Tag: Wanderlei Silva videos

[VIDEO] Wanderlei Silva Offers to Sponsor Fighters Passed Over By Reebok Deal via Social Media

Wanderlei Silva may not be the hero MMA wants right now, but dammit, he’s the hero it needs.

While the sketchy stipulations surrounding his departure from the sport have been well documented, there’s no denying that he has made some thoughtful, not to mention passionate points about issues like fighter pay and treatment in the time since. You might say he’s a phoenix of sorts, rising from the possibly enhanced ashes of his former self to become the symbol of a movement that MMA is in dire need of.

Take his latest video, for instance, wherein he continues his crusade for better fighter pay by breaking down the much talked about Reebok deal. Although Wandy seems cautiously optimistic that the deal might very well be a sign that the UFC is finally starting to heed his cries, he also is aware how badly the deal will screw over up and coming fighters without any real name recognition. To help combat this, Silva has offered to sponsor said screwed-over fighters via his social media:

What can a young fighter offer to his sponsors, if not the space on their shorts? To help, I am giving space on all my social media, which reaches millions of people. Show your sponsors and I will post it to my friends. That way you can offer a lot more exposure to your sponsors and even get new ones. And I want to ask the other fighters, our icons in the sport. It’s the minimum we can do and for me it’s a pleasure to help the next generation. I know what a fighter goes through until he can make a name for himself.

Wanderlei Silva may not be the hero MMA wants right now, but dammit, he’s the hero it needs.

While the sketchy stipulations surrounding his departure from the sport have been well documented, there’s no denying that he has made some thoughtful, not to mention passionate points about issues like fighter pay and treatment in the time since. You might say he’s a phoenix of sorts, rising from the possibly enhanced ashes of his former self to become the symbol of a movement that MMA is in dire need of.

Take his latest video, for instance, wherein he continues his crusade for better fighter pay by breaking down the much talked about Reebok deal. Although Wandy seems cautiously optimistic that the deal might very well be a sign that the UFC is finally starting to heed his cries, he also is aware how badly the deal will screw over up and coming fighters without any real name recognition. To help combat this, Silva has offered to sponsor said screwed-over fighters via his social media:

What can a young fighter offer to his sponsors, if not the space on their shorts? To help, I am giving space on all my social media, which reaches millions of people. Show your sponsors and I will post it to my friends. That way you can offer a lot more exposure to your sponsors and even get new ones. And I want to ask the other fighters, our icons in the sport. It’s the minimum we can do and for me it’s a pleasure to help the next generation. I know what a fighter goes through until he can make a name for himself.

Additionally, Wanderlei called for other top fighters and “icons in the sport” to offer the same kindness to younger fighters, stating “it’s the minimum we can do.”

As we’ve already discussed, the terms of the Reebok deal — where fighters in the top 15 of each class receive compensation according to where they are ranked by so-called “expert panelists” — seem to be grounded in a conflict of interest that is wide open for corruption. While we’ll have to wait and see the actual dollars and cents before we pass a total judgement, it’s nothing short of inspiring to see Wanderlei take such a hands-on approach to ensuring that the little guy is looked out for. He’s quite literally putting his money where his mouth is, which is more than we’ve been able to say about “The Axe Murderer” in some time.

Think about this for a second: Less than six months ago, Wanderlei Silva was a drug test-dodging social pariah who was treated like an outcast in his own country. The good will he had built as a legend of the sport had been eroded, and he seemed all but destined to toil away in the solitude of a dimly lit basement, screaming into a camera with bro-metal blasting triumphantly in the background. Now, he’s the voice of the frikin’ voiceless.

God I love the freak show that is MMA.

–J. Jones

Wanderlei Silva Continues His Fighter Pay Crusade in New Video ‘For the Warriors’

(Props: wandfightteam)

Now that he’s been permanently drummed out of the sport for dodging a random drug test in May, Wanderlei Silva is continuing his quest to become the voice of ethics in MMA, or something like that. His latest video (titled “Round 2 – For the Warriors. Pelos Guerreiros”) is another assault on unfair fighter pay and the general mistreatment of MMAA fighters by promotions.

Silva begins by explaining that fighters’ love of the sport can blind them to people taking advantage of them, but when promotions — and he’s really only talking about the UFC, here — are worth billions and fighters need to beg for money, something is very wrong. “What would happen if the events shared, in a more dignifying manner, their profits with the athletes?” Silva asks. “The athletes are already out there giving their blood, imagine if they got paid better.”

