UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 was a mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held on December 27, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada.^[2][3]

Background[link]

The main event featured number-one contender Rashad Evans fighting Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt.^[4]

The first co-main event saw former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir against former PRIDE heavyweight champion and then current UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.^[5][6]

The other co-main event was a fight between former UFC Light-heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and former PRIDE Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva.^[7]

Results[link]

Preliminary card[link]

• Heavyweight bout: Dan Evensen vs. Pat Barry

Barry defeated Evensen via TKO (leg kicks) at 2:36 of Round 1. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Jackson vs. Silva fight.

• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn

Blackburn defeated Chonan via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

• Light Heavyweight bout: Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy

Hamill defeated Andy via TKO (punches) at 2:19 of Round 2. This bout aired on the PPV broadcast following the Dollaway vs. Massenzio fight.

• Heavyweight bout: Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel

Hardonk defeated Wessel via TKO (strikes) at 2:09 of Round 2. (Wessel replaced Mark Burch, who was originally intended to fight Hardonk)^[8] This bout aired last on the PPV broadcast following the Griffin vs. Evans fight.

• Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister

Okami defeated Lister via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

Main card[link]

• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Mostapha Al Turk

Kongo defeated Al Turk via TKO (strikes) at 4:37 of round 1.

• Middleweight bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio

Dollaway defeated Massenzio via TKO (Strikes) at 3:01 of round 1.

• Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

Jackson defeated Silva via KO (punch) at 3:21 of round 1.

• Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (ic) vs. Frank Mir

Mir defeated Nogueira via TKO (punches) at 1:54 of round 2 to become the new Interim UFC Heavyweight champion.

• Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Forrest Griffin (c) vs. Rashad Evans

Evans defeated Griffin via TKO (punches) at 2:46 of round 3 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion.^[9]

Bonus awards[link]

Fighters were awarded $60,000 bonuses.^[10]

Fight of the Night: Rashad Evans vs. Forrest Griffin

Knockout of the Night: Quinton Jackson

Submission of the Night: Not awarded as no matches ended with submission

Purses[link]

Rashad Evans: $130,000 (includes $65,000 win bonus) def. Forrest Griffin: $100,000^[11]

Frank Mir: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus) def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $250,000

Quinton Jackson: $325,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus) def. Wanderlei Silva: $200,000

C.B. Dollaway: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Mike Massenzio: $5,000

Cheick Kongo: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus) def: Mostapha Al Turk: $7,000

Yushin Okami: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Dean Lister: $19,000

Antoni Hardonk: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Mike Wessel: $4,000

Matt Hamill: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Reese Andy: $15,000

Brad Blackburn: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) vs. Ryo Chonan: $18,000

Patrick Barry: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) Dan Evensen: $4,000

References[link]

v t e Ultimate Fighting Championship events Upcoming events are in italics Major events 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UU 8 9 10 11 UU 2 12 13 14 15 Japan 16 17 Brazil 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 37.5 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 Fight Nights UFN 1 UFN 2 UFN 3 UFN 4 UFN 5 UFN 6 Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3 Sanchez vs. Riggs Evans vs. Salmon Stevenson vs. Guillard Stout vs. Fisher Thomas vs. Florian Swick vs. Burkman Florian vs. Lauzon Silva vs. Irvin Diaz vs. Neer Fight for the Troops Lauzon vs. Stephens Condit vs. Kampmann Diaz vs. Guillard Maynard vs. Diaz Florian vs. Gomi Marquardt vs. Palhares Fight for the Troops 2 Nogueira vs. Davis Shields vs. Ellenberger UFC on Versus Vera vs. Jones Jones vs. Matyushenko Sanchez vs. Kampmann Kongo vs. Barry Hardy vs. Lytle Cruz vs. Johnson UFC on Fox Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Evans vs. Davis Diaz vs. Miller Stann vs. Lombard UFC on FX Guillard vs. Miller Alves vs. Kampmann Johnson vs. McCall Maynard vs. Guida UFC on Fuel TV Sanchez vs. Ellenberger Gustafsson vs. Silva Korean Zombie vs. Poirier Muñoz vs. Weidman The Ultimate Fighter Finales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Category Commons WikiProject Mixed martial arts

