Fan favorite Wanderlei Silva weighs in on the fight between his friends UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the main event fight at UFC 104 in Los Angeles...
Wanderlei Silva Video Blog Episode 02 - Wanderlei officially announces the Wand Fight Team Tryout on November 14 , Wanderlei's training session with Michael Costa as he prepares for China's Art of War, and Wanderlei talks about being a coach.
Wanderlei Silva releases the first video blog episode talking about his facial surgery, his new tattoo, the upcoming tryouts to become a part of his team and more. More info at: www.wandfightteam.com
Demian Maia arrived in Las Vegas this month to spend his last month of training for UFC 102, and his fight against Nate Marquardt, at the Wand Fight Team in Las Vegas with Wanderlei Silva, Rafael Alejarra, Kit Cope.
The City of Pensacola is proud to Present a Key to the City to Wanderlei Silva, Middleweight Pride Champion and UFC Fighter on Thursday, July 16th 2009.
The Mayor, Mike Wiggins, will be presenting the Key to Wanderlei at Paradise Gardens during Coffee with the Mayor, 508 W Gregory Street, Pensacola.
Later that day, Mr.Silva will be giving a speech to At Risk Teens and a street party in his honor will follow. He projects a positive influence with his life story and his determination to overcome the many obstacles that he has confronted. He is a true role model and a true warrior and great spokesman for teens all over the world.
Because of his dedication to inspire the many teens that face difficult challenges Mr. Silva generously donates his time to make a positive impact on teens from all walks of life.
Wanderlei Silva talks about his fight with Rich Franklin and how he wants to fight again in September and December of this year, if the UFC will let him.
On a night of scintilating action both in and out of the Octagon -- Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva fought to a main event Fight of the Night finish and Mirko "Cro Cop" announced to the UFC, "Oh, by the way, I'm outta here. Going back to Japan" -- the UFC was fairly successful on its first stop in Germany.
Despite all of the backlash from mainstream German media that is caught in the MMA time warp of five to 10 years ago, UFC 99 drew an announced attendance of 12,854 to the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, accounting for estimated gate receipts of $1.3 million.
ESPN's MMA Live breaks down Saturday's UFC 99 fight card featuring Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva and takes a look back at this past weekend's WEC 41 "Brown vs. Faber 2" and Strikeforce "Lawler vs. Shields."
The Countdown to UFC 99 begins tonight -- Tuesday night -- on Spike, taking an inside look at the main event between Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin, as well as Cain Velasquez and Cheick Kongo.
According to Wanderlei Silva, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos was pretty much born tough.
"It's amazing," he told MMAInsider. "I trained with her in Brazil. She's incredible, like a man. The last training camp I see, she trained with a man. She's dangerous. Sometimes when you train with a woman, you just play. But with her, every time you need to train, because she's tough."
In interviews, Santos has credited the "classic" Chute Boxe line-up of Silva, the Rua brothers, and of course, her husband Evangelista, with turning her into a professional fighter.
Silva says he immediately noticed Santos' work ethic.
"Before she go into the gym when she was younger, she played professional handball, then one hour, she goes for the bicycle, trains for two hours, then does one hour on the bicycle," he continued. "She's crazy."
Santos won her Strikeforce debut emphatically at "Shamrock vs. Diaz," stopping Hitomi Akano with strikes in the second round. But the victory was tainted when she missed the bout's 145lb. weight limit by seven pounds, and could not get to within the six pound overage allowed by the California State Athletic Commission.
The bout was eventually cleared by CSAC, with Santos' final weigh-in registering 150.5 lbs.
Her victory set up an expected showdown between Santos and Gina Carano for an August Strikeforce currently in the works. The fight is anticipated to be the biggest in the short history of women's MMA.
Silva thinks the two should fight heavier.
"It's too much for Cyborg," he said of the 145lb. class. "Because Gina's her next opponent, Gina's more big too. It's possible to make the fight for 155. 155 is better for both. Because you cut a lot of weight, the performance is not the same. It's hard for Gina and hard for her."
Whatever class they fight at, though, he's excited to see it.
"The girls make history, because it's the first big match for women," he said. "The first main event for women. I'm thinking Gina and Cyborg open the market for the girls."
If heavy metal band Chimaira were a mixed martial artist, which one would they be? Probably Wanderlei Silva.
Like the Axe Murderer, Chimaira's off-stage demeanor is pretty laid back, but once they get into their music, it's like a Wanderlei Silva knee to the grill.
"The happier we get, the meaner and angrier our music sounds," says Chimaira lead singer Mark Hunter, a life-long martial artist and avid MMA fan. "So that's a good thing. So you want to keep us happy."
It's no surprise then that Hunter's favorite fighter is, in fact, Wanderlei Silva. "He's one of my favorite fighters of all time. When I watch him, I try to emulate him quite a bit. He's got the staredown to end all staredowns."
