Profile of Wanderlei Silva on Famous Like Me

Wanderlei Silva
Statistics
Nickname	The Axe Murderer
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	199 lb (90 kg)
Born	July 3, 1976
Fighting out of	Curitiba, Brazil
Town of birth	Curitiba, Brazil
Fighting style	Muay Thai
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	29
By knockout	20
By submission	4
Losses	5
Draws	1
No contests	1

Wanderlei de 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 when the rules do not forbid it.

Biography

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

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.

UFC

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 FC

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 more than twenty 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 as 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 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.

Record

• Professional mixed martial arts: 29 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw, 1 no contest (as of August 28, 2005)
  • PRIDE Middleweight Champion (2001-present)
  • PRIDE GP 2003 Middleweight tournament winner

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