Wanderlei Silva signs for UFC!

The Sparrow

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=20472

The expected signing of Wanderlei Silva by the UFC was made official today in Las Vegas.

"This is the pinnacle of my seven year career in this company," said Dana White after the siging. "I'm so excited to have Wanderlei under contract. He grabbed my arm and looked me in the eyes like one of his pre-fight staredowns and he said, `I'm gonna fight so good for you, you're gonna see the best fights ever from Wanderlei Silva.'"

Silva, 31, is expected to debut on the 12/29 PPV show from Las Vegas. Provided Chuck Liddell beats Keith Jardine on 9/22 in Anaheim and comes out of it without any serious injuries, he would most likely be the first opponent.

White has attempted for five years to match Silva with Liddell, to the point of putting Liddell in the 2003 Pride Grand Prix tournament. However, Liddell was eliminated in the tournament by Quinton Jackson. Silva beat Jackson to win the tournament that year.

Silva is the longest reigning champion in the history of MMA, holding the Pride championship in the 205 pound weight class from November 3, 2001, through February 24, 2007. Pride championships are defended far less frequently than UFC championships, but Silva would be high on any list of the greatest fighters in MMA history. In the 2006 Observer MMA Hall of Fame voting among MMA reporters, broadcasters and fighters, Silva garnered 87% of the votes in his first year of eligibility.

Silva, 31, was Pride's top light heavyweight (called middleweight in Japan at the time) star after his first two wins over Kazushi Sakuraba in 2001. He remained champion until losing to Dan Henderson via knockout. Silva was sick with a high fever during the fight in Las Vegas. However, where he stands today has been questioned since he suffered consecutive brutal knockouts, including a late 2006 fight with Mirko Cro Cop.

Finally we should get to see Chuck Liddell v Wanderlei Silva... although remembering the seeming curse that this fight has, I`m kinda thinking that Chuck will get knocked out by Keith Jardine and the fight with Wanderlei will get put off again!

Vince135792003

If its the Silva of old, I can't wait. I love watching him fight and hope he succeeds. Apparently he's joined Coutures gym too.

fatal

Vince135792003 wrote:

If its the Silva of old, I can't wait. I love watching him fight and hope he succeeds

I agree.He has not been the fighter that he once used to be.The light heavyweight now has some major players for the title

Fozzy

I'm sure he'll do just fine

Vince135792003

I wouldn't be totally sure on how well he'll do. I really want him to do well but even though 31 isn't old, he has a lot of miles on the clock, especially with with his style of fighting. And 3 losses in his past 5 fights suggests that he's not quite at the level he was from 2000 to 2004.

In saying all that, Silva in any group is a massive plus and I can't wait to watch him fight.

The Sparrow

Do you think they should give him a warm up fight much like Rampage Jackson before he fought Chuck Liddell... or should they look at the moral of the story from Cro Cop's fight against Gonzaga (even though he also had a warm up fight against Eddie Sanchez) and throw Wanderlei straight in against Chuck?

I`m in two minds about this... the fact that this is the year of upsets makes me think that they should just put Wanderlei against Chuck in December if he makes it past Keith Jardine. But as others have said Wanderlei has lost 3 of his last 5 fights and a couple of them were big losses so maybe he would benefit from an easier introduction. Its definitely a tough call...

Vince135792003

woooo232 wrote:

I`m in two minds about this... the fact that this is the year of upsets makes me think that they should just put Wanderlei against Chuck in December if he makes it past Keith Jardine. But as others have said Wanderlei has lost 3 of his last 5 fights and a couple of them were big losses so maybe he would benefit from an easier introduction. Its definitely a tough call...

Maybe in terms of business, it might mean more if you built it up by giving Wanderlai a few fights. In saying that, if they build it up well combined with the fact that Lidell is still their biggest star, it should still do really, really well. Plus, Serra and Hughes are likely to be on the card aswell so it should do well.

In terms of just fighting, I think its better if you just put him in there with Lidell. I don't think you could give him a fight that would motivate him more plus its a fight that suits his style.

dlofnep

MMA != Pro wrestling.

Wandy/Liddell has to happen.

The Sparrow

dlofnep wrote:

MMA != Pro wrestling.

Wandy/Liddell has to happen.

Ah but if that was followed through to its natural conclusion then Wanderlei would have to be fed some jobbers to build him up against the No. 1 guy in the promotion!;)

Vince135792003 wrote:

Plus, Serra and Hughes are likely to be on the card aswell so it should do well.

I thought Serra and Hughes were doing Ultimate Fighter as coaches and it was part of Spike TV's new big contract with UFC that Serra v Hughes would be on one of the Spike Ultimate Fighter Finale shows? Surely they wouldn`t put Wanderlei v Chuck on that as well?!

Vince135792003

woooo232 wrote:

I thought Serra and Hughes were doing Ultimate Fighter as coaches and it was part of Spike TV's new big contract with UFC that Serra v Hughes would be on one of the Spike Ultimate Fighter Finale shows? Surely they wouldn`t put Wanderlei v Chuck on that as well?!

I'm pretty sure it'll be on ppv. There was talk of it being on Spike but as far as I know the plan is to do it ppv. I could be wrong though.

dlofnep

woooo232 wrote:

Ah but if that was followed through to its natural conclusion then Wanderlei would have to be fed some jobbers to build him up against the No. 1 guy in the promotion!;)

He doesn't need to be built up. They just need to put a montage of him smashing Rampage, their current champ and then those minor few who aren't aware of his existence, will know. Very easy really.

