Zuluzinho


Wágner da Conceição Martins, better known as Zuluzinho, is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter and mixed martial artist. He is the son of Vale Tudo legend Casemiro Nascimento Martins. Wagner was raised by his grandmother and works as a security guard in a number of reggae clubs in northern Brazil. Following in his father's footsteps, he trained in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and vale tudo. Zuluzinho holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under black belt Ricardo "Ricardinho Bulldog" Candido Gomes, who also serves as his MMA coach.

Record controversy

Zuluzinho reportedly compiled an undefeated Vale Tudo record of 38-0 in Brazil prior to his fight at Cage Warriors Strike Force 2 in England. However, all but five of those fights are unconfirmed. In the December 2005 issue of Full-Contact Fighter, Marcelo Alfonso wrote that Zuluzinho started his MMA career in 2000 in the town of Teresina, near the city of Sao Luis, Brazil.
Video shows that Zuluzinho knocked out James Adler twice in Brazil, but these fights do not appear on his official record.

Career highlights

Prior to fighting at Cage Warriors Strike Force 2 in England, Zuluzinho knocked out American James Adler in one round in an unsanctioned Vale Tudo match in Brazil. A video of the fight is available on the internet.
Zuluzinho was beaten after only 26 seconds of the first round in PRIDE Fighting Championships Shockwave 2005 event at the hands of world champion Fedor Emelianenko.
In the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix on May 5, 2006, he was defeated via armbar in the first round by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
His next fight was a loss against Eric Esch at PRIDE 34 by Submission.
On December 31, 2007, Zuluzinho scored the biggest win of his career by stopping Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa in 3 rounds at K-1 in Japan.
He saw his winning streak snapped when he lost by 1st-round TKO to Ibragim Magomedov at FightForce - Russia vs. The World on April 19, 2008.
On July 7, 2008, Zuluzinho was knocked out by fellow super heavyweight Guigao Guigao at DDG-Desafio de Gigantes 10. In the semi-final match, Zuluzinho's 63-year-old father, Rei Zulu, lost by a disqualification to Santos Samurai.
Zulu faced rising star Geronimo "Mondragon" dos Santos on December 14, 2008. In this bout he landed a flurry of strikes early in the first round but was unable to finish dos Santos, and subsequently was knocked out in round 2.
One year later he returned to action with a win against Brazilian Top Team veteran Angelo Araujo.
On Nov. 30, 2010, Zuluzinho lost in his second bout against Geronimo dos Santos via first-round KO at Mr. Cage 4.
On June 2, 2018, Zuluzinho lost to Edvaldo de Oliveira via TKO at Imortal FC 9.

Mixed martial arts record