Frank Mir
Born	Francisco Santos Miranda, III (1979-05-24) May 24, 1979 (age 33) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1][2]
Weight	261 lb (118 kg; 18 st 9 lb)
Division	Heavyweight
Reach	79 in (201 cm)
Style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kenpo Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling
Fighting out of	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Team	University of Grappling[3] Suffer Training Center
Trainer	Ricky Lundell[4] Robert Drysdale
Rank	Black belt in Kenpo Karate Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	2001 –present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	22
Wins	16
By knockout	4
By submission	9
By decision	2
By disqualification	1
Losses	6
By knockout	6
Spouse	Jennifer (2004 – present)
Children	3
Notable school(s)	Bonanza High School
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: October 11, 2011

Francisco Santos Miranda, III^[5][6] (born May 24, 1979), better known as Frank Mir, is an American mixed martial artist, as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kenpō Karate.

Mir, one of the most accomplished heavyweights in MMA history, is a two time UFC Heavyweight Champion . He currently holds the record for most victories in the heavyweight division of the UFC with 14 and most wins by submission in UFC Heavyweight division history with 8. He is also the only man in UFC history to win a bout by toe hold.^[7] As of January 2012 he is ranked the #4 In the ESPN MMA Power Rankings.^[8]He holds the distinction of being the first and only man to both knock out and submit MMA legend Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Mir is the only person to submit former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Division I wrestler Brock Lesnar and highly regarded striker Cheick Kongo. Frank Mir has had more fights in the UFC than anyone else currently competing in the heavyweight division.

Early life[link]

His father convinced him to begin wrestling, on the basis that it could help him avoid submissions. Mir then began wrestling at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada where during his junior year he lost his first nine matches.^[9] During his senior year (1998) he went 44–1 and won the state championship.^[9] He was also on the school's football team that reached the Southern Zone semifinals in 1997 and where he played as fullback and defensive end. He also took up track and field in 1998 where his discus throw of 177 feet, 10 inches is still a Sunset Regional record.^[9]

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Mir met UFC matchmaker Joe Silva at a school Silva was visiting. Silva saw potential in Mir as a future UFC fighter and suggested that he first prove himself against some fighters in the mixed martial arts world. Mir would make his professional MMA debut against Jerome Smith at HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown on July 14, 2001. Mir won the bout by judges' decision after two rounds. He won another match by submission against Dan Quinn at IFC Warriors Challenge 15.

After these events, Mir made his UFC debut against Roberto Travern. Traven had fought once in the UFC before (at UFC 11), and was the 1999 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship open class champion and 6th degree black belt in BJJ.^[10] Mir defeated Roberto Travern by armbar at 1:05 of round one at UFC 34: High Voltage on November 2, 2001. The submission earned Mir the "Tapout of the Night" award.

Mir's next match in the UFC was against Pete Williams and took place at UFC 36: Worlds Collide on March 22, 2002. Mir submitted the veteran Williams (who had never been submitted before^[11]) at only 46 seconds into the first round with a shoulder lock that has since been named after Mir.^[12]

He faced Ian Freeman, at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, held in London, England on July 13, 2002. Despite several leglock attempts by Mir, Freeman achieved side control at around four minutes into the first round, landing numerous elbows and punches on Mir's head. After Freeman separated, the referee signaled Mir to stand back up. A time out was called due to an apparent cut on Mir's face, and the referee stopped the fight when Mir had difficulty standing up. The call is considered controversial by some fans (including Mir himself) because of the fact that he was never officially finished by Freeman and the fight only stopped due to difficulty standing up, which has been suggested was a smart, but bad call by the referee since that loss.