While the video doesn’t reach “screaming in a basement with heavy metal blasting” levels of intensity, Silva does get rather fired up talking about the responsibility of promoters to take care of their fighters. He seems especially pissed about fighters having to travel in economy class with only one trainer’s flight being covered, and the UFC’s time-honored practice of burying its own fighters. But, “things will change once they start to feel it in the only place that matters to them. Which is not in their heart because they don’t have one. It’s in their pockets.” SHOTS FIRED.

Other notable quotes include…


(Props: wandfightteam)

Now that he’s been permanently drummed out of the sport for dodging a random drug test in May, Wanderlei Silva is continuing his quest to become the voice of ethics in MMA, or something like that. His latest video (titled “Round 2 – For the Warriors. Pelos Guerreiros”) is another assault on unfair fighter pay and the general mistreatment of MMAA fighters by promotions.

Silva begins by explaining that fighters’ love of the sport can blind them to people taking advantage of them, but when promotions — and he’s really only talking about the UFC, here — are worth billions and fighters need to beg for money, something is very wrong. “What would happen if the events shared, in a more dignifying manner, their profits with the athletes?” Silva asks. “The athletes are already out there giving their blood, imagine if they got paid better.”

While the video doesn’t reach “screaming in a basement with heavy metal blasting” levels of intensity, Silva does get rather fired up talking about the responsibility of promoters to take care of their fighters. He seems especially pissed about fighters having to travel in economy class with only one trainer’s flight being covered, and the UFC’s time-honored practice of burying its own fighters. But, “things will change once they start to feel it in the only place that matters to them. Which is not in their heart because they don’t have one. It’s in their pockets.” SHOTS FIRED.

Other notable quotes include…

– “You don’t put your face in there to get punched, so there is nothing for you to say. You can’t speak of the gladiators, you can’t speak of the warriors. Only who is a warrior can speak of warriors. Only who gives blood can speak of blood. You guys are playboys, you can’t say anything. You can not call us names when you’ve never been punched in the face.”

– “This monopoly doesn’t allow for a free market. We have to free the fighters! So that they can fight wherever they want. Not to be tied down to only one event…We have to open a competitive market! Where who pays better has the better show.”

– “Once there is a competitive market, I want to see if they will still call us names.”

– “I have always been tied down by oppressive contracts so I can’t take advantage of the changes that I’m trying to cultivate for the next generation. But I am standing up for the sport, for a cause, for fighters to have a better life! Because if we don’t stand up for ourselves, who will?”

– “Now you have a guy with the guts to say the truth because I am not afraid of anyone. I never was and I won’t start now.”

– “No more of the suits and ties in the business class when us warriors are in the back in economy class with only one coach.”

– “I am not against anyone, I am in favor of our class! And our class will have better life conditions, whatever it takes.”

Wanderlei stopped short of claiming that the workers should control the means of production, but that’s basically where all of this is headed. Revolution is in the air, comrades.

VIDEO: Wanderlei Silva Denies Fleeing From Drug Test, Still Thinks He’s Fighting at UFC 175

(Where’s your crazy heavy metal music and strobe-lights now, playboy? / Props: wandfightteam)

After Chael Sonnen accused Wanderlei Silva of literally running from an unannounced NSAC drug-test — which reportedly led to his removal from UFC 175 — Silva has released his side of the story in a new video released today. According to Silva, the whole thing is “all a big confusion.” Sadly, he doesn’t seem to realize that the fight with Sonnen has already been scrapped. Here’s his full statement:

“This is all a big confusion. Everything I’ve heard, I heard it just like you, from the Internet. Last Saturday, a guy showed up at my gym with several papers in English saying that I had to sign the papers. I asked him if all the documents were written in English and he said yes. He did not show me any identification. So I told him that I can’t read English very well and I would need my lawyer present to able to sign any documents. Then I had to leave since it was the day of Barao’s fight and I was very busy here in Vegas.

“In 20 years of career and 50 professional fights, I never refused to test or failed to apply for a license to fight. My fight will be in Las Vegas on July 5, so we were more than one month from the fight. And my plans were to do all of my obligations once I get back from Brazil since I’m going to Brazil for the TUF Brazil Finale. Once I am back in Las Vegas I will reach out to the NSAC to submit myself to any blood or urine test like I always have done. [Ed. note: Oh, so he wanted to do the drug test *after* he got back from Brazil? Makes perfect sense to me. Give this man his license!]


