Welcome to the
#UFCHOF, @WandFC đź‘ŹHe’s the 2nd member of the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2024! 🏆
pic.twitter.com/GOBf6ViHXS— UFC (@ufc)
February 18, 2024
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Former Pride Fighting Championship middleweight title holder
Wanderlei
Silva will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Silva will become the 19th member of the Pioneer Wing during a
ceremony this summer in Las Vegas. The Pioneer Wing includes
athletes who turned pro before Nov. 17, 2000, are at least 35 years
old or who have been retired for at least one year.
“Wanderlei
Silva is one of the true pioneers of the sport of MMA,” UFC CEO
Dana White said. “Wanderlei was an absolute savage who left his
mark by delivering some of the most memorable fights in combat
sports history. He had legendary fights against Mirko Cro Crop,
Chuck
Liddell, Dan
Henderson, Brian Stann,
and his fights against Rich
Franklin, as they were absolute wars. He was also one of the
early superstars of Pride who helped grow the MMA fanbase on a
global scale, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC
Hall of Fame this summer.”
Silva compiled a 35-14-1 record over the course of a professional
career that began in 1996. He notably went unbeaten in 18 fights
from 2000 to 2004, a period when he was regarded as one of the top
mixed martial artists in the world. After a few UFC appearances
earlier in his career, “The Axe Murderer” joined the UFC for a
second stint in 2007 and earned wins over the likes of Keith
Jardine, Brian Stann,
Michael
Bisping and Cung Le in the
Octagon. He also owns victories against Ricardo
Arona, Quinton
Jackson (twice), Kazushi
Sakuraba (three times) and Dan
Henderson in Pride FC competition. Silva’s middleweight
championship reign of 1,939 days is the longest in Pride
history.
Silva holds a number of records, including most knockouts in Zuffa
history (19), most knockdowns in Zuffa history (27), most wins in
Pride history (22), most knockouts in Pride history (15) and most
knockdowns in Pride history (18).