Shooto cancels fake 'man vs. woman' fight in Brazil

That seems to be that ... and thank God, really.

A "man vs. woman" fight that was expected to take place at Shooto 45 is officially canceled, according to a report from MMAFighting.com. Emerson Falcao, who has just one fight in his career, was expected to face Juliana Velasquez in her first professional bout on Friday night (Dec. 20, 2013) in Brazil (details).

Then, coincidentally, Falcao announced that he suffered an injury in training and was unable to fight, but according to Shooto Brazil President Andre Pederneiras (via MMA Fighting), the fight was still on despite the injury.

After the suspicious events that led up to the contest, this seemed like a way to promote "Lei Maria de Penha," a law in Brazil that was created to stop violence against women.

At the Shooto weigh-ins earlier today, a limping Falcao faced off with Velasquez and said it was his job to show up to fight.

"I was hired to fight, and I'm going there to fight. My job is to train and fight. This is the first of the many man vs. woman fights that will come in the future. You'll see. This is going to be huge. We're here to shock the world."

Uh-huh.

Shortly afterward, Osiris Maia, who is a member of the Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts Confederation (CBMMA) and oversaw the weigh-ins, claimed that this fight was indeed rubbish to begin with.

"We can't do something like that. (The promoter) can ask everything, even a MMA fight with three guys against one, but we obviously won't allow it. This ‘fight' has a social representation that is more important for the society than to the sport. There's no way a man should fight a woman. This is being done only to show the society the importance of ‘Lei Maria da Penha.' You can't have a man beating a woman in a sport, so it shouldn't happen anywhere. That's what they want to show."

Real or not real, this would have tarnished the reputation of the heavily-respected Pederneiras in the sport, and thankfully, this "issue" can now be put to rest.