International Vale Tudo Championships

The International Vale Tudo Championships (IVC) was a No Holds Barred fighting promotion based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The promotion was founded by Brazilian promoter Sergio Batarelli after he parted ways with the WVC promotion where he used to serve mainly as a matchmaker and consultant.

While most of the mixed fight promotions around the world were moving towards sanctioning/regulation and a stricter set of rules, the IVC was a notable exception that clung to the No Holds Barred fighting banner of vale tudo with a minimal ruleset. In comparison to the UFC, which at the time of the IVC had begun to get safer formalised rules and weight divisions, the IVC genuinely had almost no rules. The IVC's tagline, mocking the UFC claim of "THERE ARE NO RULES!", was "When we say "THERE ARE NO RULES"....we mean it!". However, it must be noted that the IVC did institute weight divisions from the IVC 2 show onwards. Fights were bare knuckle and consisted of one 30-minute round.

The promotion became known for launching the careers of many Brazilian stars into the financially lucrative fight promotions of Japan. The most famous star the IVC uncovered is one of the biggest stars in MMA today, Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva. The UFC's Chuck Liddell also had one match in the IVC. Wanderlei Silva fought in IVC 2, IVC 6, IVC 9 and IVC 10, whereas Chuck Liddell fought in IVC 6. Other fighters worth mentioning who fought in the IVC include Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons, former UFC champion Dan Severn, Gary Goodridge, Carlos Barreto, Wallid Ismael, Mike Van Arsdale, Renato Sobral, Johil De Oliveira, and Eugene Jackson.

Because of the bare knuckles and minimal rules, IVC fights were often brutal and bloody, with broken bones not uncommon. IVC 12 saw Gary Myers submit as a result of a broken leg. Such matches truly lived up to the critics view of MMA as brutal fight-to-the-death gladiatorial games, or "human cock-fighting" as it was once infamously put, and is often used as an argument against the much safer and stricter rules style of fighting now known as mixed martial arts, which is now sanctioned and regulated in North America. However, it should be noted that the IVC had medical equipment on standby with trained staff. Supporters of vale tudo also argue that the sanctioned mixed martial arts style that developed in America is now so vastly different from true vale tudo, that it should be treated as an entirely different sport, just as boxing is considered different from kickboxing for example.

In 2003 it completed its last event in Portugal, the "IVC Starwars" event. Currently, IVC 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 have been released on Region 1 DVD with no cited release for any other Region code as of now.

IVC belt champions (vale tudo rules)

*Heavyweight: Carlos Barreto (1999)
*Light Heavyweight: Wanderlei Silva (1999)
*Middleweight: Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons (1999)
*Lightweight: Rafael Cordeiro (1999)

IVC tournament winners

(vale tudo rules)
*Heavyweight: Gary Goodridge (IVC 1, 1997), Pedro Otavio (IVC 3, 1997), Mike Van Arsdale (IVC 4, 1998)
*Light Heavyweight: Artur Mariano (IVC 2, 1997), Ismael Souza (IVC 12, 1999)
*Middleweight: Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons (IVC 5, 1998), Flavio Luis Moura (IVC 11, 1999), Alexandre Barros (IVC 13, 1999)
*Lightweight: Sergio Melo (IVC 7, 1998)

(mixed martial arts rules)
*Light Heavyweight: Alex Stiebling (IVC 14, 2001)

IVC rules

* No biting
* No eye gouging
* No fishing hook
* No holding the ropes
* No kicking if wearing shoes
* No placing hands or feet inside the opponent's trunks
* The referee can restart the fight

WAYS TO WIN

* By knock out
* By submission
* By disqualification
* By decision
* Corner stoppage (throwing in the towel)
* Referee or Doctor stoppage

External links

* [http://valetudo.com.br/ivcmenu.htm/ IVC Official Website]
* [http://valetudo.com.br/ ValeTudo.com.br]
* [http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?organization_id=22 IVC event results at sherdog]