Bare knuckle, headbutts, and one 30-minute round: IVC plans return with vintage vale tudo rules

The International Vale Tudo Championship is planning to hold an event for the first time is nearly a decade, and its bringing back a classic rule set and a sole 30-minute round.

IVC founder and president Sergio Batarelli confirmed to MMA Fighting that he’s targeting a card for around September or October in Sao Paulo, Brazil. IVC hasn’t held an event since 2016, when it shifted from the vale tudo rule set to the unified rules.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a while now,” Batarelli said. “I came back [in 2016] but had to use modern MMA rules and it didn’t go as I wanted, so I gave up. After bare-knuckle boxing started to grow [in the United States] and Jorge Masvidal started his bare-knuckle MMA promotion, that excited me again.”

The list of illegal actions is short under IVC rules and includes fish hooking, eye gouging, groin strikes, and pulling of the hair. By IVC rules, several strikes banned by the unified rules are legal, including headbutts. Batarelli said it’s likely IVC will also allow jumping stomps to the head and soccer kicks.

“Headbutts are wonderful. That’s what made the Wanderlei Silva vs. Artur Mariano so iconic,” Batarelli said. “IVC was considered by the American media at the time the world’s most violent and real promotion, and fighters love it. Many fighters reached out to me asking to fight under vale tudo rules. I was as surprised as happy.”

IVC launched in 1997 and held 12 events in just over two years, featuring future MMA stars such as Silva, Chuck Liddell, and Dan Severn. Other names like Gary Goodridge, Mike Van Arsdale, Rafael Cordeiro, and Renato Sobral also competed under the IVC banner in the 1990s. Batarelli said he sold the IVC library to the UFC in the past but still owns the International Vale Tudo Championship name.

Batarelli said IVC will be regulated by the Brazilian Confederation of Vale Tudo Fights, a body founded by him in 1997. The card currently features a match between veterans Jorge Patino (39-19-2, 2 NCs) and Johil de Oliveira (17-16-1, 1 NC). Batarelli said the winner will face Jose Landi-Jons (29-16) on a future event.

UFC veteran Anderson dos Santos, who defeated Paulo Pizzo in a boxing match in April, will rematch him under IVC rules on the card, Batarelli said. Edval Pedroso vs. Allan Popeye is also agreed, as well as Haialas Souza competing in a bare-knuckle boxing match against an opponent to be named.