Frederico Lapenda

Lapenda actually opened in 1995 an academy in Los Angeles near UCLA in Westwood, California, for Carlson Gracie and Vitor Belfort to teach and train.

In 1996, Lapenda decided to take the sport globally and created his own fighting event, the World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), which debuted at NK Hall Bay auditorium in Japan.

The WVC during the second half of the '90s was the leading international event and created such stars as Pedro Rizzo, Mark Kerr, Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn, and many others.

Lapenda also broke new ground by co-producing two of the first MMA theatrical documentaries, The Smashing Machine (HBO, 2002) and Rites of Passage: The Rebirth of Combat Sports (PPV, 2001), which are still considered the industry gold standard.

Golden Glory dominated the worlds of K-1 and MMA for 10 years with fighters such as Semmy Schilt, Alistair Overeem, Gokhan Saki, and many others.

[9] He has produced four programs for Fox Files, including Russian Night Life and Amsterdam: The Red Light District.