Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva (July 3,1976-) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter, currently competing in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. He trains under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil.

Silva earned the nickname "the Axe Murderer" for his extremely aggressive style; the majority of his fights have either ended in a knockout or referee stoppage due to his strikes. In the ring, he is known for engaging opponents with punches and utilizing knees in the Muay Thai clinch. He is also known for kicking and stomping downed opponents while holding the ring ropes, when the rules do not forbid it.

Silva´s nickname in Brazil is "Cachorro Louco", which translates to "Mad Dog", again due to his aggressive fighting style, but also because of the vicious way he stares at his opponents just before the beginning of his fights.

Biography

Wanderlei Silva was born in Curitiba, Brazil, on July 3, 1976. He has been trained in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, recently receiving a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Silva's aggressive style is rooted in old-fashioned street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. As a late teen he joined the military and was quickly recognized for his fighting talents and rose up very quickly in the ranks. Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil.

Silva's pre-professional bouts can be found on the internet, featuring raw, bare-knuckle 'Vale Tudo' style fighting.

Silva's first professional MMA match was on November 1, 1996, at the Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting organization, where he knocked out Dilson Filho by punches. He fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on July 1, 1997, against Marcelao Marcelao, who submitted defeat due to a shoulder injury.

Silva fought 6 matches in 4 different International Vale Tudo Championship events from 1997 to 1999. He won 5 of these matches and lost to Artur Mariano by TKO due to a cut in IVC 2: A Question of Pride on September 15, 1997.

Silva participated in one Meca World Vale Tudo event, Meca 2 on August 12, 2000, where he knocked out Todd Medina by knees.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Silva entered the UFC on October 16, 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort. The match has arguably been Silva's worst defeat in his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ended with Silva being knocked out by Belfort's punches. Silva won his next UFC match on May 7, 1999, at UFC 20 where he knocked out Tony Petarra by knees. On April 14, 2000, Silva lost by decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3''.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Silva debuted in PRIDE at the PRIDE 7 event on September12, 1999, winning against Carl Malenko by decision. From 1999 to 2004, Silva won 20 straight fights in PRIDE, excluding a draw against Mirko "CroCop" Filipović, and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel (Yvel was accidentally kicked in the groin). Silva's reputation as a formidable MMA fighter grew as he developed a successful record in PRIDE.

Silva fought Kazushi Sakuraba for the first time at PRIDE 13: Collision Course on March 25, 2001. Silva won by TKO via strikes at 1:38 into the first round. At PRIDE 17: Championship Chaos on November 3, 2001, Silva won the title of PRIDE Middleweight Champion by defeating Sakuraba for the second time. Sakuraba suffered a broken clavicle and withdrew after the first round, giving Silva a TKO win via doctor's stoppage. The two fought for the third time on August 10, 2003 at PRIDE Grand Prix 2003: Total Elimination, a Middleweight tournament. Silva knocked out Sakuraba with two punches at 5:01 into the first round.

Silva faced Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at PRIDE Grand Prix 2003: Final Conflict on November 9, 2003. Silva won by TKO due to referee's stoppage after delivering 17 consecutive knees to Jackson; Silva became PRIDE's 2003 tournament champion with the win. When the two fought again on October 31, 2004 at PRIDE 28: High Octane, Silva knocked out Jackson by knees in a clinch.

Silva's other notable wins in PRIDE include Guy Mezger (2001, KO), Dan Henderson (2001, decision), Hidehiko Yoshida (twice, 2003 and 2005, via decisions), and Yuki Kondo (2004, KO) among others. In Japan, Silva additionally gained his reputation as a fighter who has never been defeated by any Japanese opponent, resulting in a trend of various Japanese fighters being arranged by PRIDE to face him.

Silva's undefeated streak in PRIDE was broken by Mark Hunt, a K-1 Grand Prix champion, on December 31, 2004 at the Shockwave 2004 event. Hunt won the non-title match by split decision over Silva. The decision was controversial because some felt that Hunt's weight at 250 lb (113 kg), or nearly 50 pounds over Silva, as well as Silva's dominance in round 3, had not been sufficiently considered by the judges in their decision; Randy Couture and Bas Rutten, both being commentators at the event, expressed disagreement over the decision.

Silva's current, continuing status as PRIDE's Middleweight champion has recently come under debate and criticism, due to his loss to Ricardo Arona (who subsequently lost the tournament to Silva's teammate and protege, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua) on August 28, 2005 at PRIDE Grand Prix 2005: Final Conflict. The loss, by unanimous decision in the tournament semi-finals, was Silva's first defeat in a Middleweight match in PRIDE; however, since it was not a title fight, Silva was still recognized as the Middleweight Champion. A rematch between Arona and Silva took place at the Shockwave 2005 event December 31, 2005, with Silva winning by split decision.

As of May 18, 2006, Silva has been announced by DSE to replace PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko in the Open Weight Grand Prix. Emelianenko's doctors have stated that his hand, which had recently undergone surgery, would not be in good enough shape to fight because the metal implant would still be present. Because Silva is also a champion (Middleweight division), he gets a first round bye and will automatically fight in the second round, which takes place on July 1st, 2006.

Silva moved to the semi-finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix after defeating Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO via strikes.

Return to the UFC

At UFC 61, UFC President Dana White called Silva from the crowd to the cage, and officially announced Silva will face current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in a match in November 2006, pending a successful title defense by Liddell at UFC 62 against Renato "Babalu" Sobral. It does not seem as if Silva's association with PRIDE has ended however as he wore a PRIDE t-shirt to the cage and thanked PRIDE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara. White declined to release details of the deal at a post-event press conference, promising to do so "next week," but did say there was a three-fight deal.[1]

MMA Record

• Professional mixed martial arts: 31 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw, 1 no contest (as of July 1st, 2006)

Championships and accomplishments

• PRIDE Middleweight Champion (2001-present)
• PRIDE GP 2003 Middleweight tournament winner

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• 2001 Feud of the Year (vs Kazushi Sakuraba)

External links

• Official site
• Professional MMA record
• PRIDE profile