Tag: Wanderlei Silva

10 years after declaring Wanderlei Silva will never be in the Hall of Fame, Dana White to induct ‘The Axe Murderer’

Wanderlei SilvaDana White believes combat sports icon Wanderlei Silva has earned his spot in the UFC Hall of Fame. During…

Wanderlei Silva

Dana White believes combat sports icon Wanderlei Silva has earned his spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.

During the UFC 298 broadcast on Saturday night, ‘The Axe Murderer’ was announced as the next inductee into the 2024 Hall of Fame class. Speaking with the media during his appearance at a post-fight press event, White was adamant that Silva’s contributions to the sport, particularly in its infancy, more than warrant his HoF induction.

“He deserves to be. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame,” White said of Silva. “Back when me and the Fertitas got into this sport and we were huge Wanderlei Silva fans and you know everybody that was a hardcore fan back then was a big fan of Pride and you know a lot of big stars came out of there and Wanderlei has done a lot for the sport in the early days and he deserves to be in there.”

Interestingly, Silva’s Hall of Fame announcement comes a decade after the UFC CEO once declared that the former PRIDE middleweight champion would never find his name listed in the hallowed halls.

In September 2014, the Nevada State Athletic Commission handed Silva a lifelong ban and a $70,000 fine for allegedly running away from a random drug test earlier in the year.  An incensed White said in a later interview that Silva’s career was forever tarnished and as a result, he would never be inducted.

“Nobody has ever run from a drug test before. I didn’t see a lifetime ban coming. Nobody will let him fight. He’s in a very serious situation,” White said about Silva when speaking to Fox Sports. “There’s going to be no Hall of Fame. The guy’s been Pete Rose’d. There’s going to be no Hall of Fame offers.”

Asked about his past comments, White admitted that he had simply forgotten about his beef with Silva.

“I’ve been in so many beefs with so many people that I didn’t even remember that till you just told me,” White added. “It’s a good thing I forgot it’s a good thing you forgot exactly.”

Silva, who was in attendance at UFC 298, was nothing short of grateful for the honor bestowed upon him by his former employer.

“It’s a dream come true to be part of the sport,” Silva said. “And to have this great support from this beautiful organization. Thanks so much, Dana White, for all what you’re doing for us. I’m so glad to be a part of the best event in the world” (h/t MiddleEasy).

Wanderlei Silva’s legendary career began in Japan where he held the PRIDE middleweight championship for an unprecedented six years. During his run, he competed against a series of bonafide legends, including Mirko Cro Cop, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, and Dan Henderson.

After his title run in PRIDE came to a close, ‘The Axe Murderer’ signed with the UFC and immediately delivered a Fight of the Year with Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. He would go on to compete against a who’s who of Octagon icons such as Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Cung Le, Chris Leben, and Brian Stann.

His last fight came under the Bellator banner in 2018. He closed out his career by going 35-14 with 27 wins by knockout.

Wanderlei Silva reacts to shocking Hall of Fame induction at UFC 298: ‘It’s a dream come true’

Wanderlei Silva reacts to Hall of Fame induction at UFC 298 it's a dream come trueDespite tipped to receive the ‘Pete Rose treatment’ and land his blacklisting from the promotion’s Hall of Fame, former…

Wanderlei Silva reacts to Hall of Fame induction at UFC 298 it's a dream come true

Despite tipped to receive the ‘Pete Rose treatment’ and land his blacklisting from the promotion’s Hall of Fame, former PRIDE middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva was announced as the latest inductee into the Fight Wing of the Hall during last night’s broadcast for UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.

Silva, a revered knockout artist and a dominant middleweight titleholder under the banner of the now-defunct, PRIDE Fighting Championships banner between 2001 and 2007, made the eventual return to the UFC back in December of that year, for a long-anticipated clash with Chuck Liddell in the pair’s awarded Fight of the Year.

And attending UFC 298 overnight in California, Silva, a native of Curitiba, received his induction into the Hall of Fame – ahead of this summer’s induction, where he will join former undisputed lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar as part of the International Fight Week ceremony. 

