PRIDE never die: Ranking the top 25 PRIDE fighters in history
By Chad Porto
3. Wanderlei Silva
When you earn the nickname ‘The Ax Murderer’, there’s usually a reason for that. Wanderlei Silva is one of the flat out best of all time, regardless of where he fought. As a pioneer in the world of MMA, Silva took advantage of the early, no-contract days of MMA. He debuted in the UFC first, in 1998, in a loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC: Brazil. He’d go on to beat Tony Petarra at UFC 20, before moving on to PRIDE. He’d go 3-0 in his first three fights, with wins over Bob Schrijber, Daijiro Matsui and Carl Malenko. If the last name looks familiar, it’s because he’s the step-brother to pro wrestling legend, Dean Malenko.
Silva would fight one more time in the UFC, this time at UFC 25, in a losing effort to Tito Ortiz for the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship. From there, Silva would go back to PRIDE and carve out a legacy of violence. He’d get wins over Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Alexander Otsuka and two wins over Kazushi Sakuraba. His first nine fights were marred by a no-contest against Gilbert Yvel, and a draw against Mirko Cro Cop.
He would then go on another streak of eight wins, beating the likes of Quinton Jackson (twice), a third win over Sakuraba, and Ikuhisa Minowa. His first loss came to Mark Hunt at Shockwave 2004. He’d win his next two but lost again – this time to Arona at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. He’d get that win back in a rematch in his next fight before closing out his PRIDE career with two back to back losses to Cro Cop and Dan Henderson.
Over the course of his career with PRIDE, Silva went an impressive 19-4-1 (1, NC). In that time he also racked up the PRIDE middleweight championship victory, as well as the all-time defense record for a PRIDE champion with four. He’d eventually lose the belt to Henderson in their last fight in the promotion.