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Wanderlei de Silva (March 7,1976-) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter. He trains in muay thai, kickboxing and MMA in Brazil at Curitiba's Chute Boxe Academy under Rudimar Fedrigo.
Silva is one of top fighters in Brazil. Silva is currently the PRIDE Middleweight Champion (under 205lbs.) and was the 2004 Middleweight Pride Grand-Prix winner.
Silva is called "the Axe Murderer" because he always knocks out his opponents with his knees. He is also one of the most dominant fighters in the Japanese Pride Fighting Championships. After a decision loss to Tito Ortiz in UFC 25, Silva won 16 fights, with a draw against Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic, and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel. During that time he beat Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba (to win the Pride middleweight belt), Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Hidehiko Yoshida (judo olympic gold medalist), Yuki Kondo, and some less impressive Japanese fighters. Most of his fights have ended in a knockout or technical knockout.
His last fight against Former K1 Grand Prix Champion, Mark Hunt ended in a split decision going to Hunt. It was Silva's greatest test to be up against one of the worlds best kickboxers, giving up almost 50 pounds. Silva was able to take him down, but was overpowered by Hunt's striking. The fight ended with Silva mounted in control, but he did not do enough damage to get all the judges decision.
Biography
Record
Fights Wins KOs Losts Draw
Career
- MMA
- PRIDE Middleweight the first champion
- PRIDE GP 2003 Middleweight tournament winner
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