Former PRIDE champion, and UFC and Bellator alumnus Wanderlei Silva might have slowed down following his MMA retirement, but he’s not done with combat sports just yet. Silva, in a recent episode of Trocação Franca, discussed a potential move into boxing. In doing so, he couldn’t resist a jab at his old rival, Vitor Belfort.
“I would like to fight a boxer, right? I always liked to do it on their game. Even when I was training, I liked to do jiu-jitsu with jiu-jitsu guys and wrestle wrestlers. I like to test myself. I would like to box one of those good guys, maybe a former world champion, something like that. That would be interesting.
Wanderlei Silva Couldn’t Resist a Dig Old Foe Belfort boxing “old man” Holyfield
But I don’t want to fight an old man like our friend did, fighting someone who’s almost 70. It has to be someone younger, right? To fight an old man and beat them quickly is something other type of fighters do. I won’t do that. I wanna box someone good.”
Of course, “our friend” is fellow UFC veteran Vitor Belfort. Belfort, 45, recently fought 59-year-old boxing legend Evander Holyfield, knocking him out inside two minutes last year. Belfort and Wanderlei Silva also had serious beef during their careers, including a fight that saw Belfort demolish Silva in only 44 seconds.
It’s no surprise, then, that Wanderlei Silva wants to face Vitor Belfort in the squared circle. “It could be. Why not? He’s been running for a long time but who knows, right? Maybe now in this moment of life we can book it and box. It would be cool to have this type of challenge. We’d make a lot of noise and help our sport grow.
Another rematch I wanted was Dan Henderson. I beat Dan Henderson the first time but lost the second one. I was a bit sick that day, I wasn’t 100 percent, but Dan Henderson is someone I would like to fight as well. If he’s down to box as well, I would to punch him.”
Wanderlei Silva’s last MMA outing, in 2018, saw him claim that he was battling concussion-like symptoms, possibly due to long-term sustained head trauma. He clarified that “misunderstanding”, too, ahead of a potential arrival in the boxing world.
“That was all a big misunderstanding, really. Everybody has a little bit of trouble sleeping, but we have fixed that. Memory, f*ck, I have memory like an elephant. Thank God I have great physical and mental health, you know? I’m really happy to have gone through my career and to feel well and have good thoughts, good health and kind of lean. It’s great.”
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