Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, title defenses and longest winning streak in PRIDE history. He is the former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. He most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Silva's aggressive style is rooted in street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing, which he began learning at the age of 13 in Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown Curitiba. In his late teens he joined the Brazilian army and was quickly recognized for his fighting talents. He was asked to join Vale Tudo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school. Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil. Silva developed scar tissue around his eyes from fighting in bare-knuckle vale tudo.
Silva's first professional match was on 1 November 1996, in the bare-knuckle organization Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting (BVF), where he knocked out Dilson Filho via right elbow at BVF 6. He fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on 1 July 1997, against Marcelo Barbosa, who submitted due to a shoulder injury.
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. He won five of these matches by KO/TKO, with his one loss being the result of a cut stoppage against Artur Mariano in the IVC 2 show on 15 September 1997. Though Silva dominated Mariano with punches and knee strikes, the cut was above Silva's left eyelid and opened back up several times, partially because Silva continued to use the cut side of his head to inflict many headbutts on Mariano over the course of the match. The doctor observed the cut several times before the fight was ended.
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. It was after this fight that Silva earned the nickname "The Axe Murderer".
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.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Silva entered the UFC on 16 October 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort. The match was arguably the worst defeat of his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ending with Silva being knocked down against the cage by Belfort's punches then being stopped by the referee. Silva won his next UFC match on 7 May 1999, at UFC 20, in which he knocked out Tony Petarra with knees. On 14 April 2000, Silva fought for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost via unanimous decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25.
Pride Fighting championships
Silva debuted in PRIDE at the Pride 7 event on 12 September 1999, against Carl Ognibene (better known as Carl "Malenko"). 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. Silva continued to dominate Malenko en route to a decision victory. This dominance would set the tone for Silva's career in the organization. From 1999 to 2004, Silva won eighteen-straight fights in PRIDE, excluding a draw against Mirko Cro Cop (under slightly modified rules in which if the match would go to the time limit, the bout would be declared a draw) and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel (Silva accidentally kicked Yvel in the groin), giving him a twenty-fight unbeaten streak. Silva's reputation as a formidable MMA fighter grew as he developed a successful 5-year win record in the middle weight division (205 lb) of Pride.
Silva fought Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba for the first time at Pride 13 - Collision Course on 25 March 2001. Silva won via TKO (knees and soccer kick) at 1:38 into the first round. At Pride 17: Championship Chaos on 3 November 2001, Silva won the inaugural Pride middleweight (205 lb) championship when he defeated Sakuraba for the second time. Sakuraba suffered a broken clavicle and was forced to withdraw after the first round, giving Silva a TKO win via doctor's stoppage. The two fought for a third time on 10 August 2003 at Pride Total Elimination 2003, part of the PRIDE Middleweight Tournament. Silva knocked out Sakuraba with a two punch combination at 5:01 into the first round.