Wanderlei Silva made an unsuccessful return to combat sports, fighting for the first time since his knockout loss to Rampage Jackson seven years ago. While some were excited to see him back competing, it was the events that unfolded after his bout that stole the headlines.
Despite his illustrious career, ‘The Axe Murderer’ hasn’t tasted victory since his knockout win over Brian Stann over a decade ago. His run of losses continued with his comeback, losing his debut boxing match by disqualification after a series of headbutts to his opponent.
After losing the fight, Wanderlei Silva suffered a shocking knockout during an in-ring brawl. A viral clip of his knockout has been plaguing the internet, and the man who delivered the devastating blow has now been identified.
Silva’s opponent, Acelino Freitas, is a former WBA and WBO champion. However, it was his son, Rafael Freitas, who landed the finishing shot.
Acelino Freitas was upset with Wanderlei Silva and his team, speaking out on social media.
“When the fight ended, the referee disqualified Wanderlei for the three head butts he hit me, and his coach went after me and punched me; he really hurt me,” Freitas said.
“Wanderlei, the fight was between you and me and had nothing to do with the team. If you head butted me, cool, I don’t care. But, unfortunately, [Fabricio] Werdum cowardly entered the ring with your son and went all over everybody.”
Freitas continued.
“We tried delivering you a perfect [show] and I end up beat by his coach out of nowhere. Another guy tried to rear-naked choke me, almost chokes me out.”
“I’d like to apologize to Ambev and Spaten. But I’m telling you, we had no fault. Cowardly, it was his team. And I don’t know why they put Werdum in this event. This guy only does sh*t in other people’s events.”
“Werdum, be ashamed. If I were you, I’d be ashamed. There’s video of you all over me, trying to hit me.”
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As expected, Fabricio Werdum had an opposite view of the altercation.
“The images don’t lie,” Werdum claimed. “Everybody saw what happened. We were in there, Dida, Thor, and I, and we entered the ring when it was all over, and Wanderlei was disqualified, and a lot of people entered from Popo’s side.”
“I think it was 20 of them, and only me, Wanderlei, Thor, and Dida. We were reacting to their attacks. They started screaming and coming at us, and we were in four.”
“It was so evil for that guy to punch Wanderlei. He punched the back of the head of Wanderlei. I don’t know if it landed clean, but it could have been something very serious…”
“It broke Wanderlei’s nose, because he was very mean. Wanderlei had his gloves on, tired from the fight.”
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Wanderlei Silva was originally scheduled to face Vitor Belfort, who was unfortunately removed from the card with an injury in training.
Related: VIDEO: Wanderlei Silva gets disqualified in boxing match, knocked out in post-fight brawl
Witnessing the wild events, Belfort condemned Silva for his actions.
“When we’re at our worst, it only reveals who we are, and when we’re at our best, it reveals our heart,” Belfort stated. “What makes me sad is that reveals who they always were… You literally destroyed something we built over years. Martial arts is respect, brother.”
“You were fighting an excellent boxer. You shouldn’t even be in that ring with him. The guy got in with you at the last minute, and you do something like that.”
“Popo, I want to congratulate you on the patience you had during those rounds, but it’s sad to see some people admire that crap. I saw people [ringside] screaming, shouting.”
“This is a sport. When you lose, you lose. And when you win, you win. But what makes me sad is that all of Brazil saw this disgrace. Wanderlei, you need to apologize, brother, because what you did is not right.”
Silva and Freitas were headlining Spaten Fight Night 2 in São Paulo, Brazil. The promotion issued a statement following the brawl.
“We believe that sportsmanship and respect to the rules must always prevail. We reprove the events that happened after the end of the last match, it doesnt represent these principles.
“We will continue to work to support and elevate the values of the sport and martial arts.”
@spaten_br
