Wanderlei Silva made his Bellator MMA debut with a lackluster loss to Chael Sonnen but undoubtedly finds motivation to bounce back in the fact that he will face archrival Quinton Jackson for a fourth time at Bellator 206 on Saturday in San Jose, California.
22: Years as a professional mixed martial artist. Silva debuted on Nov. 1, 1996 in his native Brazil, defeating Dilson Filho at Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting 6.
4: Knockout wins to start his career. Silva’s debut victory was followed by three more devastating KOs, all in under three minutes, with one lasting only 20 seconds.
44: Seconds elapsed in his first Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance. Silva was stopped by a rapid-fire volley from a young Vitor Belfort, who gave fans a glimpse of what was to come from his fast hands.
1: Round needed to beat Tony Petarra in his second outings inside the Octagon. Silva delivered a knockout 2:53 into their UFC 20 pairing.
5: Full rounds fought with Tito Ortiz for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 25. Silva lost by unanimous decision.
28: Appearances in Pride Fighting Championships, where he quickly gained a reputation as one of the sport’s most vicious competitors and became a crowd favorite for his in-your-face style. Silva lost only four times. His defeats were to Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Filipovic and Dan Henderson.
3: Full rounds fought against Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. The back-and-forth affair earned the two men $50,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night.”
36: Seconds needed to bounce back from the loss to Liddell by brutalizing Keith Jardine. Silva’s stoppage of Jardine at UFC 84 earned him a $75,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus.
12: Appearances in the UFC. His first took place on Oct. 16, 1998, and his last came on March 3, 2013. Silva left the promotion with a 5-7 record.
2: Fights with Henderson. Silva first met Henderson at Pride 12 in 2000, winning by unanimous decision. The American evened the score at Pride 33, where he leveled Silva in the third round of their rematch.
2: Fights against Rich Franklin. The former UFC middleweight champion defeated Silva twice, though both bouts earned “Fight of the Night” honors.
2: Fights with Ricardo Arona. They are 1-1 against each other.
3: Fights with Kazushi Sakuraba. Silva knocked out the Japanese legend on all three occasions.
2: Fights against Filipovic. Their Pride 20 confrontation ended in a draw, while their rematch at Pride Final Conflict Absolute saw Silva on the receiving end of brutal knockout, courtesy of a patented “Cro Cop” head kick. They were later scheduled for a trilogy bout inside the Rizin Fighting Federation, but Silva withdrew with an injury.
16: Stoppages in Pride, tying Silva with Filipovic for the most in the promotion’s history.