Wanderlei Silva to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame
Wanderlei Silva has been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
The UFC announced the induction during the broadcast of UFC 298 on Saturday, which took place in Anaheim, California.
It is a bit of a surprise to see Silva get inducted into the Hall of Fame due to Dana White’s past comments on him. The Brazilian has said UFC fighters were practically slaves due to the pay they got. Then, in 2014, the NSAC handed Silva a lifelong ban and a $70,000 fine for allegedly running away from a random drug test earlier this year.
Following the news of that, Dana White said Wanderleri Silva would never be in the Hall of Fame as he says he’d been Pete Rose’d.
“Nobody has ever run from a drug test before. I didn’t see a lifetime ban coming. Nobody will let him fight. He’s in a very serious situation,” White said about Wanderlei Silva, when speaking to Fox Sports. “There’s going to be no Hall of Fame. The guy’s been Pete Rose’d. There’s going to be no Hall of Fame offers.”
Despite those comments a decade ago, cooler heads have prevailed, and Wanderlei Silva will now rightfully go into the UFC Hall of Fame later this year.
Wanderlei Silva (35-14-1 and one No Contest) hasn’t fought since September of 2018 when he suffered a TKO loss to Rampage Jackson at Bellator 2016. Silva ended his career with a two-fight stint in Bellator as he also lost by decision to Chael Sonnen.
Silva fought in the UFC from 2007 until 2013 going 5-7 in the promotion, and also had one-off fights in 1999 and 2000. He made his UFC debut in 2007 against Chuck Liddell and dropped a decision. In his UFC tenure, Silva had notable wins over Michael Bisping, Keith Jardine, and Cung Lee among others.
Wanderlei Silva is best known for his time in Pride as he won the middleweight title in 2001 and defended it four times. In his MMA career, Silva has notable wins over Dan Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Yuki Kondo, and Kiyoshi Tamura among others.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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