(Where’s your crazy heavy metal music and strobe-lights now, playboy? / Props: wandfightteam)

After Chael Sonnen accused Wanderlei Silva of literally running from an unannounced NSAC drug-test — which reportedly led to his removal from UFC 175 — Silva has released his side of the story in a new video released today. According to Silva, the whole thing is “all a big confusion.” Sadly, he doesn’t seem to realize that the fight with Sonnen has already been scrapped. Here’s his full statement:

“This is all a big confusion. Everything I’ve heard, I heard it just like you, from the Internet. Last Saturday, a guy showed up at my gym with several papers in English saying that I had to sign the papers. I asked him if all the documents were written in English and he said yes. He did not show me any identification. So I told him that I can’t read English very well and I would need my lawyer present to able to sign any documents. Then I had to leave since it was the day of Barao’s fight and I was very busy here in Vegas.

“In 20 years of career and 50 professional fights, I never refused to test or failed to apply for a license to fight. My fight will be in Las Vegas on July 5, so we were more than one month from the fight. And my plans were to do all of my obligations once I get back from Brazil since I’m going to Brazil for the TUF Brazil Finale. Once I am back in Las Vegas I will reach out to the NSAC to submit myself to any blood or urine test like I always have done. [Ed. note: Oh, so he wanted to do the drug test *after* he got back from Brazil? Makes perfect sense to me. Give this man his license!]

“If this fight doesn’t happen it will be very difficult for me. I have invested all my time and I’ve gone through a lot to make this fight happen. I’ve had to deal with a lot of pressure, and I went through a lot on TUF Brazil 3. And I’ve been putting all my strength and effort into my training camp. I’m training harder than I’ve ever trained in my life.

“This is the fight I wanted the most in my entire life. And I will do everything I can to make this fight happen. All this will get resolved, and I will be there on July 5 to put on a great show for all of you my friends. I will show our strength and willpower and I will achieve one more victory for us. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all my supporters.”

Despite Wandy’s wishful thinking, he has definitely been removed from UFC 175, although reports of him being fired from the promotion are inaccurate. Chael Sonnen will remain on the July 5th card against Vitor Belfort, and the fight is back to being at middleweight, apparently.

VIDEO: Wanderlei Silva Threatens to Leave ‘TUF Brazil’ Because Chael Sonnen Won’t Apologize to Him

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

I almost feel bad for the cast of TUF Brazil 3 — whoever they are — because all the squabbling/fake brawling between coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is stealing so much of the spotlight. Then again, do I care about regional-level Brazilian prospects fighting in a reality-TV tournament? I do not. Do I have any plans to subscribe to Fight Pass to watch this show and others like it? No sir. At all, like ever? No no no.

So here’s something else that happened during filming: Wanderlei Silva demanded an apology for all of the nasty things Chael Sonnen said about Brazilian people in the lead-up to his first fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen refused. Silva threatened to leave the show if Sonnen didn’t apologize. Sonnen refused some more, and suddenly we were at an impasse. Here’s what Chael had to say afterwards about Silva’s failed power-play:

“He is so stupid, I’m ashamed of him. He is a checkers player. In checkers you play one move at a time. If you are a chess player, you have to guess what I’m going to do and plan your next move, you have to be three or four moves ahead. He is so stupid, and I’m not trying to offend him, stupid is a word for a real thing. He comes and say: ‘the show stops if you don’t apologize for what you said about Brazil’. He did what a real checkers player would do. He would never imagine that I would refuse to apologize. When I refused, all that he could do was give up. He put himself in check, I didn’t do that. The show stopped and was almost over. They had to call Dana White and the producers. I begged him to come back and he didn’t. So he called for a cab and the cab came. One producer had to stop him in the cab and make him come back…


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

I almost feel bad for the cast of TUF Brazil 3 — whoever they are — because all the squabbling/fake brawling between coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is stealing so much of the spotlight. Then again, do I care about regional-level Brazilian prospects fighting in a reality-TV tournament? I do not. Do I have any plans to subscribe to Fight Pass to watch this show and others like it? No sir. At all, like ever? No no no.

