Wanderlei Cesar Silva (pronounced vun-der-LAY), (born July 3, 1976 in Curitiba, Brazil) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, who has competed in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He trained under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil. He specializes in Muay Thai and has received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[1] He holds notable wins over Kazushi Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona, Dan Henderson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Yuki Kondo. He is the former PRIDE middleweight (205 lb) champion and the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix champion, among others. Silva earned the nickname "The Axe Murderer" for his extremely aggressive style; the majority of his fights have either ended in a knockout or referee stoppage due to his strikes. In the ring, he is known for engaging opponents with punches and utilizing knees in the Muay Thai clinch. He is also known for kicking and stomping downed opponents as well as his looping punches. Silva's nickname in Brazil is "Cachorro Louco", which translates to "Mad Dog", again due to his aggressive fighting style, but also because of the vicious way he stares down opponents just before the beginning of his fights.
