Top 5 Forum Threads of the Week

Jeff SherwoodMar 10, 2013
Wanderlei Silva was at the heart of Pride’s success. | Photo: Taro Irei/Sherdog.com



With one vintage performance, Wanderlei Silva gave the mixed martial arts community another nostalgic glimpse into his Pride Fighting Championships heyday.

Silva knocked out former World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder Brian Stann in the second round of their UFC on Fuel TV 8 main event on March 2 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It was “The Axe Murderer’s” first appearance in Japan -- the country in which he made his name -- since his loss to Mirko Filipovic in the 2006 Pride open weight grand prix.

In his prime, few stirred the emotions quite like Silva. He held the Pride 205-pound championship from Nov. 3, 2001 until Feb. 24, 2007, carving out a path of destruction in the process. Along with fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Mauricio Rua, Dan Henderson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Silva made Pride MMA’s epicenter. The debate as to which Pride fighter established the greatest legacy rages on some six years after it closed for business.

Items of interest on the Sherdog.net forums this week:

Legacy Matters

Hunting GSP

Elementary Watson

Hunt’s Payday

Machida vs. ‘Shogun’