After the considered-controversial loss to Freeman, Mir then faced David "Tank" Abbott at UFC 41 on February 28, 2003. Mir^[13] defeated Abbott in only 46 seconds into the first round by submission (Toe Hold).

On June 26, 2003 Mir fought Wes Sims at UFC 43: Meltdown. Mir won by disqualification at 2:55 of round one after Sims stomped down on Mir's face after slamming his way out of Mir's armbar attempt. They would rematch at UFC 46: Supernatural on January 31, 2004. Frank Mir won by knockout at 4:21 of round two.

Heavyweight championship[link]

On June 19, 2004, Mir faced Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 48: Payback. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir's armbar visibly broke Sylvia's right forearm. Mir trapped Sylvia's right arm in an armbar attempt. When Sylvia tried to pull out of the hold, Mir jerked back harder and Sylvia's radius bone snapped about 3 inches below his elbow. Sylvia repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken, even touching it and moving it around to show he was O.K. Sylvia was taken to the nearby hospital where an x-ray showed that his arm was in fact broken in four different places.

With this technical submission win Mir became the new UFC Heavyweight Champion and later received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black-belt from Ricardo Pires for his performance in the fight.^[14]

Motorcycle injury[link]

On September 17, 2004, Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. The accident caused a break in Mir's femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. The bone had broken in two places but the injury did not end Mir's career as a fighter. Major surgery was needed to repair the bone in his leg. An interim heavyweight title was created while Mir was recovering from the injury, which Andrei Arlovski won by defeating Tim Sylvia by way of a first round submission. On August 12, 2005, the UFC learned that Mir was not able to fight Andrei Arlovski in October as scheduled, thus Mir was stripped of the title after 14 months, and Arlovski was promoted to be the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.^[15]

Return to the UFC[link]

Mir recovered from his motorcycle accident and fought Márcio Cruz at UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 on February 4, 2006. In a shocking upset, Mir was defeated by the relative newcomer in the first round by TKO due to strikes. Initially, referee Herb Dean called for a break to check a large cut on Mir's face. Mir was given the opportunity to continue, and did so.

Mir returned to the Octagon on July 8, 2006 at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals and faced Dan Christison.^[16] Mir had gained a considerable amount of weight and quickly became exhausted. Mir won in a lackluster fashion by unanimous decision after three rounds; the judges all scored the bout 29–28.^[17] Criticism began to flourish with Mir not looking like the same fighter as he was before, both physically and technically.

Mir next faced Brandon Vera at UFC 65: Bad Intentions. Mir showed slightly improved sharpness on his feet, and boxed well until being stunned by a straight right from Vera. He was then dropped by knees from Vera's Muay Thai clinch, where the smaller Vera delivered elbows & punches from side control, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Mir lost by TKO at only 1:09 of the first round. While preparing for UFC 140, Mir explained that the reason why he suffered the 2 losses to Cruz and Vera was because even after having 14 months of recovery, he was still feeling the effects of the motorcycle accident he had.^[18]

Rise back to title contention[link]

Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Antoni Hardonk at UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5, 2007, but had to drop out due to a shoulder injury.^[19] Mir recovered from the shoulder injury and fought Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74 and won via kimura in 1:17 of the first round.^[20] At the end of the bout, Mir walked to the cameras pointing at himself saying "I'm back!". Frank's wife Jennifer was shown on the replay screaming and crying with joy when Frank secured the kimura and the fight was stopped.

After the fight with Hardonk, Mir stated that his long period of time away after his loss to Brandon Vera not only helped him recover from the shoulder injury, but helped recover from his motorcycle accident and while fighting Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 119 UFC commentator Mike Goldberg stated: "Mir, in that motorcycle years ago and, he's fought his way back".

