Wanderlei Silva had mixed results in the UFC. | Photo: T. Irei/Sherdog.com
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Silva, who was one of the most violent finishers MMA has ever seen, ducked out the side door of his Las Vegas gym in full retreat from a sample collector for the Nevada Athletic commission; and in doing so, he cast doubt over his entire career. Choosing retirement did not dissuade the commission from punishing him for his admission to taking a diuretic and skipping out on the test. He was banned for life and fined $70,000.
It is sad to me to think that the man known as “The Axe Murderer” because of his menacing pre-fight stare and demeanor will fight his last battles in a courtroom, seeking reinstatement based on a technicality.
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Chris Nelson: It feels strange to be running a nostalgic retrospective on Silva after the year he’s had. Even if past honorees like Randy Couture and B.J. Penn left the sport on losses, it wasn’t hard to remember their better days. There were no bizarre incidents to overlook -- not recent ones, anyhow -- and they weren’t still occupying space on the Nevada Athletic Commission’s docket; but what are you supposed to say when a man doesn’t so much walk away as he does limp off in disgrace, angrily pointing his finger? What are we supposed to make of an MMA icon retiring via YouTube?
Like a lot people who were drawn into the sport by way of Pride, I always saw Silva as one of “those fighters.” He was up there with Fedor Emelianenko and Takanori Gomi as a guy who I was always excited to watch, regardless of the opponent. His decimation of Jackson in their second fight -- which I cannot believe happened 10 years ago this month -- is forever burned into my brain, one of the moments when I knew MMA had its hooks in me.
It’s not that I ever thought of Silva as any sort of great or noble person; that wasn’t his appeal. He was a terror in the ring, and I appreciated that. However, it’s difficult at this moment to reconcile the image of a man who once looked so fearsome and indestructible with that of some guy who literally ran from a drug test. Maybe in a few years, it will be easier to set all this aside and celebrate Silva’s great and brutal accomplishments; or maybe this is a fitting denouement for a fighter who came to the sport with one face and left with another.
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TJ DE SANTIS: “The Axe Murderer” -- I’m not sure if there’s a man more fitting in the world to wear that moniker than Silva.
In 2004, I conducted one of the first English-speaking interviews Silva ever did. I was incredibly nervous to do the interview, as he was one of my favorite fighters to watch and one of the most intense competitors in the sport. I remember getting him on the line, and the first thing he said was, “Hi, my friend!” It was so drastically different than what I was expecting.
I thought Silva would one-word me and be brief with his answers, as he was far from fluent in English. However, he persevered through the barrier and didn’t mind continuing after being lost at times. It was an odd feeling listening to Silva struggle with something, but his willingness to keep at it was admirable and truly showed the golden heart of a champion.
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TRISTEN CRITCHFIELD: Back in March 2013, it appeared Silva’s career was on its last legs. He entered his UFC on Fuel TV 8 headliner against Brian Stann having lost seven of his last 10 fights, including several brutal knockout defeats.
Although Stann did Silva a favor by electing to engage in Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots-inspired exchanges, the first frame did little to dispel the notion that “The Axe Murderer” was nearing the end of the line. Stann wobbled the Brazilian on a couple occasions in the initial five minutes, but Silva managed to hang around. The former Pride middleweight champion put the lasting stamp on the fight in round two, flooring his American foe with a vicious two-punch combination and sealing the deal with a few more powerful right hands on the ground.
One could not have asked for a better retirement gift. To give one last vintage performance in Japan, where Silva first became a combat sports superstar, would have been the perfect storybook ending. There was just one problem: Everyone, including Silva, wanted more.
Since then, however, Silva has made more appearances before the Nevada Athletic Commission than he has in the Octagon. A cartoonish -- and at times seemingly staged -- feud with Chael Sonnen made plenty of headlines but ultimately never came to fruition in the cage, thanks in no small part to both fighters’ inability to pass -- or submit to, in Silva’s case -- a random drug test.
Silva ultimately chose to flee reality, both when he dodged the NAC’s sample collector and later, when he produced a retirement video blaming the UFC for draining his passion. At one time, it seemed like the greatest concern regarding Silva would be that he would hang on too long, perhaps permanently altering his faculties for the worse.
In that sense, Silva’s less-than-graceful exit might be a blessing in disguise. The warrior spirit can be difficult to extinguish on its own, and Silva always seemed like the type who would go out on his shield. In hindsight, his last stand, a slugfest-turned-retirement bout, is a nice final addition to the memory bank. Forgetting what followed might prove a little more difficult.