So here’s something else that happened during filming: Wanderlei Silva demanded an apology for all of the nasty things Chael Sonnen said about Brazilian people in the lead-up to his first fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen refused. Silva threatened to leave the show if Sonnen didn’t apologize. Sonnen refused some more, and suddenly we were at an impasse. Here’s what Chael had to say afterwards about Silva’s failed power-play:

“He is so stupid, I’m ashamed of him. He is a checkers player. In checkers you play one move at a time. If you are a chess player, you have to guess what I’m going to do and plan your next move, you have to be three or four moves ahead. He is so stupid, and I’m not trying to offend him, stupid is a word for a real thing. He comes and say: ‘the show stops if you don’t apologize for what you said about Brazil’. He did what a real checkers player would do. He would never imagine that I would refuse to apologize. When I refused, all that he could do was give up. He put himself in check, I didn’t do that. The show stopped and was almost over. They had to call Dana White and the producers. I begged him to come back and he didn’t. So he called for a cab and the cab came. One producer had to stop him in the cab and make him come back…

“The producers told me that maybe I should apologize. I said: “No, I can’t. It’s not an ego thing, I don’t blame myself for any of that. I can’t apologize because they will be just meaningless words. I’m happy because I did that. I thought it was fun and I could do it all again today.” Wanderlei asked me why I couldn’t apologize and I said it worked, I wanted to fight against Anderson Silva, I got the fight and I liked saying what I said. It was fun. I could do it again today. Wanderlei was so angry, he looked like a cartoon character with smoke coming from his ears.”

My favorite part of the video above is 1:55-2:11, where Chael tries to explain his position to Silva, and Wandy just gets more confused and more angry. Honestly, this whole thing is so great, I hope the TUF Brazil 3 producers do the right thing and cut out all the meaningless fight footage to make more time for the stuff that’s actually entertaining, like Chael mocking Wanderlei Silva’s intellect, and Wanderlei not signing his bout agreement out of spite, and Chael’s wife cooking him dinner in a Brazilian mansion. Everything else is just filler.

VIDEO: Wanderlei Silva Threatens to Leave ‘TUF Brazil’ Because Chael Sonnen Won’t Apologize to Him

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

I almost feel bad for the cast of TUF Brazil 3 — whoever they are — because all the squabbling/fake brawling between coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is stealing so much of the spotlight. Then again, do I care about regional-level Brazilian prospects fighting in a reality-TV tournament? I do not. Do I have any plans to subscribe to Fight Pass to watch this show and others like it? No sir. At all, like ever? No no no.

So here’s something else that happened during filming: Wanderlei Silva demanded an apology for all of the nasty things Chael Sonnen said about Brazilian people in the lead-up to his first fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen refused. Silva threatened to leave the show if Sonnen didn’t apologize. Sonnen refused some more, and suddenly we were at an impasse. Here’s what Chael had to say afterwards about Silva’s failed power-play:

“He is so stupid, I’m ashamed of him. He is a checkers player. In checkers you play one move at a time. If you are a chess player, you have to guess what I’m going to do and plan your next move, you have to be three or four moves ahead. He is so stupid, and I’m not trying to offend him, stupid is a word for a real thing. He comes and say: ‘the show stops if you don’t apologize for what you said about Brazil’. He did what a real checkers player would do. He would never imagine that I would refuse to apologize. When I refused, all that he could do was give up. He put himself in check, I didn’t do that. The show stopped and was almost over. They had to call Dana White and the producers. I begged him to come back and he didn’t. So he called for a cab and the cab came. One producer had to stop him in the cab and make him come back…


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

I almost feel bad for the cast of TUF Brazil 3 — whoever they are — because all the squabbling/fake brawling between coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is stealing so much of the spotlight. Then again, do I care about regional-level Brazilian prospects fighting in a reality-TV tournament? I do not. Do I have any plans to subscribe to Fight Pass to watch this show and others like it? No sir. At all, like ever? No no no.

So here’s something else that happened during filming: Wanderlei Silva demanded an apology for all of the nasty things Chael Sonnen said about Brazilian people in the lead-up to his first fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen refused. Silva threatened to leave the show if Sonnen didn’t apologize. Sonnen refused some more, and suddenly we were at an impasse. Here’s what Chael had to say afterwards about Silva’s failed power-play:

“He is so stupid, I’m ashamed of him. He is a checkers player. In checkers you play one move at a time. If you are a chess player, you have to guess what I’m going to do and plan your next move, you have to be three or four moves ahead. He is so stupid, and I’m not trying to offend him, stupid is a word for a real thing. He comes and say: ‘the show stops if you don’t apologize for what you said about Brazil’. He did what a real checkers player would do. He would never imagine that I would refuse to apologize. When I refused, all that he could do was give up. He put himself in check, I didn’t do that. The show stopped and was almost over. They had to call Dana White and the producers. I begged him to come back and he didn’t. So he called for a cab and the cab came. One producer had to stop him in the cab and make him come back…

“The producers told me that maybe I should apologize. I said: “No, I can’t. It’s not an ego thing, I don’t blame myself for any of that. I can’t apologize because they will be just meaningless words. I’m happy because I did that. I thought it was fun and I could do it all again today.” Wanderlei asked me why I couldn’t apologize and I said it worked, I wanted to fight against Anderson Silva, I got the fight and I liked saying what I said. It was fun. I could do it again today. Wanderlei was so angry, he looked like a cartoon character with smoke coming from his ears.”

