The noted MMA legend ‘The Axe Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva’s 1939 days-long middleweight title reign at ‘Pride’ bears good testimony to his prowess in the sport. The UFC 298 brought an exciting announcement for all of his fans. It was the noted UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik, who announced that Silva will be inducted into the UFC Hall Of Fame this year. On this auspicious day, here’s a look back at the record of the Brazilian MMA legend, which made him a UFC Hall Of Famer.
The 47-year-old spent most of his prime fighting for ‘Pride’. Silva’s 22-year-long pro-MMA career also showcases his incredible contribution to the sport. He finally called an end to his decorated career in the year 2018, with a 35-13-1-1 record.
However, it’s pertinent to note that most of Silva’s losses came during the twilight days of his career. It won’t be wrong to say that his 4-5 UFC record is an insufficient description of his prowess.
But he didn’t stay undefeated in his pro-MMA career for long as well. The Brazilian picked up his first loss on 15 September 1997 against Artur Mariano, just after a year of stepping into pro-MMA. He returned strong after his first defeat and won his next fight.
But Silva ended up on the wrong side of things once more as he got defeated by the noted Vitor Belfort next on 16 October 1998.
Most fans may have noticed that the UFC analyst and former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping, talked about his fight against Silva while felicitating Silva after his UFC Hall of Fame induction at UFC 298.
Well, the newer age of MMA fans may be completely unaware of what happened in the fight.
Did Wanderlei Silva lose to Michael Bisping?
‘The Axe Murderer’ locked horns with ‘The Count’ on 20 February 2010 for his fifth UFC fight. Most fans may agree that Silva was already in the latter days of his career back then. Silva had picked up several losses in his fights preceding the UFC 110 encounter. Still, the Brazilian packed enough prowess to get the better of his English rival at the stage of UFC 110.
Bisping started the fight strongly as he scored a few takedowns on the future UFC Hall of Famer. But the fight started to turn around in the second round. Silva caught one of Bisping’s kicks and got him down on the canvas with a leg kick of his own. Silva could have ended the fight both in the second and the third rounds. But the bell saved ‘The Count’ both times, initially from a guillotine choke and then a TKO defeat.
Quite expectedly, the decision victory went in favor of ‘The Axe Murderer’ after the 3-round encounter. Well, Silva may have stopped getting his hand raised by the referees in 2018, but a lot of fans will await watching him raise the UFC Hall Of Fame memento later this year.
