubious decisions that affected his standing in the rankings

I think your idea of him as a fighter is largely based on that, and you are also not aware at all of his accomplishments in the valetudo scene, which define him as a fighter and back in the day were as legit accomplishments as early UFC/Pride

BTW Anthony Smith is very underrated in Sherdog. Maybe I'd not call him great but he is certainly not just an "okay" fighter
Click to expand...

I didn't say smith is just okay i just said he isn't great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,610
Messages
55,430,318
Members
174,775
Latest member
shawn_bogart

Share this page

Back
Top