A Ultimate Fighting Championship vet has grown
his team in Brazil beyond his wildest dreams.
Back in 2009 when he was still on the roster, UFC vet Cristiano
Marcello decided he would move on from his original institution
of Chute Boxe. Rather than join up with another team – he did train
occasionally with Team Alpha Male in California, as coach Urijah Faber
was also his trainer on his season of “The Ultimate Fighter” – the
Rio de Janeiro native formed his own team and called it CM System.
Over the years, it has drawn notable competitors like Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos, Matheus
Scheffel and
Geraldo Coelho de Lima Neto, among others. Speaking with
Sherdog on Thursday, Marcello had an announcement to make: his team
had purchased the facilities of American Top Team in Curitiba,
Brazil, and he claims that he now runs the largest training center
in the country.
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“I’m so glad I started the team in 2009 when I was still competing
in UFC and leading the team,” Marcello explained. “Today, we have
45 professionals. The new area will have a 400 [square meter] dojo,
plus [an] official Octagon, [an] official ring, 11 punching bags,
[and a] physiotherapy and sauna area. Everything an MMA
professional needs to reach his best. I have no doubt that today we
are among the biggest training centers in the world and certainly
the biggest in Brazil.”
The building where CM System is currently located will be
transformed into dormitories for fighters. Some of these fighters
that may end up staying there include active members under the UFC
banner like Zaleski dos Santos and Vitor
Petrino. Those two in particular, the head coach has the utmost
of confidence that they will rise up the ranks.
“Elizeu arrived in [the] UFC eight years ago, since then he did 13
fights in UFC, facing some of the toughest guys in the welterweight
division and having 11 wins,” coach Marcello noted. “In the light
heavyweight [division], we have Vitor
Petrino, who is only 25 years old and 9-0. This guy is a
diamond that we are polishing, and I’m sure, step by step, he will
reach the top of the division. We have no hurry.”
That patience that the UFC vet holds carries over to many of his
other rising talents. The past several years, Dana White’s Contender Series has scouted
Brazilian prospects from the various camps around the region
looking for the next possible star. This year, no fighter from CM
System was picked for this contract-issuing series, but Marcello is
not in a rush to push young competitors too soon.
“We have champions from CM System in the most important Brazilian
events, we have talents with great sequences of wins in almost all
divisions, and we offered each one of them to [UFC matchmakers]
Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby. Unfortunately, none were chosen. But
we have no hurry, let’s wait for the right opportunity, keep
working hard and I’m sure, sooner or later, CM System will have
[many] more talents in UFC,” Marcello concluded.