Wanderlei Silva, former PRIDE middleweight champion and veteran of the UFC and Bellator, will try his hand in a very different arena. Silva recently announced his intention to run for a seat in the Brazilian congress as a federal deputy. He will align himself with the Progressive Party, siding with Brazil’s current far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
In a statement released to Instagram (translation courtesy of MMAFighting.com), Silva described himself as a “family man” and “patriot”. “Now it’s official: I’m a candidate for Federal Deputy!
MMA Legend Wanderlei Silva To Run For Brazilian Congress
I took this decision because a lot of people complain about our country, a lot of people say that nothing works here, that nothing works. To change this scenario, I am making myself available as a candidate for Federal Deputy for Paraná.
Our state has never had a famous sportsman representing us and I want to be that person. I want to get to Brasília and bring dignity to our sport, to work for it to be a strong instrument of social inclusion.
I am proof of what sport can do for young people and I know that we can change the lives of many. In addition to the sport, I will fight for a strong, efficient public security that values its professionals. I count on you, always count on me!”
Wanderlei Silva, in recent years, has fought under the Bellator promotion. His last fight was in 2018, a TKO loss to Quinton Jackson, and before that a decision loss to Chael Sonnen. Sonnen and Silva provided one of the most heated – and most entertaining – rivalries in MMA history, thanks in no small part to their season as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter. Although Wanderlei Silva has never officially retired from fighting, his pivot into politics marks a serious change in trajectory for the MMA legend. He treated the Jackson fight as his last.
The Jackson fight also marked Wanderlei Silva’s first run at Congress. At the time, he said: “I will run for federal deputy now. It’s a new career, a new time in my life. I’m seeing the need for it. There are guys being elected that have no business being there, a bunch of poor guys, dishonest guys that steal from the people. You have to put guys that have an ideal and already have money to live so they don’t need to steal from the people.”
A the time of writing, it’s unclear whether his opponent in the Congressional race will let Wanderlei Silva get close. What do you think of Wanderlei Silva’s political aspirations? Let us know in the comments.