Wanderlei Silva reacts to UFC HOF induction

Reacting to his impending induction, Curitiba native, Silva described his landing in the Fight Wing of the Hall as a “dream come true” for him.

“It’s a dream come true to be part of the sport,” Wanderlei Silva told UFC backstage overnight. “And to have this great support from this beautiful organization. Thanks so much Dana White, for all what you’re doing for us. I’m so glad to be apart of the best event in the world.” 

Boasting a 35-14-1(1) professional record, during his pomp in the Japanese promotion, Silva would turn in wins over Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko Yoshida, Rampage Jackson, to name a few Ricardo Arona.

During his tenure with the UFC, Silva had turned in victories over the likes of Keith Jardine, Cung Le, Brian Stann, and former undisputed middleweight champion, Michael Bisping. 

Are you happy to see Wanderlei Silva land in the UFC’s Hall of Fame?

UFC legend Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson calls for ‘rubber match’ with Wanderlei Silva: ‘We can throw them things’

RampageOctagon icon Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson plans on completing his pentalogy with former PRIDE FC and UFC foe Wanderlei Silva….

Rampage

Octagon icon Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson plans on completing his pentalogy with former PRIDE FC and UFC foe Wanderlei Silva.

After more than four years since his last appearance inside the cage, Jackson will debut in the squared circle when he straps on the eight-ounce gloves for a clash with former WBO heavyweight world champion Shannon Briggs. The fight will emanate from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on June 1.

Appearing on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, ‘Rampage’ revealed that his long-awaited clash with Briggs likely won’t be the only time we see him step inside the boxing ring.

“After that, I want a rematch with Rashad [Evans] in a boxing match because I feel like he likes to wrestle a little bit too much,” Jackson said. I think we can throw them things, and then after Rashad, I think I’m gonna call out Wanderlei Silva for the rubber match.

Will We See ‘Rampage’ and Wanderlei Silva Reignite Iconic Rivalry?

‘Rampage’ and Wanderlei Silva engaged in one of mixed martial arts’ most memorable feuds. Over the course of 15 years, the two titans of combat sports went toe-to-toe four times across three different promotions. They first met under the PRIDE banner where ‘The Axe Murderer’ earned victories over Jackson via knockout in November 2003 and October 2004.

They would meet up once again inside the Octagon at UFC 92 in 2008. This time, ‘Rampage’ came out on top via a first-round KO. Fast forward another 11 years, Jackson would officially even the series at 2-2 with another knockout of Silva at Bellator 206. It was the last MMA fight of Silva’s career.

Silva officially announced his retirement in 2022 but has expressed an interest in boxing. Perhaps we’ll see the beloved knockout artists throw hands one more time, putting an exclamation point on their iconic rivalry.

Ex-UFC champion Rampage Jackson plots surprising MMA comeback against Darrill Schoonover: ‘I got a hit list’

Rampage Jackson titties Darril SchoonoverRampage Jackson, the beloved MMA legend, is considering making a comeback against some old foes. Jackson has a hit list, and he’s eager to cross off the names on it while he’s in shape and before he’s too old. Last active in 2019, Jackson’s last fight was against Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237. Things didn’t […]

Rampage Jackson titties Darril Schoonover

Rampage Jackson, the beloved MMA legend, is considering making a comeback against some old foes. Jackson has a hit list, and he’s eager to cross off the names on it while he’s in shape and before he’s too old.

Last active in 2019, Jackson’s last fight was against Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 237. Things didn’t go his way and Emelianenko finished him with a nasty right cross. At the time, fans could see that Jackson had put on a lot of weight. He was a far cry from the shredded monster that would pick grown men up over his head and slam them.

However, Rampage Jackson has spent a lot of time getting back into shape and feels he is ready now to make one last foray into the world of Combat Sports.

Rampage Jackson speaks on his plans for a comeback and has a list of names he’d like to cross off

In an interview with Middle Easy, Rampage Jackson delved into the details of the comeback he is plotting on. He spoke about life, his career, and the funny experience he had with Darrill Schoonover on TUF 10. See, Jackson had dubbed Schoonover as ‘Titties’, and while it was funny, it actually segued into what is now an ancient beef.