Vince135792003

dlofnep wrote:

He doesn't need to be built up. They just need to put a montage of him smashing Rampage, their current champ and then those minor few who aren't aware of his existence, will know. Very easy really.

I have to take up one issue. Its not the minor few who don't know him. Its the minor few that do know him over in the US. I'm not trying to disrespect him. I love watching him fight but realistically the last time he was on ppv in the US with Pride, it drew 75,000 buys (not the 750,000 plus Lidell would typically do) from what I can remember. In other words, the hardcore fans know him.

The casual guy (and there are alot of them) that started watching from the Ultimate Fighter 3 years ago won't have a clue who he is. And theres no reason why they should know him. Pride was horribly under exposed in the US from what I read.

Another thing, the UFC rammed home how really really really good Mirko was in terms of promoting him. And then he got knocked out by a guy nobody (average fan when I say that) knew. Maybe the average fan will be now more cynical about any hype that comes with Silva because of that until they see it backed up.

In saying all that, you put anybody with Chuck and promote it well and it will draw fine right now.

The Sparrow

dlofnep wrote:

He doesn't need to be built up. They just need to put a montage of him smashing Rampage, their current champ and then those minor few who aren't aware of his existence, will know. Very easy really.

Are you serious? You want UFC to promote a guy who may well be past his best before date by showing him smashing their current light heavyweight champion who just won the title by beating the promotions top guy in one of the most watched match ups in UFC history???

Why would they do that?! And by that logic they should promote Dan Henderson or Mirko Cro Cop by showing them beating Wanderlei Silva. It just doesn't make sense to promote somebody at the expense of another big star. Sure mention his victories but the only way Wanderlei Silva (or Mirko Cro Cop or anyone esle coming in for that matter) can get over with the vast majority of UFC fans is to put on great fights. And thats how it should be. So therefore there is the idea of giving Wanderlei at least one warm-up fight to raise his profile before meeting Chuck... but its a risky strategy!

And Vince is right... it is the minor few who know who he is. Sure a lot of fans will have heard his name when they were talking about doing him and Chuck before but it is only the minor few who know his history.

Vince135792003

Small article on Silva helping Couture train for his upcoming fight:

www.ufcjunkie.com

Wanderlei Silva: I’m Making UFC Return Dec. 29
Posted by UFC Junkie on August 15, 2007 at 8:41 am ET

Wanderlei Silva and Randy CoutureFormer longtime PRIDE Fighting Championships middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva has arrived in Las Vegas to help current UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture prepare for next week’s title fight against Gabriel Gonzaga, reports the Xtreme Couture blog.

Additionally, Silva confirmed what UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) has reported for the past month: that he’ll make his UFC return at UFC 79 on Dec. 29.

Last month, a deal fell apart in the final hours that would have pitted Silva against Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. UFCjunkie.com first reported that a tentative agreement had been reached, but when Silva asked to fight in November rather September, the deal was scrapped and Liddell was instead scheduled to face Keith Jardine.

According to the Xtreme Couture blog (which has additional photos), Silva is hoping to fight Liddell at the UFC 79 event.

Silva arrived at Couture’s Las Vegas training headquarters from the Fizogen-Xtreme Couture MMA Training Center in Wellington, Fla. He recently left Brazil and moved to the U.S., which Silva says, is part of the reason he wanted to push the original September fight with Liddell until November.

According to Couture:

“It’s great to have [Silva] in the gym. I’m anxious to pick his brain. To explore his training tactics and techniques. I’m also looking forward to building a rapport with him going forward. We had some good goes today. We were working out of half guard and the mount. He’s very tough in both positions.“

Silva (31-7-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC), a Brazilian Jiu-Jistu black belt and one of PRIDE’s most successful fighters, is coming off back-to-back losses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Dan Henderson. Despite the losses, he remains one of the top-ranked 205-pound fighters anywhere in the world.

Vince135792003

Contract signing video with Wanderlai Silva is up in the video threads here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=53797712#post53797712

Dana is giddy with excitement in the video!

Dragan

With Wanderlei and Shogun now in the Light Heavy Weight Division it is gonna be a Chute Boxe showdown all the way to the title!

This is awesome.....Wandy is gonna bring UFC knockout reels to a whole new level, one way or the other.

dave1982

wow this is great cant see chuck and him fight for a good year or so same as cro cop and arloski hasnt happened yet should be his next fight id imagine wandelia has beaten rampage 2time i think both were dominot kos so i can see dan beat rampage and will thay sacrifice rampagw againt wandy to up his status in ufc but again like cro cop he didnt need it

Fozzy

dave1982 wrote:

wow this is great cant see chuck and him fight for a good year or so same as cro cop and arloski hasnt happened yet should be his next fight id imagine wandelia has beaten rampage 2time i think both were dominot kos so i can see dan beat rampage and will thay sacrifice rampagw againt wandy to up his status in ufc but again like cro cop he didnt need it

Dana seems set on Liddell vs Silva for the last UFC PPV of the year. He's been trying for this match for years, I don't think he wants to risk it at this stage by putting Silva against a lesser guy. Silva wants it too, and I can't see Liddell running from it