Concern is revolving around MMA legend Wanderlei Silva after he was knocked during a post-fight brawl that took place following a boxing fight he competed in on September 27.
Silva competed in an exhibition boxing bout at Spaten Fight Night 2 in Brazil, taking on former world champion Acelino Freitas. Silva was disqualified for repeated headbutts on Freitas, but little did fans know that would just be the start of the action.
Chaos and melee ensued as people from both camps stormed the ring, and it’s in this madness where a man lands a hard punch on Silva, knocking him out cold.
Former UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva just got knocked out COLD in an all-out brawl 🤯 pic.twitter.com/FyYba7QeEJ
Silva’s body is moved away from the action, but he is still seemingly unconscious by the time the footage ends.
This was the first bit of combat sports action for the 49-year-old UFC Hall of Famer and former PRIDE champion. Silva had not been seen in a fight since his loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 206 in September 2018.
Freitas was a replacement opponent, substituting for Vitor Belfort after Belfort withdrew from the fight earlier this month.
Despite this being a major announcement in the MMA landscape, the reaction from a lot of fans wasn’t overly positive because many of the top names that have come to terms with the GFL are fighters that are either in the final years of their careers or seen to be past their primes. Given his previous comments on other promotions that have looked to change the MMA landscape, it’s not surprising that UFC boss Dana White was sceptical to say the least.
Rather than criticizing the GFL, White welcomed them to come and try their hand at mixed martial arts during his post-fight press conference in Tampa this past weekend. With a smirk on his face, he is happy to see how other promotions will attempt to compete and do things differently.
“I actually don’t know anything about it. I saw this all the time, I welcome everybody. Listen, there’s no barrier to get into this sport. I hear a lot of people saying that we ‘don’t do this right’ or we ‘don’t do that right’. Come on in everybody, dive in.”
Though White said that he wasn’t familiar with the promotion’s recent announcement, after having a list of some of the top signings read out to him, he gave his response to hearing some of the names that GFL has acquired. There was a particular emphasis places on the inclusion of Wanderlei Silva who at 48-years old, hasn’t fought since he departed the UFC in 2013 and returned to fight twice in Bellator in 2017 and 2018.
Beneil Dariush entered the UFC Hall of Fame as a part of the 2024 class, as the fifth winner of the Forrest Griffin Community Award.
Dariush received praise for the work he has done with multiple organizations to help those living in the likes of Iraq and Haiti.
Standing on the stage alongside legends of the sport, the active lightweight contender came away with a few moments that he will always remember fondly.
One of those was being able to stand there alongside Frankie Edgar, who was a big inspiration for his own career, and was inducted into the Modern Wing.
Another moment was an observation that Dariush made about some former rivals burying the hatchet with one another.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Dariush reflected on one particular moment that stayed with him from the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Chael Sonnen has had his fair share of iconic rivalries, with many of his biggest fights coming against Brazilian opponents.
International Fight Week saw Sonnen get inducted for his first fight with Anderson Silva, alongside two other Brazilian legends in Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Dariush recalled how he was able to watch them all interact with one another as he reflected on how much their dynamic has changed over the years.
“The other cool part was “Shogun” was there and Wanderlei was there, we’re all from the same gym right. Three guys from basically Kings or Chute Boxe or from that lineage to get awards was cool and finally, at one point, I saw, it was like this.
“Wanderlei was sitting here, “Shogun’s” here and Chael was right here in the middle and I’m behind them all and I just thought to myself, bro, 10 years ago if this situation was happening, I don’t think Chael would be getting out of this room alive but look at them now. Hanging out, speaking to each other and just being gentlemen. That was probably the coolest part to see, everybody’s moved on from the drama from previous.”
Wanderlei Silva was not having any part of Conor McGregor’s comments about Jesus Christ six years ago, which the Brazilian considered to be blasphemous.
The always-on-a-mission “Axe Murderer” took to social media two weeks after McGregor defeated Silva’s compatriot José Aldo at UFC 194 to release a video taking aim at the Irishman. Wanderlei Silva had plenty to say about McGregor’s comments about fighting Jesus, as well as the possibility of Aldo not getting an immediate rematch.
Prior to Silva’s video, McGregor had made the following comments about a fight with Jesus Christ inside the Octagon.
“Me versus Jesus in the Octagon? I tell you what, there’s not a man alive that can beat me,” McGregor told TMZ before UFC 194. “But Jesus ain’t alive so I don’t f—ing know. Maybe he can come back from the dead, I don’t know. I’d still whoop his ass.”
Silva responded with the following comments in the new video released on his official Facebook page.
“And this promotion, if they don’t give (Aldo) the immediate rematch, we will criticize them,” Silva said. “How? Everybody saw it was an accident, this a–hole was lucky. And when I meet this guy, for everything he said about Jesus, I will slap this motherf–ker in the face. You can’t do that. You can’t play with our God. When I meet you, raise your hand because you’re getting slapped in the face, you punk.”
The rest of Silva’s comments in the video reads as follows:
“I’m here to support one of the greatest champions, our greatest champion, Jose Aldo,” he said. “You continue to be our great champion. Wanderlei Silva continues to be your fan. I like you, I know what you can do, and I know you know that too. That has happened to be too, I’ve been through a moment like this you’re going through now.
“I’ll tell you this: it hurts. It hurts. A warrior feels this pain with the loss. I know you will walk through this and show you still are the best fighter in the world. Don’t listen to the critics. I want to ask Brazilians to support our champion. Hold back the jokes. If you have any garbage inside your heart, don’t throw it outside. Keep it to yourself. Don’t criticize our champion. Our champion needs support.
“He represents us for a long time. A guy that lived in a gym, had nothing, and became the best fighter in the world, deserves out respect to say the least. Aldo, I’m with you. You’re our champion, and that won’t change anything.”
Of course, as we know, the rematch with McGregor and Aldo never took place. And as far as the public knows, Silva never had the opportunity to slap McGregor on sight.
