A Sad End To Wanderlei Silva's Career

My thoughts on how Wanderlei Silva's career ended.

(Originally appeared on 411mania.com)

Wanderlei Silva retired earlier this year. It was a sad end to a fantastic career. 

It wasn’t sad because he ended up on the wrong end of another vicious knockout like so many of our favorite fighters. In fact, Silva won a fight of the year candidate against Brian Stann, knocking out “The All-American” in the second round of his final fight. That happened in 2013. 

In 2014 he was scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen in July. And that’s when his career ended. 

Prior to the fight, Silva refused to take a random drug test by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. According to some people, he ran out of the gym when they showed up. Just picture that. “The Axe Murderer” a guy who stood in the cage and ring with the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, and Mark Hunt among others and showed no fear; ran for his life when a guy in a white jacket holding a plastic cup showed up to the gym. Silva was ultimately pulled from the fight. 

Following the incident, Silva decided to retire from the cage. But that’s when he might’ve accepted the biggest fight of his career. He vowed to start a war against Dana White and the athletic commission. 

The Athletic Commission responded to this challenge by banning Silva for life and fining him $70,000. 

Dana White responded to this challenge by burying Silva every chance he gets. He released Silva’s UFC salary, claiming that Wanderlei made $9.7 million dollars during his nine-fight UFC run. He said that Silva lied about having injuries to get out of fights. And, in perhaps the ultimate slap in the face, he said that Silva would not be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. 

To my knowledge, Dana didn’t produce any documents that backed up his “Silva made $9.7 million dollars” claim. Silva never made more than a reported $200,000 per fight, which means that most of his money likely came from promotional work and PPV cuts. That number seems very specific, which makes me believe that there might be a little bit of truth to it, but until Dana produces any kind of paper work, it’s tough to take him at his word given how many lies comes out of his mouth on a daily basis. 

Even if Silva did make $9.7 million over the course of his nine-fight UFC career, how much money did Silva make the UFC? You’d like for it to be an equal split (although that’s never the case in any sport), but if Silva made the UFC $100 million during his nine fights, seeing a return of less than 10% seems a bit low. Plus you have to factor in how much Wanderlei spent just to prepare the fight, which is ultimately his job. An NBA player might make $5 million per season; but he doesn’t have to pay his head coach, the training staff, the gym where he practices at, for any equipment he might use, travel, etc… Silva had all those expenses and then some. 

Was Silva paid better than 98% of fighters? Yes. Was he still underpaid like he claims? Probably, but we’ll likely never know for sure. 

Dana’s comment about Silva not getting into the UFC Hall of Fame and running from a drug test being the worst thing you can ever do are laughable and actually sends a bad message. Wanderlei Silva won’t be in the UFC Hall of Fame despite making the company millions, expanding markets, and putting on classic fights because he ran from a drug test. Stephan Bonnar is in the UFC Hall of Fame based on one fight, whose place in history is severely overrated, even though he failed multiple drug tests. 

Even though I’m not a big fan of Dana White, I can’t blame him for standing his ground when it was Wanderlei who vowed to start the war instead of just walking away. 

Because he didn’t just walk away, his career won’t be remember as it should be. Like it or not, UFC runs MMA and Dana White runs UFC. Chuck Liddell still gets huge reactions at UFC events because Dana still talks about him like the legend he is and puts him in front of the camera every chance he gets. Silva could’ve gotten a similar treatment. Even if he ran from the drug test, if he just owned up to things or had some kind of viable excuse, Dana probably would’ve taken his side just because he blindly defends fighters he likes, and he’s always seemed to like Wanderlei. 

Wanderlei Silva should be remembered for his classic fights. His intense staredown. His connection with the crowd. His wrist roll. His highlight reel knockouts. His charming smile. His broken English promos. His wanting to “Fuck Chuck.” 

Instead he’ll be remembered for running from a drug test, complaining about money when he made nearly $10 million in nine fights, faking injuries, and who knows what else Dana will sling if this “fight” goes any further.