Just how good was Wanderlei Silva?

[gono btw]

I disagree. Look at how it unfurled.

I explained the reason why.

 

[faustian]

Wand was by no means the worst match-up for SAKU G. Randle & Vitor were worse imo.

The thing is... SAKU G. was a weirdo willing to test himself and test his skill set according to his opponent´s strength...

It is what it is.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I would’ve thought Saku’s worst matchup would’ve been Page

 

[Ultra O’Dia]

I also think the Hunt fight had a significant deleterious effect on Wand’s chin. Even though he didn’t get banged out, he took some power shots from a 300 lb K-1 champion.

He was rocked several times if I recall correctly.

he got a hit a lot in that fight. Amazing to think how good his chin was at one time. or at least his brains ability to refocus.

 

[gono btw]

Hindsight is 20/20 but I would’ve thought Saku’s worst matchup would’ve been Page

Randle was worse imo, if I had been his manager, I would have signed the Fedor contract but not the Randle one...

 

[FKA]

I'd say he was on something in PRIDE, but the same can be said about 99% of fighters in PRIDE. It wasn't illegal to juice there, so the argument of Wanderlei being on steroids while in PRIDE is dumb

Remember until USADA same thing could be said about 99% of fighters in MMA period .....

 

[jk.rock]

Wand was by no means the worst match-up for SAKU G. Randle & Vitor were worse imo.

The thing is... SAKU G. was a weirdo willing to test himself and test his skill set according to his opponent´s strength...

It is what it is.

Saku beat vitor in pride.

 

[faustian]

Randle was worse imo, if I had been his manager, I would have signed the Fedor contract but not the Randle one...

I love me some Monster but Kev was just coming off a brutal KO loss to Page when he fought Saku

 

[gono btw]

I love me some Monster but Kev was just coming off a brutal KO loss to Page when he fought Saku

Jus´like when he beat Maurice after bein´ KOed by Big Cat, or beatin´Babalu after bein´KOed by Chuck, or KOin´Crocop after losin´to SAKU...

Talkin´ about match-up here..

 

[faustian]

Jus´like when he beat Maurice after bein´ KOed by Big Cat, or beatin´Babalu after bein´KOed by Chuck, or KOin´Crocop after losin´to SAKU...

Talkin´ about match-up here..

Yeah but Page, while not as good of an offensive wrestler as Kev, was elite at stuffing TDs while he also had the boxing that should've KO'd Saku

Honestly think Saku beats Randleman 9/10 times. Kev getting the TD would've actually been a bad move for him vs a catch/submission wrestling god like Saku

 

[gono btw]

Yeah but Page, while not as good of an offensive wrestler as Kev, was elite at stuffing TDs while he also had the boxing that should've KO'd Saku

Honestly think Saku beats Randleman 9/10 times. Kev getting the TD would've actually been a bad move for him vs a catch/submission wrestling god like Saku

Nah, Randleman was more dangerous for SAKU G. (since the knees-on-a-downed-opponent rule, SAKU never willing to protect his back on the ground) and his boxing has always been underrated..
Wont even drop the Crocop fight, the Ebenezer one is enough:

 

[faustian]

Nah, Randleman was more dangerous for SAKU G. (since the knees-on-a-downed-opponent rule, SAKU never willing to protect his back on the ground) and his boxing was always underrated..
Wont even drop the Crocop fight, the Ebenezer one is enough:

You bring up a good point with the Randleknees (especially in retrospect after the Arona fight) but I still insist Page was a tougher matchup

But I hespect your opinion as a diehard Saku fan

 

[gono btw]

You bring up a good point with the Randleknees (especially in retrospect after the Arona fight) but I still insist Page was a tougher matchup

But I hespect your opinion as a diehard Saku fan

The truth is, both were 2 dangerous, and he shouldnt have won these fights...

 

[mbinder]

In his prime he was the best LHW in the world.

 

[JKS]

He beat only 6 top level fighters in his Pride run. Mezger, Sakuraba, Rampage, Fujita, Henderson & Arona. The rest where ALL cans or guys who never belong in the ring with him.

He's a good fighter liked his brawling style and his ground game off his back is underrated, you bring up those fights with Vitor & Tito but fail to mention he loss those. Look at his career in the UFC, that's what his career would look like in Pride if he was fighting top fighters. It was a different time though where all the top 205 where scattered in different orgs. Lil Nog, Overeem, Vovchanchyn, even Lister we're there fighting yet he was matched against people who shouldn't have been in there. I get it, it was the Japanese who wanted to see a fellow countryman beat the unbeatable Wanderlei Silva.

Like I mentioned I enjoyed watching him he's a good fighter but the competition he beat to fill that undefeated streak were gimmes.

Win or lose, he still fought the tougher competition, we're talking about the level he fought. Now you mention he only beat 6 guys, make it 7 with Nakamura cause if you're you gonna use Fujita you gotta use Nak. He had wins over Igor, Randleman, Bustamante Cyborg and Kondo and was a top 10 LHW. Furthermore, he beat Sak 3x and Rampage 2x, so overall he had 10 of those top level fighter wins. Also consider he fought Cro Cop in his prime during K1 which was a draw under the special rules. He also lost to Arona, Hunt, Cro Cop and Henderson, that 15 fights vs top competition and a pretty solid 10-4-1 record. Sure he fought some cans, the 4 I mentioned.... but the remainder was Kondo, Yoshida 2x, Tamura and Minowa. Not top level fighters, but not cans either. Out of 24 fights, 15 were vs top comp and another 5 vs good fighers . Overall that is a pretty high level of competition he's facing.

If were just talking wins, 16/20 were vs top/good competition while 4 were gimmie fights.

 

[Philly253]

Obviously if you go back and watch his fights you'll see an absolute savage..

 

[Oooxente]

Wandy was one of the best MWs/LHW ever ,in the ring was almost unbeatable,close quarters benefited his game,and he hanged in there in the cage.
Fought all the styles of free combat in existence at his time.
Top 5 GOAT at his WC.

Also find real funny so many people saying he was good only because of roids.
But when Jones critics say the same thing they argue he would be almost the same without then.
Its one or the other.

 

[Boomb]

"Pride + no drug testing Wand" was a scary beast.

 

[VenomCarnage]

Overrated, but still an all-time great.

 

[IIIIIIII]

i know that everyone has to start somewhere when it comes to learning about a sport and it's participants, but it's kinda sad to see this question asked lol.

 

[I_IZ_BACK]

You´re sayin´ that HW Hunto,Kondo,Tamura,Yvel,Mezger, HW Fujita etc.. were lousy bums?

HW Hunto won by being the bigger fighter, if Wand would be wellrounded he would have won the fight. Wasn't his fight against Yvel a NC due to a kick in the groin? Lol @ Kondo and Tamura, both were not even A level Pride WW's. You forgot to mention Oyama, Otsuka, Iwasaki, Kanehara, ... all of them were top Pride fighters