Mir fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 on February 2, 2008. Early in the first round, Lesnar took Mir down and, while striking from Mir's guard, landed illegal punches to the back of Mir's head, drawing a foul and a one-point deduction from referee Steve Mazzagatti.^[21] They were stood up and Mir was given a brief recovery period, but Lesnar quickly took Mir down again. When Lesnar escaped an armbar attempt, Mir caught him with a kneebar, causing Lesnar to tap out at 1:30 of the first round.^[22]

[edit] The Ultimate Fighter Season 8

Spike TV on 12 May 2008 announced that the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Frank Mir would be the coaches for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.^[23]

The season, which premiered on Spike TV on September 17, returned to the two-weight class format. It featured light heavyweight and lightweight fighters.^[24] Production on season eight began in late May, with the entire cast announced in September, and concluded in December.^[24]

Interim Heavyweight Championship[link]

Frank Mir fought Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 (held on December 27, 2008) for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship.^[25] This bout was part of a mini-heavyweight tournament, often hyped by Dana White. The winner of this fight would then face the winner of the match between the heavyweight champion Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar won by TKO in the second round, gaining him the heavyweight championship belt in the process and then setting him to face the winner at UFC 100 to unify the belts.

Frank Mir then defeated Nogueira in the second round via TKO due to strikes, showing vastly improved striking (particularly his boxing), by knocking down the Brazilian twice in the first round, and once in the second. He also scored a Judo-trip takedown in round one.^[26] Herb Dean stopped the match at 1:54 of the second round.^[26] Nogueira's loss marked the first time he had lost a fight by TKO.^[27] In a post fight interview, Mir credited his improved striking to a drastic improvement in conditioning.^[28]

Two days after the fight Dana White revealed in an interview that "Nogueira had just gotten over a Staph infection".^[29] Nogueira himself verified this fact several months later in his own interview, stating that he had a Staph infection "20 days before the fight, [requiring] 5 days in the hospital." When asked if this infection affected his fight, Nogueira answered: "For sure." In addition to this significant illness, his knee was injured during training for which he had surgery in February 2009. Despite these legitimate handicaps, Nogueira offered strong praise for Frank Mir's performance, with particular credit given to Mir's ability to maintain "very good distance".^[30]

Heavyweight Championship unification[link]

Frank Mir's victory over Nogueira set in place a re-match with the UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship.^[31] However, Mir stated, that in his opinion, holding victories over former Interim Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92 and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 is enough to recognize him as the owner of the "real belt".^[32] On May 23, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Frank Mir was scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 98, however Mir sustained a knee injury during training which required arthroscopic surgery and the removal of bone chips from his knee. Mir's rematch against Brock Lesnar was rescheduled for UFC 100, July 11, 2009.^[33]

At UFC 100, Mir was lively on his feet but proved unable to counter Lesnar's wrestling and positional dominance. In the second round, after being allowed to standup, he landed a combo ending with a turning right elbow which forced Lesnar to clinch—proceeding to land a jumping right knee to rock his opponent—he was still unable to prevent the takedown. After a period of recovery from the knee Lesnar pinned Mir up against the cage and delivered multiple unanswered blows to his face, forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight via TKO at 1:48 in the 2nd round. With the win, Brock Lesnar became the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.^[34]

Post title shot[link]

Mir had his next fight against Cheick Kongo on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107. Mir was expected to weigh 20 to 25 lbs heavier than usual, due to the strength and conditioning program that he had undertaken to largely improve his muscular frame. This meant he would have to cut weight to get to the 265 lb limit.^[35] As expected, Mir weighed in for his fight against Kongo at 264.5 lbs. At the weigh-ins, Kongo refused to face Mir during the traditional staredown before the fight. During the fight, Mir stunned Kongo with an overhand left early, dropping him and swarming to secure a guillotine choke victory at 1:12 in the first round. Kongo refused to tap and was rendered unconscious by the choke.^[36]

