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MMA's Greatest headknockers: Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva
- 1st Pride Middleweight Champion
- Pride 2003 Middleweight Gran Prix Champion
- 5 year-18 fight win streak with 14 KOs in Pride fc.
The first time you saw Wanderlei Silva fight, at the pre-fight staredown, he might have evoked an image of a rabid pit bull, with 'roid rage. Jumping at the end of his chain, frothing and foaming at the mouth, with every ounce of his body, ready to tear into his opponent, and render as much destruction as possible.
More vicious than you think ...
But then when the fight got underway you thought "no, that's not a good comparison, Wanderlei Silva's a lot more vicious than that." And whatever fight you saw, it didn't matter, they were all the same. It was unbridled aggression with Wanderlei Silva attacking his opponent nonstop and relentlessly pounding on him until the fight was over.
And for five years and 18 fights, everyone he fought in the Pride Fighting Championships wilted under his onslaught.
Wanderlei Silva fought with a fury very seldom seen in any combat sport. Wanderlei's Fighting Spirit evokes images of ancient Warriors.
He might even cause a fight historian to wonder if this was the same type of raw, savage aggression displayed by Roman Gladiators on fight night at the Coluseum.
Where he learned how to fight
Wanderlei Silva trained at the renowned Chute Boxe Academy. The Chute Boxe Academy was World famous for Aggressive Fighters, and Wanderlei Silva set the standard for the other Chute Boxers to follow.
You can be sure there are two things Wanderlei Silva's cornermen have never told him. "You need to be more intense" and "you're not being aggressive enough."
Could you imagine telling that to Wanderlei Silva?
Wanderlei Silva's style was the classic "Beat Down" on steroids. Maybe you've seen some beat downs first hand, but not a "Beat Down" like this.
Wanderlei Silva took the "Beat Down" to a WHOLE new level. A level that no opponent wanted to be on. Wanderlei attacks his oppoment and tries to put him away, not just for the night, but for eternity.
The "Axe Murderer" is an appropriate nickname for Wanderlei Silva.
INTENSITY, AGGRESSION, HEART
That is what makes Wanderlei Silva the Great Fighter that he is. The "Axe Murderer" has a desperate desire to achieve victory, and he fights his heart out each time he enters the arena.
And Wanderlei has the arsenal that he needs to do the job. The "Axe Murderer" has KO power in his Hands, and Knees. And if Wanderlei doesn't win by Knock Out, he wins by attrition.
He just keeps attacking his opponent, and pounding on them with Punches, Knees, Elbows, and Kicks. Any part of his body that can collide with a part of his opponents body, until their will to win is broken.
The "Axe Murderer" has fought some of the best Fighters MMA has had to offer and he has beaten the best, including Dan Henderson (also lost to Henderson) and Kazushi Sakuraba (three times).
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was beaten twice by Wanderlei. The first time they met "Rampage" found himself inside Wanderlei's Thai Clinch.
And "Rampage's" head encountered Wanderlei Silva's knees repeatedly, 17 times in succession, if anyone was counting – and we were.
"Rampage" was (T)KOed by a smiling Wanderlei Silva, who looked like a kid at Disneyland.
In the second fight with Wanderlei Silva,"Rampage" had a reunion that he didn't want to attend, a reunion with the "Axe Murderer's" knees. And after knocking Wanderlei down, "Rampage" was Knocked Out COLD. His body sprawled across the ropes, inside the Pride fc ring, courtesy of those same ol' Wanderlei knees.
In their third meeting at UFC 92 "Rampage" finally got revenge on the "Axe Murderer" throwing a perfect left hook that landed on Silva's chin, and it was lights out for Wanderlei Silva.
In his great headknocking career the "Axe Murderer" has (T)KOed "Ol Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita, and he KOed Keith Jardine, and decisioned Michael Bisping, almost Knocking Bisping Out in the last seconds of the fight.
Wanderlei fought Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic twice, once to a draw and once he was KOed by "Cro Cop," via a baseball bat to the head ("Cro Cops" Left Round Kick).
And then there was the Brawl with the other great fighter that paralleled Wanderlei Silva's reign, but in the UFC, Chuck Liddell. In that fight neither fighter asked for any quarter, and neither fighter was given any.
It was an instant classic, where you had two Great Champions, only a couple of years removed from being two of Planet Earth's "Baddest" human beings, pummelling one another, unmercifully for the whole fight.
The Liddell fight was a WAR, and anyone who takes on Wanderlei Silva better be prepared for WAR. A Relentless Fighting Spirit, combined with great Striking Power. These are the attributes and hallmarks of Wanderlei Silva, Pride fighting Champion, and one of the Greatest headknockers.
