Frederico Lapenda

Frederico Lapenda is an award-winning movie producer and visionary fight promoter who is one of the founders of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Lapenda is widely credited, along with Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC[1] creator Art Davie, as being responsible for creating the worldwide MMA movement. Lapenda has produced twenty films, more than 100 MMA events, two video games, ten music concerts, and 8 documentaries, one which was eligible for an Oscar nomination.

In 2011 Lapenda produced the first Pay Per View (PPV) by Youtube on his Fight Game Channel, broadcasting a Moscow event worldwide. In 1998 he became the first producer to broadcast MMA on US TV on channel 22 in Los Angeles. In 1997 he introduced PPV to Brazil with his World Vale Tudo Championship III(WVC) event in Sao Paulo and in 1997 his WVC event aired on US PPV, making him just the fourth producer to promote MMA on US PPV.

The globalization of MMA would happen in 1995 when Lapenda, transplanted to Los Angeles, was looking to take MMA outside of the U.S. and to build a star that would attract the followers of all styles. He brought Rio de Janeiro fighter Marco Ruas to the U.S. in UFC VI to be introduced to the crowd and then to fight and win UFC VII. During this time he created Ruas Vale Tudo, the prototype MMA cross-training style that is still emulated to this day.

Lapenda also created the Brazilian Dream Team, which was to have all the major Brazilian fighters training together in Luta Livre, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and muay Thai under Carlson Gracie. Lapenda actually opened an academy in Los Angeles in 1995 near UCLA in Westwood, California, for Carlson Gracie and Vitor Belfort to teach at. The Brazilian Dream Team eventually became the Brazilian Top Team and was composed of those same people Lapenda brought together under Carlson to cross-train.

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