In the post-fight press conference Mir expressed his desire to fight a rubber match with Brock Lesnar.^[37] Mir later created controversy after commenting that he wanted to break Brock Lesnar's neck, so that he would become the first mixed martial artist to die in competition. Mir later made an apology for his comments.^[38]

Mir faced Shane Carwin for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111.^[39] After a brief standup exchange, Mir established the clinch, where Carwin eventually delivered multiple short, powerful uppercuts to Mir's face. Unable to defend himself, Mir lost the fight via KO at 3:48 of the first round.^[40]

At a UFC Fan Expo, Mir said he briefly considered dropping down to the Light Heavyweight division, although he later confirmed he will remain at heavyweight.^[41]

Mir was expected to face Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 in a rematch from the Interim Championship bout, which Mir won via TKO at UFC 92.^[42] Nogueira pulled out of this fight due to knee surgery and was replaced by Mirko Filipović.^[43] Mir defeated Filipović via third round KO, earning the win with a knee from the clinch in a largely uneventful fight where neither fighter was able to deliver any significant offense.^[44]

Mir faced Roy Nelson on May 28, 2011 at UFC 130. He won via unanimous decision by using superior control and constant pressure. Pushing against the cage, completing a Judo hip throw and securing several takedowns in the third round, showing improved wrestling. Mir landed several hard knees and elbows from the Muay Thai clinch throughout the entire bout, but was unable to finish Nelson.^[45][46]

A rematch with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira took place on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140.^[47] At that event, Mir was dropped by Nogueira's counter striking and appeared to be knocked out briefly. Mir recovered and gained superior positioning and defeated Nogueira by kimura at 3:38 of round 1, snapping Nogueira's arm in the process and causing Nogueira to tap out. Mir is now the first only one of two fighters (the other being Cain Velasquez) to have finished Nogueira via knock out, and the first and only one to finish him via submission. This marked the first time Nogueira had been stopped via submission. The victory also earned Mir Submission of the Night honors.^[48] UFC President Dana White called it the "submission of the century" at the post fight press conference.

Mir was expected to face Cain Velasquez on May 25, 2012 at UFC 146.^[49] However, on April 20, 2012, Dana White announced that Mir will face Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, replacing Alistair Overeem. On May 11, 2012 UFC Primetime returned to promote the fight between Mir and Junior Dos Santos, and concluded on May 25.^[50] Alhough Mir's striking had improved, Dos Santos was able to use superior foot work to strike in and out before Mir could mount any significant offense. Mir lost the fight via TKO (punches) at 3:04 of Round 2 and has since said he will continue his career and go back to the drawing board.

Personal life[link]

Frank Mir's father is Cuban, born of Moroccan immigrants of Russian descent. The surname "Mir" translated from Russian, means "world" or "peace" (depending of the context). The family name was never "Miranda" as the fighter and his father already explained to the press.^[51] Mir and his wife Jennifer have three children together and Jennifer has a son from a previous relationship, whom Mir helps raise and is in the process of formally adopting.^[4][52]

Frank Mir is an atheist.^[53] He followed a vegan diet for a year^[54] but then switched to Paleo diet for supposedly better athletic outcome.^[55]

Mir worked as a bouncer at the Spearmint Rhino strip club in Las Vegas before entering the UFC,^[56] and continued to work as Director of Security there while pursuing his UFC career.^[57]

In addition to fighting in the UFC, Mir was a color commentator for World Extreme Cagefighting events on Versus from 2007 until the spring of 2010, when he was replaced by fellow UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar.

