Always an aggressive fighter, Wanderlei Silva’s nickname “The Axe Murderer” is well deserved. Known for his use of the militaristic Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu styles, Wanderlei often would find joy in kicking and stomping downed opponents when the rules did not forbid such tactics. In Brazil they have their own nickname for him. “Cachorro Louco” or “Mad Dog”. Those who enter the ring with him, often get a vicious and evil glare before he unleashes his fury upon them.
Silva’s involvement with the MMA mostly consists of PRIDE appearances. For the UFC he made only three appearances with only one victory amongst them. For UFC Brazil he faced Vitor Belfort and was knocked out only 44 seconds into the match. Arguably being one of the worst defeats his entire career. He faired better against Tony Petarra at UFC 20, but lost by decision against Tito Ortiz in 2000 during UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3.
His PRIDE career is much more impressive. Debuting in the competition during PRIDE 7 in 1999, Wenderlei defeated Carl Malenko in the first of 20 straight victories in a row that would occur during the next several years.
Here, during his winning streak, Wenderlei would face the renouned “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba three times. Kazushi earned his nickname by defeating several of the Gracie family including the famous Royce Gracie in a match that wounded the pride of the Gracies and of the UFC that they helped founded. Wenderlei has not faced a Gracie to this day, so it is uncertain what the outcome of such a match might be.
The match that brought him his first loss in years is still a controversial one. Mark Hunt, a K-1 Grand Prix champion defeated The Axe Murderer on December 31st 2004. Guest commentators Randy Coutour and Bas Rutton both disagreed with the decision outcome of the fight that gave Mark Hunt the victory. It was argued that neither Hunt’s 50lbs outweighing of Silva, or the fact that Silva had aggressively dominated Hunt in the third round were considered in the judges’ final decision.
Wanderlei Silva currently holds the PRIDE title of Middleweight Champion. He has had one loss since gaining the title, but his fight with Ricardo Arona was not an official title fight. In a rematch, Silva successfully defended his title from Arona and has yet to have been challenged by anyone since.
PRIDE OWGP: Wanderlei Silva had a semi-finals match with Mirko Cro Cop, in the Open Weight Grand Prix tournament in PRIDE. Wanderlei already defeated Fujita to get this far, and he ended up being the only person in the final four to not be an official heavyweight. (The other three consisted of Josh Barnett, Antonio "Big Nog" Noguiera, and Cro Cop.) While Silva was overly excited in his match with Cro Cop, Mirko seemed to be calm and relaxed. Mirko would go on to knock Silva out with a left high kick to the temple, ending the match. Cro Cop would then go on to defeat Josh Barnett in the finals to become the Tournament winner.
Fight Record - 31-7-1 1 No Contest
- 02-24-2007 - Lost to Dan Henderson, PRIDE 33, KO Round 3, 2:08
- 09-10-2006 - Lost to Mirko Filipovic, PRIDE FCA, KO Round 1, 5:26
- 07-01-2006 - Defeats Kazuyuki Fujita, PRIDE CCA, TKO Round 1, 9:21
- 12-31-2005 - Defeats Ricardo Arona, PRIDE SW 2005, Split Decision
- 08-28-2005 - Lost to Ricardo Arona, PRIDE FC 2005, Unanimous Decision
- 06-24-2005 - Defeats Kazuhiro Nakamura, PRIDE CC 2005, TKO Round 1, 5:24
- 04-23-2005 - Defeats Hidehiko Yoshida, PRIDE TE 2005, Split Decision
- 12-31-2004 - Lost to Mark Hunt, PRIDE SW 2004, Split Decision
- 10-31-2004 - Defeats Rampage Jackson, PRIDE 28, KO Round 2, 3:26
- 08-15-2004 - Defeats Yuki Kondo, PRIDE FC 2004, KO Round 1, 2:46
- 02-15-2004 - Defeats Ikuhisa Minowa, PRIDE B 2, KO Round 1, 1:09
- 11-09-2003 - Defeats Rampage Jackson, PRIDE FC 2003, TKO Round 1, 6:28
- 11-09-2003 - Defeats Hidehiko Yoshida, PRIDE FC 2003, Unanimous Decision
- 08-10-2003 - Defeats Kazushi Sakuraba, PRIDE TE 2003, KO Round 1, 5:01
- 11-24-2002 - Defeats Hiromitsu Kanehara, PRIDE 23, TKO(Towel) Round 1, 3:40
- 08-28-2002 - Defeats Tatsuya Iwasaki, PRIDE SW, TKO Round 1, 1:16
- 04-28-2002 - Draw to Mirko Filipovic, PRIDE 20, Decision
- 02-24-2002 - Defeats Kiyoshi Tamura, PRIDE 19, TKO Round 2, 2:28
- 12-23-2001 - Defeats Alexander Otsuka, PRIDE 18, TKO Round 3, 2:22
- 11-03-2001 - Defeats Kazushi Sakuraba, PRIDE 17, TKO(Doctor) Round 1, 10:00
- 05-27-2001 - Defeats Shungo Oyama, PRIDE 14, TKO Round 1, 0:30
- 03-25-2001 - Defeats Kazushi Sakuraba, PRIDE 13, TKO Round 1, 1:38
- 12-09-2000 - Defeats Dan Henderson, PRIDE 12, Decision
- 10-31-2000 - No Contest to Gilbert Yvel, PRIDE 11, Kick to groin
- 08-27-2000 - Defeats Guy Mezger, PRIDE 10, KO Round 1, 3:45
- 08-12-2000 - Defeats Todd Medina, Meca 2, KO Round 1, 0:39
- 04-14-2000 - Lost to Tito Ortiz, UFC 25, Unanimous Decision
- 01-30-2000 - Defeats Bob Schrijber, PRIDE GP 2000, Submission Round 1, 2:42
- 11-21-1999 - Defeats Daijiru Matsui, PRIDE 8, Decision
- 09-12-1999 - Defeats Carl Malenko, PRIDE 7, Decision
- 05-07-1999 - Defeats Tony Petarra, UFC 20, KO Round 1, 2:53
- 04-27-1999 - Defeats Eugene Jackson, IVC 10, Submission Round 1, 0:32
- 01-20-1999 - Defeats Adriano Serrano, IVC 9, KO Round 1, 0:22
- 10-16-1998 - Lost to Vitor Belfort, UFC Brazil, TKO Round 1, 0:44
- 08-23-1998 - Defeats Mike Van Arsdale, IVC 6, KO Round 1, 4:00
- 09-15-1997 - Lost to Artur Mariano, IVC 2, TKO(Cut) Round 2, 13:10
- 09-15-1997 - Defeats Egidio da Costa, IVC 2, Submission Round 1, 2:27
- 09-15-1997 - Defeats Sean Bornett, IVC 2, KO Round 1, 1:19
- 07-01-1997 - Defeats Marcelao Marcelao, BVF 10. Submission Round 1, 0:20
- 11-01-1996 - Defeats Dilson Filho, BVF 6, KO Round 1, 3:35
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