Wanderlei Silva holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, title defenses and longest winning streak in PRIDE history.
62 Facts About Wanderlei Silva
2.
Wanderlei Silva is the former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion.
3.
Wanderlei Silva was asked to join Vale Tudo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school.
4.
Wanderlei Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil.
5.
Wanderlei Silva developed scar tissue around his eyes from fighting in bare-knuckle vale tudo.
6.
Wanderlei Silva fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on 1 July 1997, against Marcelo Barbosa, who submitted due to a shoulder injury.
7.
Wanderlei Silva fought six matches in four different International Vale Tudo Championship events, IVC 2, IVC 6, IVC 9 and IVC 10, from 1997 to 1999.
8.
Wanderlei Silva culminated his IVC career by winning the promotion's Cruiserweight belt with a submission win over Eugene Jackson in the IVC 10 show on 27 April 1999.
9.
Wanderlei Silva participated in one Meca World Vale Tudo event, Meca 2 on 12 August 2000, where he knocked out Todd Medina with Muay Thai knees.
10.
Wanderlei Silva entered the UFC on 16 October 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort.
11.
The match was arguably the worst defeat of his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ending with Wanderlei Silva being knocked down against the cage by Belfort's punches then being stopped by the referee.
12.
Wanderlei Silva won his next UFC match on 7 May 1999, at UFC 20, in which he knocked out Tony Petarra with knees.
13.
On 14 April 2000, Wanderlei Silva fought for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost via unanimous decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25.
14.
Wanderlei Silva debuted in PRIDE at the Pride 7 event on 12 September 1999, against Carl Ognibene.
15.
Wanderlei Silva used his strength to control Malenko from the ground, demonstrating his grappling expertise, coming very close to securing a guillotine choke and a rear-naked choke during round one, in addition to landing many powerful knees from the clinch.
16.
Wanderlei Silva continued to dominate Malenko en route to a decision victory.
17.
From 1999 to 2004, Wanderlei Silva won eighteen-straight fights in PRIDE, excluding a draw against Mirko Cro Cop and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel, giving him a twenty-fight unbeaten streak.
18.
Wanderlei Silva fought Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba for the first time at Pride 13 - Collision Course on 25 March 2001.
19.
Wanderlei Silva won via TKO at 1:38 into the first round.
20.
At Pride 17: Championship Chaos on 3 November 2001, Wanderlei Silva won the inaugural Pride middleweight championship when he defeated Sakuraba for the second time.
21.
Wanderlei Silva knocked out Sakuraba with a two punch combination at 5:01 into the first round.
22.
Wanderlei Silva faced Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Pride Final Conflict 2003 on 9 November 2003.
23.
Wanderlei Silva won by TKO after delivering seventeen consecutive knees to Jackson.
24.
In round two Wanderlei Silva caught Jackson with a counter right hand and followed up with knees from the thai clinch knocking Jackson out, successfully defending the Pride middleweight championship with the win.
25.
In Japan, Wanderlei 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.
26.
On 18 May 2006, Pride's parent company, Dream Stage Entertainment, announced that Wanderlei Silva would replace Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the Open Weight Grand Prix.
27.
Wanderlei Silva moved to the semi-finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix after defeating Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO at 9:21 of round one.
28.
On 10 September 2006, at Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Wanderlei Silva was knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop in their rematch during the Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals.
29.
On 21 October 2006 at Pride 32: The Real Deal, Wanderlei issued his challenge to Chuck Liddell to a fight inside a Pride ring in February, when the promotion returned to Las Vegas, however Dana White stated that the fight would not be happening, citing Silva's recent KO loss to Mirko Cro Cop which would have not allowed the NSAC to clear him medically for the fight that soon after being knocked out.
30.
Wanderlei Silva put his Pride middleweight title on the line against Dan Henderson, Pride's welterweight champion at Pride 33: The Second Coming, held on 24 February 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
31.