Championships and achievements[link]

Mixed martial arts[link]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
  • Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
  • Submission of the Night (Two times)
  • Most wins in UFC Heavyweight division in history (14)^[58]
  • Most wins by submission in UFC Heavyweight division in history (8)
  • Most fights in UFC Heavyweight division in history (20)
  • Most finishes in UFC Heavyweight division in history (11)
  • First and only toe hold finish in UFC history
  • Fastest submission in UFC Heavyweight division in history (46 seconds)
  • Fought five different UFC Heavyweight Champions
  • Defeated four different UFC Heavyweight Champions

• World MMA Awards
  • Submission of the Year (2011) vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on December 10^[59]

• FIGHT! Magazine
  • Submission of the Year (2008) vs. Brock Lesnar on February 2^[60]

• Sherdog
  • 2008 Comeback Fighter of the Year [1]
  • 2011 Submission of the Year^[61]

Submission grappling[link]

• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
  • Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo Pires
• Pan American Championships
  • Blue Belt Pesadissimo: 1st place (2001)
• North American Grappling Association
  • NAGA Absolute Division Champion (2007)

Amateur wrestling[link]

• Nevada State Wrestling
  • Nevada State Wrestling Champion (1998)

Mixed martial arts record[link]

See also[link]

• List of current UFC fighters
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
• List of male mixed martial artists

References[link]

External links[link]

• – Official Twitter Account
• FrankMir – facebook
• FrankMir.com – Official Website
• TEAMMIR.com – Official Team Website
• Professional MMA record for Frank Mir from Sherdog
• Frank Mir on Myspace
• Official UFC Profile

Wanderlei César da Silva ( /ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay; Portuguese: [vɐ̃dɛɾˈlej ˈsɛzɐr dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ];^[1] Japanese: [ba̠nda̠ɽe̞i ɕiü͍βa̠]; born July 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. He holds the record for the most wins and knockouts in Pride FC history. He is currently ranked as #22 best middleweight fighter in the world by FightMatrix.com.^[2]

Silva began his training under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Although he specializes in muay Thai, he has also trained and received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from trainer Cristiano Marcello.^[3] Silva was given the nickname "Cachorro Louco" ("Mad Dog") in Brazil because of his aggressive style and his pre-fight opponent "stare down".^[4] He is the former IVC Light heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion, and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner.

After spending a majority of his career in Brazil and Japan, Silva moved to the United States in 2007 and he trained at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Preferring a more aggressive gym atmosphere, like he had at Chute Boxe, he opened his own gym, The Wand Fight Team Training & Conditioning Center, in Las Vegas.^[5] Silva currently trains there with his former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro. In 2011 Silva trained at Reign Training Center, along side top middleweight contenders such as Mark Munoz.^[6]

Mixed martial arts career[link]

Early career[link]

Silva's aggressive style is rooted in street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. As a late teen he joined the military and was quickly recognized for his fighting talents and rose up in the ranks. Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil.^[7]

Silva's first professional match was on November 1, 1996, in the Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting organization (BVF), where he knocked out Dilson Filho via strikes at BVF 6. He fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on July 1, 1997, against Marcelo Barbosa, who submitted due to a shoulder injury.

Silva fought six matches in four different IVC 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 September 15, 1997. The cut was above his 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.^[8] The doctor observed the cut several times before the fight was ended.^[8]

Silva culminated his IVC career by winning the promotion's light heavyweight belt with a submission win over Eugene Jackson in the IVC 10 show on April 27, 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 August 12, 2000, where he knocked out Todd Medina with muay thai knees.

UFC[link]

Silva entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 16, 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort. The match has arguably been Silva's worst defeat in his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ending with Silva being knocked down by Belfort's punches then being stopped by the referee. Silva won his next UFC match on May 7, 1999, at UFC 20 where he knocked out Tony Petarra with knees. On April 14, 2000, Silva was given a chance to fight for the UFC light heavyweight championship, but lost via decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25.

Pride Fighting Championships[link]

Silva debuted in Pride at the Pride 7 event on September 12, 1999, winning against Carl Malenko by decision. From 1999 to 2004, Silva won eighteen-straight fights in Pride, excluding a draw against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (under slightly modified rules in which if the match would go the distance, 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 March 25, 2001. Silva won via TKO (knees and soccer kick) at 1:38 into the first round. At Pride 17: Championship Chaos on November 3, 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 August 10, 2003 at Pride Total Elimination 2003, part of Pride's middleweight tournament. Silva knocked out Sakuraba with a two punch combination at 5:01 into the first round.