“I’m in talks now with ‘titties’, I mean, Darrill Schoonover,” Rampage Jackson told Middle Easy. “I’m in talks right now with his brother. His brother hit me up and I’m seeing if Darrill’s interested in fighting. If Darrill beat me in this fight, I would never call him titties again. Never ever would I even mutter the word titties and him in the same sentence again. In the same sentence, I would never do that again.”

“We was on the show, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and I can’t remember exactly how the beef started,” Jackson said, speaking about his issues with Schoonover (H/T Middle Easy). “Him and I, we was pretty cool and truth be told at first, he didn’t mind the nickname ‘Titties’. But I think it got outta hand, it just got outta control.”

“People call me a bully and, and I don’t believe making fun of someone that made fun of you is bullying. I just feel like I won the banter and so now I’m a bully. The world’s gotten so soft. Things got really bad, people started calling him titties and stuff and now he hate me. But, I was going to fight him on the show cause he got in my face and I don’t forget that.”

Rampage Jackson reveals some more names on his ‘hit list’

Rampage Jackson would also speak on his hit list, and how he’d like to cross all of the names off of it and settle some old feuds and rivalries from his career.

“I wanted to start this whole thing where I do all my grudge matches before I got too old. Just fight everybody I don’t like, if I don’t like you, come and fight man. And now that UFL is a thing and I would like to promote UFL and get it more popular cause I believe in the company. So I wanna do my grudge matches in the UFL. Titties is first on my hitlist: Darrill Schoonover.”

“We got a couple other people on my hit list. I still owe Wanderlei [Silva] one more fight. Cause we’re 2-2. Too bad Shogun [Rua] just retired, I wanna rematch with him cause he beat me one time when I was injured and I never got that one back. There’s a couple people on my hit list.”

Do you think Rampage Jackson will actually make an MMA comeback?

‘Rampage’ Jackson blames Dana White for Wanderlei Silva KO at UFC 92; ‘I might lose my foot in his a**’

RampageLong before making his UFC debut Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson made a name for himself in Japan’s premiere fight promotion, PRIDE FC. During his time in The Land of the Rising Sun, Jackson walked through some of the biggest names in combat sports history, including Kazushi Sakuraba, Kevin Randleman, and Chuck Liddell. However, one man always […]

Rampage

Long before making his UFC debut Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson made a name for himself in Japan’s premiere fight promotion, PRIDE FC.

During his time in The Land of the Rising Sun, Jackson walked through some of the biggest names in combat sports history, including Kazushi Sakuraba, Kevin Randleman, and Chuck Liddell. However, one man always seemed to have his number. ‘The Axe Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva. Between 2003 and 2004, ‘Rampage’ suffered back-to-back knockouts against Silva before the pair faced off for the first and only time inside the Octagon.

On that night, ‘Rampage’ finally broke through, scoring a first-round knockout against Silva in spectacular fashion. Looking back on the fight during his appearance on JAXXON Podcasts’ Fade on Site, the former light heavyweight world champion revealed that Dana White’s tardiness to a meeting led to a chance encounter with ‘The Axe Murderer’ that ultimately sealed Silva’s fate at UFC 92.

“One of the main reasons why Wanderlei got his a** beat so bad that time in the UFC, is after the weigh-ins, Dana wanted us to go and like, have this fighter meeting,” Jackson explained. “And we starving and everything, and we gotta wait on f*cking Dana White… We ready to go eat, like some people don’t eat. You know how it is when you cut weight… I just wanna hydrate and eat, right? And we gotta wait on Dana White.

“Wanderlei comes up to me while I’m f*cking p*ssed off, ‘I know you remember my knee…I know you remember hanging on the ropes.’ And I was like ‘Oh, this motherf*cker. I might lose my foot in his a** tomorrow.’”

Rampage’ and Wanderlei Silva would meet one more time in their respective careers under the Bellator MMA banner in 2018. Jackson would walk away with the win once again, this time via a second-round TKO.

Transcription courtesy of MMA News