Wanderlei Silva was denied the ability to participate in Pride 34 due to medical suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission which made this his last Pride appearance.
32.
Wanderlei Silva talking about fighting in America and his motivation for fights.
33.
On 17 August 2007, the UFC announced that they had signed Wanderlei Silva to compete in the organization and that he would return to the Octagon on 29 December 2007 at UFC 79.
34.
When Jardine threw a kick, Wanderlei Silva countered with a right-left-right combo that dropped him.
35.
Wanderlei Silva then finished the fight with ground strikes to earn the knockout.
36.
At UFC 92, Wanderlei Silva fought Quinton Jackson, who he had beaten twice previously in PRIDE.
37.
Wanderlei Silva then announced he would be out of action until 2010, as he underwent facial surgery to repair his nose and remove some scar tissue from above his eyes to avoid bleeding and being easily cut open during future fights.
38.
At UFC 110, announcer Joe Rogan emphatically stated that Wanderlei Silva looked like a totally different person in the wake of his recent facial reconstructive surgery.
39.
Wanderlei Silva made his middleweight debut during UFC 110 against Michael Bisping on 21 February 2010.
40.
Wanderlei Silva attributed his success to working with his previous trainer Raphael Cordeiro.
41.
Wanderlei Silva was expected to face former K-1 HERO'S Light heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116.
42.
Wanderlei Silva underwent knee surgery in late July 2010 and his doctors had stated that he would need to wait at least 4 months before returning to training.
43.
Wanderlei Silva was scheduled to face Brian Stann at UFC 130.
44.
However, after Wanderlei Silva voiced his reluctance to face Stann, he was replaced on the card by returning UFC veteran Jorge Santiago.
45.
Wanderlei Silva would fight again after replacing an injured Vitor Belfort against former Strikeforce Middleweight champion Cung Le at UFC 139.
46.
Franklin and Wanderlei Silva fought once before at UFC 99, where Franklin won via unanimous decision.
47.
Wanderlei Silva faced Brian Stann in a Light heavyweight bout on 3 March 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 8.
48.
Wanderlei Silva defeated Stann via KO in the second round in a bout that featured back and forth action, and earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.
49.
On 22 October 2013, it was announced that Wanderlei Silva will be coaching The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3, against long-time rival Chael Sonnen.
50.
Dana White later stated the fight had to be moved back when Wanderlei Silva injured his hand and back during a brawl with Sonnen that took place during filming of the show.
51.
Wanderlei Silva was ultimately pulled from the fight entirely after he failed to submit an application to fight in the state of Nevada, as well as his refusal to undergo a random drug test and was replaced by Vitor Belfort.
52.
Subsequent to his ban, Wanderlei Silva competed in a tag team grappling match with Kiyoshi Tamura against former opponent Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro at an event on 17 April 2016 for startup regional promotion Rizin Fighting Federation.
53.
In early March 2016, Bellator MMA announced that Wanderlei Silva had signed a multi-fight contract with the organization.
54.
Wanderlei Silva was eligible for reinstatement beginning 25 May 2017.
55.
The ban would not prevent Wanderlei Silva from competing at Indian Casinos or in Japan.
56.
Wanderlei Silva lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.
57.
On September 1,2022 Wanderlei Silva officially announced his retirement from MMA, expressing interest in boxing, calling out Dan Henderson.
58.
Wanderlei Silva was famous for his brawling, relentless style of Muay Thai, which was described as being "feral" and carrying "a terrifying ferocity".
59.
Wanderlei Silva was willing to absorb counters in order to continue landing his own hits.
60.
Wanderlei Silva was dangerous in the clinch, utilizing an onslaught of short hooks and knee strikes.
61.
Wanderlei Silva was known for his use of headbutts when the rules allowed.
62.
In 2018, Wanderlei Silva admitted that he has been bearing symptoms consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and has expressed a wish to donate his brain for research.