Other favorites include UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and fellow Midwesterner Clay Guida. "I like Clay Guida a lot because his entrances, that's the main event," says Hunter, who's band hails from Cleveland. "His last match, he was one of the first guys to come out and his entrance was just so triumphant, he was just so pumped up, I was like, 'I don't need to watch the rest of the fight.'
"I also love the Rampage saga of (Wanderlei) and Rampage fighting, those are some of the best fights ever."
Being a martial artist himself, Hunter's interest in MMA is a little deeper than just his love of watching the fights. Currently in the midst of a two-month tour in support of their new album The Infection -- which hits stores on Tuesday, April 21 -- he tries to find as much time as possible to continue training in everything from Tae Kwon Do to Muay Thai to Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts.
"We're getting to a position now with our band that we have some time off -- more so than we used to. So I'm like, I can train again," Hunter told MMAWeekly.com's MMA Insider."
He often trains with one of his guitar techs while on the road, and Chimaira's drummer, Andols Herrick, who has also taken up an interest.
Not only has his interest in training in MMA been one of personal satisfaction -- "it really helps me as a person and it helps me with confidence on stage" -- but it has also spilled into the business side of things just a bit. Hunter can often be seen on stage sporting 5280 Fighter or Manto gear due to some loose partnerships with the fight gear companies.
Chimaira was also one of the bands featured on the UFC's 2004 release Ultimate Beatdowns, a compilation CD featuring the band's song "Indifferent to Suffering."
As mentioned, Chimaira is currently in the midst of a two-month tour in the U.S. with headliners Disturbed, and other supporting acts Killswitch Engage and Lacuna Coil. You can listen to cuts from their new album The Infection, out on Ferrett Records, on the band's myspace page, as well as cuts from their other albums.
Chimaira's music is a brutal, in your face attack on the senses, not for the faint of heart.
As Hunter says, it's "M-E-T-A-L... that's it!"
Chimaira is extremely active in social networking on the web, reaching out to their fans. You can check them out at:
The UFC's German invasion has shaped up quickly, with the bulk of the June 13 fighters confirmed in less than a month.
More than half the fighters on the card are either foreign-born or based outside the US, with one fighter, Peter Sobotta, bringing in the hometown crowd as a resident of Balingen, only 272 miles, or 438 kilometers, from the 20,000 seat Lanxess Arena in Cologne.
The UFC recently inked a deal with German sports network DSF to air UFC content, including live or tape-delayed events.
At the festivities for UFC 96 last weekend, UFC president Dana White said the European card would come at a premium for those watching in the US.
"It will be a pay per view event," White told reporters.
In past overseas events, the time difference has not been friendly to pay per view buyrates. So far, none of the Europe based pay events have cracked the 300,000 range. While by no means are those slim numbers, and the promotion has done extremely well in live attendance numbers, there appeared to be a push towards airing the events free for Spike TV viewers. UFC 99 appears to be a break from that strategy.
So far, the only official bout on the card is the main event, between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva at a catch weight of 195lbs. Tickets for the event go on sale to the public in three days.
The latest edition of Dana White's UFC 96 video blog includes a look at the UFC 99 press conference in Germany along with Dana and Lorezno Fertitta spending time with Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, and more.
There's been a lot of talk about what Wanderlei Silva does next after his brutal knockout at the hands of Quinton Jackson at UFC 92 on Saturday. With such a finish, all memories of Jackson's two losses to the former Pride middleweight champ were swept under the rug.
Silva has fought all but a few names in the upper echelon of light heavyweight talent. A few possibilities exist: if Jackson gets the next shot at new champion Rashad Evans, Silva could face the winner of Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva at UFC 94. He could fight training partner Forrest Griffin, a bout for which he has already said "is no problem." A scrap with Rich Franklin could do big numbers. And, lest we forget, Tito Ortiz looms at the fringes (until we actually see Tito's next contract, all bets are off).
At the post fight presser for UFC 92, UFC president Dana White said Silva is still very much employable.
"If Wanderlei wants to fight again, people want to see him," White said.
Almost under his breath, the outspoken president threw Silva's old foe, former champ Chuck Liddell, into the hat.
"Wanderlei’s a tough guy," he said. "Obviously, he’s had a rough road the last couple of years. There’s interesting fights for him too. Maybe we do him and Liddell again."
Silva's first fight with Liddell was a legitimate slugfest and fight of the year candidate in 2007. Both fighters have been tarnished with big knockout losses, and are in need of redemption. Despite taking a three-round beating, Silva managed to drop Liddell once in the second round, a round he arguably won. The question is...what does Wanderlei want to do?
"As fighters, these guys have to decide what they want to do, where they want to go from here," White commented.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson takes on "The Axe Murderer," Wanderlei Silva, at UFC 92 Saturday night in Las Vegas. It will be their third fight but their first under Unified Rules. Their two previous bouts took place under Pride rules with ten-minute first rounds, yellow cards, stomps, soccer kicks, knees to the head on the ground, no elbows, and took place in a square ring.