Silva faced Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Pride Final Conflict 2003 on November 9, 2003. Silva won by TKO after delivering seventeen consecutive knees to Jackson. Silva became Pride's 2003 tournament champion with the win. The two fought again on October 31, 2004 at Pride 28: High Octane. Jackson knocked Silva down near the end of the first round and mounted him as the bell rang. In round two Silva caught Jackson with a counter right hand and followed up with knees from the thai clinch knocking Jackson out, successfully defending the Pride middleweight championship with the win. In Japan, Silva additionally gained his reputation as a fighter who has never been defeated by any Japanese opponent, resulting in a trend of various Japanese fighters being arranged by Pride to face him.

Silva's undefeated 5-year streak (18 wins, 13 knockouts) in Pride was broken by heavy weight Mark Hunt, a K-1 champion on December 31, 2004 at the Pride Shockwave 2004 event. Hunt won the non-title match by split decision. The decision was controversial because some who felt that Hunt's weight of 280 lb (125 kg), over 80 lb more than Silva, as well as Silva's performance in rounds two and three, had not been sufficiently considered by the judges in their decision; Randy Couture and Bas Rutten, both being commentators at the event, expressed disagreement with the judges decision. Silva also took this fight on two days notice. Nonetheless, Silva's 2004 campaign earned him Fighter of the Year honors from both Sherdog and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Silva's former status as Pride's middleweight champion first came under debate and criticism with his loss to Ricardo Arona (who subsequently lost the tournament to Silva's team-mate, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua) on August 28, 2005 at Pride Final Conflict 2005. The loss, by unanimous decision in the tournament's semi-finals, was Silva's first defeat in a middleweight match in Pride; however, since it was not a title fight and held under special rules due to the grand prix format (2 rounds instead of 3), Silva was still recognized as the middleweight champion. A rematch between Arona and Silva took place at the Pride Shockwave 2005 event on December 31, 2005, with Silva winning by split decision.

On May 18, 2006, Pride's parent company, Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE), announced that Silva would replace Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the Open Weight Grand Prix. Emelianenko's doctors stated that his hand, which had recently undergone surgery, would not be in good enough shape to fight because the metal implant would still be present. Because Silva was also a champion, he received a first round bye and fought in the second round at Pride Critical Countdown Absolute, which took place on July 1, 2006. Silva moved to the semi-finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix after defeating Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO (punches and soccer kicks) at 9:21 of round one.

On July 8, 2006, at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals, UFC president Dana White announced Silva would face Chuck Liddell in a UFC event held in November, provided Liddell beat Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 62. Liddell did end up winning that fight. However, talks dwindled and the fight as advertised did not happen.

On September 10, 2006, at Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Wanderlei Silva was knocked out by Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in their rematch during the Open Weight Grand Prix semi-finals. After a brief stoppage to tend to a swollen eye on Silva, "Cro Cop" struck Silva in the head with a left kick, knocking him out. On October 21, 2006 at Pride 32: The Real Deal, Wanderlei issued his challenge to Chuck Liddell to a fight inside a Pride ring in February, when the promotion returned to Las Vegas, however Dana White stated that the fight would not be happening, citing Silva's recent KO loss to Mirko Filipovic which would have not allowed the NSAC to clear him medically for the fight that soon after being knocked out.

Silva put his Pride middleweight title on the line against Dan Henderson, Pride's welterweight (183 lb) champion at Pride 33: The Second Coming, held on February 24, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[9] In a night of upsets, Henderson knocked out Silva in the third round with a left hook to become the new middleweight champion. This fight was held under unified rules which prevent knees and kicks to the head of a downed opponent as well as having five 5 minute rounds. Many believe this hindered Silva's ability to fully utilize his offensive arsenal. Silva was denied the ability to participate in Pride 34 due to medical suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) which made this his last Pride appearance.^[10] Silva never lost under pure Pride rules^{[attribution needed]} at 205 pounds.

