Vale Tudo
The Brazilian format of near-ruleless fighting from which modern MMA emerged. It arose in the 1920s and 1930s out of circus and fairground matches between different arts.
Quick Facts
BrazilCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Vale Tudo
About Vale Tudo
Vale tudo means "anything goes" in Portuguese and denotes the Brazilian format of near-ruleless fighting from which modern MMA emerged. It arose in Brazil in the 1920s and 1930s, as circus and fairground matches turned into public contests between representatives of different arts. The Gracie family used it as proof of their jiu-jitsu's effectiveness — and the Gracie Challenge, an open invitation to anyone, was vale tudo in pure form. The rules were minimal: biting and eye-gouging were barred, while strikes, kicks, throws, chokes and joint locks were all allowed. There were no gloves, often no weight classes and no time limit. A fight ended by submission, knockout, or the corner stepping in. It was out of vale tudo that the first UFC came in 1993, built by Rorion Gracie on the same question: what happens when styles meet without restriction. The passage from vale tudo to today's MMA took place through the 1990s by the gradual addition of rules — gloves, rounds, weight classes, prohibited techniques and medical supervision. Today vale tudo is a historical term and events under the name are rare; where they are held, they are usually regulated. Its legacy, though, is fundamental: it was the format that showed empirically that without the ability to fight on the ground, a striker is at a marked disadvantage in an open confrontation.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.