Wanderlei Silva is hanging up his gloves after one of the most storied careers in MMA history.
The famed light heavyweight made the announcement via a YouTube video on Friday afternoon.
“I am stepping down from the ring. After today, Wanderlei Silva will not fight again,” he said. “My career is over. Because I don’t have a stage to perform, where the athletes get the proper respect. For these reasons, I have had enough.”
Silva is most known for his days in PRIDE as the middleweight champion, but his career was mighty interesting prior and post-PRIDE.
Silva began his professional career in the mid-’90s in Brazil. The bare-knuckle days of Vale Tudo brought Silva’s name to prominence in the combat sports community. After a 5-1 start he would join the UFC during its first trip to Brazil.
He dropped a quick 44-second bout to Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut. He would return with a KO win over Tony Petarra before going to Japan where he would fight most often in PRIDE but also challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC’s light heavyweight championship.
Silva fell short against Ortiz in a 25-minute battle. “The Axe Murderer” would not step foot inside the Octagon for another seven years.
During those seven years away from the eight-sided cage, Silva dominated PRIDE’s 205-pound division. No fights or wins were more important than his bouts against Kazushi Sakuraba. Those bouts firmly cemented Silva as the man at 205 pounds and the most feared man in all of MMA.
Another shining moment in Silva’s career was the 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix. He opened the tournament with another knockout over Sakuraba before taking on Hidehiko Yoshida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson the same night to capture the title.
His run in PRIDE was legendary. It was filled with spectacular performances and memorable moments. It was during this time that fans were endeared to the volatile Brazilian who brought the audience their fix for beautiful brutality.
Once the UFC purchased PRIDE, Silva soon made his return to the Octagon for one of the most anticipated fights in MMA history—versus Chuck Liddell.
Silva came up short in a thrilling three-round bout, but the fight won Fight of the Night on the UFC 79 card. It was also a winner for 2007 Fight of the Year.
In spite of dropping three in a row, Silva remained relevant in the UFC. He only took on quality competition and managed to post a 4-5 record in his second stint with the organization. His final bout was a knockdown drag-out battle with Brian Stann that would serve as Stann‘s final bout as well.
Silva knocked Stann out in the second round to claim victory.
Since that time Silva has ran into issues with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He was recently scheduled to face off with Chael Sonnen, but he skipped out on his pre-fight drug test. Silva was scheduled to be back in front of the NSAC on September 23 in an attempt to get his charges dismissed.
Silva’s announcement should put an end to that. He will not fight again as a professional mixed martial artist.
Through the ups-and-downs and controversies Silva has still provided fans with nearly two decades worth of exciting action in this crazy sport. For that he should always be remembered.
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