Wanderlei Silva has been announced for the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
During last night's UFC 298 broadcast, it was revealed that Silva will be inducted into the Pioneer Wing this summer. He is the second person announced for this year's inductions, joining former UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar.
“Wanderlei Silva is one of the true pioneers of the sport of MMA,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a statement. “Wanderlei was an absolute savage who left his mark by delivering some of the most memorable fights in combat sports history. He had legendary fights against Mirko Cro Crop, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Brian Stann, and his fights against Rich Franklin, as they were absolute wars! He was also one of the early superstars of PRIDE who helped grow the MMA fanbase on a global scale, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”
Silva will be the 19th fighter in the Pioneer Wing. He joins Anderson Silva, Jens Pulver, Kevin Randleman, Rich Franklin, Matt Serra, Kazushi Sakuraba, Maurice Smith, Don Frye, Minotauro Nogueira, Bas Rutten, Pat Miletich, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, and Royce Gracie.
The Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame is for fighters who began their careers before November 17, 2000, are a minimum age of 35, or have been retired for more than one year.
Silva was the first Pride Middleweight Champion. He holds the record for most title defenses, most consecutive title defenses, and most wins in the promotion's history as well.
In the UFC, Silva is a five-time Fight of the Night winner and two-time Knockout of the Night winner.
Silva has won five awards in the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. He won Feud of the Year in 2001 with Sakuraba, Most Outstanding Fighter in 2001, Fight of the Year vs. Hidehiko Yoshida in 2003, Fight of the Year vs. Quinton Jackson in 2004, and the Most Outstanding Fighter in 2004.
He finished his career with a record of 35 wins, 14 losses, one draw, and one no-contest.
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