Return to the UFC[link]

On August 17, 2007, the UFC announced that they had signed Wanderlei Silva to compete in the organization and that he would return to the Octagon on December 29, 2007 at UFC 79.^[12][13] After months of speculation about Silva's opponent, UFC President Dana White announced that Chuck Liddell would be Silva's opponent for his return match.^[14] The long-awaited match happened on December 29, with Wanderlei Silva losing to Chuck Liddell by unanimous decision. After the fight Silva said, "Win or lose I like to give the emotion for my fans"^[15] He also added that he gave his best and promised that next time he will deliver a win.

Keeping to his promise, on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84 in Las Vegas, he earned a decisive knockout win against Keith Jardine at the 36-second mark of the very first round by referee stoppage, earning him Knockout of the Night honors.^[16] When Jardine threw a kick, Silva countered with a right-left-right combo that dropped him. Silva then finished the fight with ground strikes to earn the brutal knockout.

At UFC 92, Wanderlei fought Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who he beat twice previously in Pride Fighting Championships.^[17] Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a left hook in the first round.^[18] Following the fight, Silva stated that he would like to fight Jackson again, for the 4th, and possibly in the future, even the 5th time, knowing he already has two knockouts of Jackson. The two fighters also buried the hatchet after this fight.

Wanderlei met Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in Germany at a catchweight bout of 195 lb.^[19] After a hard fought match on both sides, Silva lost via unanimous decision to Franklin. During the second round, Silva rocked Franklin hard with punches and almost finished the fight during that moment. This was counterbalanced by Franklin dropping Silva three times in that round, each time with singular strikes. Silva then announced he would be out of action until 2010, as he underwent facial surgery to repair his nose (which was broken during Silva's second fight with Cro Cop, and then repeatedly broken again in later matches) and remove some scar tissue from above his eyes to avoid bleeding and being easily cut open during future fights. The surgery allowed him to breathe through a once completely blocked nose thus increasing his oxygen intake by 30% by doctor's estimates. At UFC 110, announcer Joe Rogan emphatically stated that Wanderlei looked like a totally different person in the wake of his recent facial reconstructive surgery.

Silva made his middleweight (185 lb) debut during UFC 110 against British striker Michael Bisping on February 21, 2010.^[20] During the fight Bisping was able to take Silva down several times during the first round, however Wanderlei came back with a flurry of punches at the end of the first round, a tight guillotine choke in the second, and a right hook that dropped Bisping in the third. After three rounds of fighting, Silva was awarded the unanimous decision victory (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)^[21] and his first victory in almost two years.^[22] Although winning only one of his previous 6 bouts, he was slightly favored going into the fight as it was widely speculated that Bisping was apprehensive to fight toe-to-toe after being viciously knocked out by Dan Henderson on July 11, 2009 in UFC 100. After the fight Silva said, “In your life you have bad moments. Everybody has bad moments, but if you believe in God and working hard, good moments they’ll come,” an emotional Silva told the audience. Silva attributed his success to working with his previous trainer Raphael Cordeiro. Bisping added, “Wanderlei’s a great opponent...I felt the reason he got the decision was the knockdown right at the end.”^[23]

Wanderlei Silva was expected to face former K-1 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116.^[24] Unfortunately, on June 22, Wanderlei had to pull out due to breaking three ribs during training.^[25] Akiyama would instead be fighting on the card, against Chris Leben. After Leben defeated Akiyama with a triangle choke in the third round Leben verbally called out Silva saying "Come on Wanderlei, I'll take you out too" in his post fight interview.^[26] "He represented very well, he's a good opponent," said Silva of "The Crippler." "I think if he's gonna wait that I'm gonna fight him next however Dana White has not considered a Silva/Leben fight happening anytime soon."^[27]