My favorite part of the video above is 1:55-2:11, where Chael tries to explain his position to Silva, and Wandy just gets more confused and more angry. Honestly, this whole thing is so great, I hope the TUF Brazil 3 producers do the right thing and cut out all the meaningless fight footage to make more time for the stuff that’s actually entertaining, like Chael mocking Wanderlei Silva’s intellect, and Wanderlei not signing his bout agreement out of spite, and Chael’s wife cooking him dinner in a Brazilian mansion. Everything else is just filler.

Wanderlei Silva Angrily Confronts Chael Sonnen, Vlogs About It Afterwards

(Props: wandfightteam)

Confrontations are to be expected at the Mr. Olympia Expo. At least, that seems like a rational assumption when you pack an area with men competing against each other, jacked to their gills on various forms of illicit testosterone and innumerable other chemicals. Maybe it generally results in a flex-off, or two behemoths bellowing in their guttural voices as they proceed to lay waste to each other like a pair of elephant seals. In short, it’s a great venue for empty alpha-male posturing, which made it perfect for the WWE-style confrontation that Wanderlei Silva arranged to psyche out his hypothetical future opponent (and #1 Least Favorite Person) Chael Sonnen.

We first caught wind of this incident last night when Larry Pepe released a highly pixelated video — apparently captured on the camera phone from his 1989 Motorola DynaTAC — of Silva being restrained from assaulting (but not from yelling at) Sonnen, who is more than happy to return verbal fire. It’s almost impossible to ascertain what was said from that, unless someone out there can translate 144p, but it was reasonable to assume that they did not exchange pleasantries.

Fortunately, Wanderlei provided some clarification when he posted his latest batshit video blog concerning the incident. In it, we see exactly what was said between the two — there’s some naughty language involved, if you can believe it, as well as a substantial amount of finger pointing courtesy of the Axe Murderer, who is convinced that he saw fear in Chael’s eyes. Given that Sonnen is still scheduled to fight Rashad Evans in November, it’s going to be a while before this match gets made, if it does at all. That said, hopefully the UFC can put to rest the “will they?”/”won’t they?” simmering tension between the two, and let them have at it in the Octagon. There’s only so much we can take of Wanderlei Silva screaming at us over heavy metal guitar-shredding before we begin to mentally snap.

– George Shunick


(Props: wandfightteam)

Confrontations are to be expected at the Mr. Olympia Expo. At least, that seems like a rational assumption when you pack an area with men competing against each other, jacked to their gills on various forms of illicit testosterone and innumerable other chemicals. Maybe it generally results in a flex-off, or two behemoths bellowing in their guttural voices as they proceed to lay waste to each other like a pair of elephant seals. In short, it’s a great venue for empty alpha-male posturing, which made it perfect for the WWE-style confrontation that Wanderlei Silva arranged to psyche out his hypothetical future opponent (and #1 Least Favorite Person) Chael Sonnen.

We first caught wind of this incident last night when Larry Pepe released a highly pixelated video — apparently captured on the camera phone from his 1989 Motorola DynaTAC — of Silva being restrained from assaulting (but not from yelling at) Sonnen, who is more than happy to return verbal fire. It’s almost impossible to ascertain what was said from that, unless someone out there can translate 144p, but it was reasonable to assume that they did not exchange pleasantries.

Fortunately, Wanderlei provided some clarification when he posted his latest batshit video blog concerning the incident. In it, we see exactly what was said between the two — there’s some naughty language involved, if you can believe it, as well as a substantial amount of finger pointing courtesy of the Axe Murderer, who is convinced that he saw fear in Chael’s eyes. Given that Sonnen is still scheduled to fight Rashad Evans in November, it’s going to be a while before this match gets made, if it does at all. That said, hopefully the UFC can put to rest the “will they?”/”won’t they?” simmering tension between the two, and let them have at it in the Octagon. There’s only so much we can take of Wanderlei Silva screaming at us over heavy metal guitar-shredding before we begin to mentally snap.

– George Shunick