This time around, they will compete for three, five-minute rounds, inside the world famous Octagon with no knees to the head on the ground, no stomps, no soccer kicks, but they are allowed to use elbows.
Seems like a big difference, but Jackson doesn't think so. "A fight is a fight," says the former UFC light heavyweight titleholder.
"Wanderlei is a warrior... Wanderlei fought in the UFC before he fought in Pride," he pointed out. "I don't think it makes a difference. A fight is a fight. I'll fight Wanderlei in a phone booth if I had to.
"It don't matter what the rules are or what the advantages is. A fight is a fight," Jackson added. "I do like the Pride rules, and I do like some of the UFC rules. I wish that, if there was a perfect world for me, I wish we could mix them up and have both rules. That would be cool."
At the end of the day, Rampage commented, "I'm just thinking about staying within the rules and having a good fight."
With each passing day, the third fight between "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson draws nearer and nearer. As Silva prepares for the fight, he has branched out his training to extend to his own gym which will open in January after his bout at UFC 92.
Silva spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently about his training and especially dealing with someone like Randy Couture to help prepare him.
"I'm training at (Xtreme) Couture for this fight. Cause (Randy) Couture is an amazing guy, I like him a lot," Silva said. "He opened his gym for me, he helped me a lot after I move here to Vegas, he's an amazing guy."
Working with a wide variety of training partners, Silva gets specialized help in every area and this week his gym will open up to old friend and current UFC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
"I'm training at (Xtreme) Couture and training at my gym. Because this week, (Antonio Rodrigo) Nogueira coming to train at my gym with his team," Silva stated. "He has a lot of strong guys, good jiu-jitsu, good guys for takedowns, and I'm training in my gym with him. I'm training my boxing with Skip Kelps, he's from Vegas and he's very good at boxing. I train my wrestling with Mike Whitehead, he has amazing jiu-jitsu and he's so much stronger."
Wanderlei also says that he expects to invite another champion into his gym to work with Nogueira over the next few days.
"Tomorrow I invited Forrest (Griffin) to train with me and (Nogueira). Maybe Forrest is going to train with Nogueira and with me tomorrow. Tomorrow is a hot day in my gym!"
Silva says he'll slow down on a couple of days out from the actual fight, but until then he will be at full force getting ready for his match-up against Jackson next Saturday night.
"The Axe Murderer" has a new sparring partner to duke it out with on the mats of Xtreme Couture: Mrs. Couture.
In a recent interview with MMAInsider, Kim Couture described a sparring session with the former Pride champion that turned more than a few heads at the gym.
"That was a treat," she said with a big smile. "I'm feeling very confident with my boxing. So was he, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten in there with me."
They started slow, throwing a few light punches to the gloves, which Silva was unsatisfied with.
"He was like, 'that's good, now hit me in the face,'" Couture recounted.
When Couture turned up the heat, Silva responded in kind.
"He would turn it up and control it," she continued. "As I would turn it up, he would turn it up. He's such a great guy, and has a few pointers here and there."
Being one of the most feared strikers in the world, you would think so. Afterwards, Silva lifted Couture up with a big hug.
"He's a very good sport," Couture said. "Very inspiring."
Hopefully, a little bit of Silva's killer mojo will rub off on Couture when she faces Lina Kvokov at Strikeforce: "Destruction" on Friday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
Tickets for UFC 92 "The Ultimate 2008" go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. PT. There are presale options to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Starting Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets for UFC 92 go on sale to UFC Fight Club members. And on Friday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. PT, tickets go on sale to newsletter subscribers.
UFC 92 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It features three of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's highest profile fights of the year. Forrest Griffin puts his newly won light heavyweight championship on the line against Rashad Evans, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defends his heavyweight interim belt against fellow Ultimate Fighter 8 coach Frank Mir, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson returns to the Octagon to try and avenge two brutal losses to Wanderlei Silva.
Typically, most people automatically say whoever holds the title in the UFC is the No. 1 guy in that division, at least in the UFC, right?
Well, Keith Jardine isn't so sure... and that's not because he's bragging and saying that he is the No. 1 guy in the UFC's 205-pound division.
Obviously referring to a crazy round-robin of wins and losses, the UFC's light heavyweight division does make for some strange MMA math. Rampage beat Liddell who beat Wanderlei who beat Jardine who beat Forrest who beat Rampage and is the champ. Say what?!
"This was a huge fight," said Jardine after his win over Brandon Vera at UFC 89 before adding, "The division is weird. Forrest (Griffin) is the champ right now, but who knows who the best guy is? It could be the number one guy. It could be the number ten guy. There's a lot of undefeated guys. There's a lot of guys coming up. I think it's going take a year or so to sort this thing out."
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