Wanderlei Silva is nicknamed The Axe Murderer and Cachorro Louco. He has an estimated net worth of $8 million that he earned as a mixed martial artist. Born in Curitiba, Brazil on July 3, 1976, he grew up in street brawling that resulted to his aggressive style. This was later on refined with the elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. Majority of his fights ended up in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. Despite his aggressiveness, however, he is known to show respect and a sense of sportsmanship every time his fight is over.
Silva holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is a Muay Thai expert. He holds the record for the most number of wins, knockouts, title defenses and longest winning streak in Japan’s PRIDE history for a career that spanned over fifteen years. He is former IVC Light Heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner. He is also raking it as an endorser in Japan where is very popular.
Wanderlei Silva has trained under renowned fighters such as Rudimar Fedrigo, Cristiano Marcello and Rafael Cordeiro. He opened his own training center own training center called The Wand Fight Team Training and Conditioning Center in Las Vegas, Nevada after he moved to the United States in 2007. In the later 2010 and early 2011, he was forced to take some time off from fighting due to a series of injuries and surgeries. After his recovery, he went back to fighting but lost his first match. There were rumors about his retirement but he won his second fight and his plans continued.