Wanderlei Silva calls out Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort for bare-knuckle fights

MMA legend Wanderlei Silva has called out fellow veterans of the sport Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort for bare-knuckle fights.

Silva signed with BKFC last fall but has yet to make his debut with the promotion. At the time of the signing, Silva said he was interested in fighting Belfort. Six months later and Silva still wants to fight Belfort but he’s also interested in fighting Henderson, as well.

Speaking to AG Fight, Silva invited Belfort and Henderson to step inside the bare-knuckle ring with him.

“I do (the missing fights) if I want to. Bellator is a great company, they treat well and pay well. They are doing very well, they have their stars and they are growing. It would be an epic fight with Belfort, with him Pride in the first event until the penultimate, and I lost to him,” Silva said.

“There are so many people, I think this Bare Knuckle opened up space for a lot of people, opened up a new market. The event is very well organized.”

Silva has previously fought Belfort in MMA. The two first met back in October 1998 at the original UFC Brazil and Belfort was able to score a 44-second TKO win in what is still one of the craziest knockouts in MMA history. Silva and Belfort then coached opposite each other on the first TUF Brazil and were set to fight at UFC 247, but the fight was scratched due to injury. Belfort is currently signed to ONE Championship but perhaps could make an appearance opposite Silva in BKFC.

As for Henderson, Silva has fought his rival twice, first at PRIDE 12 in December 2000, where Silva scored a unanimous decision win. The two then rematched at PRIDE 33 in February 2007, with Henderson knocking out Silva in devastating fashion. Henderson retired from MMA a few years ago, but the door could always be left open to a BKFC fight.

Would you like to see Wanderlei Silva fight Dan Henderson or Vitor Belfort in bare-knuckle fights?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/21/2020.