Issue 088
May 2012
‘Krazy Horse’ vs Chute Boxe
Charles Bennett goes bye-byes backstage at Pride Showckwave on New Year’s Eve in 2005, but what really went down between him and the Chute Boxe crew?
In any professional sport, there are tales of conflict behind the scenes. Fans will spend hours recounting third-hand rumors of brawls, bust-ups and flying coffee mugs with little or no evidence to support them. These days, in our world of universal video cameras, smartphones and CCTV, you would think the truth about such incidents would be indisputable. The camera never lies, right? Wrong. If anything, our familiarity with video and our knowledge of the way it can be used to misrepresent a situation has made us more willing to create our own myths.
The ‘Krazy Horse’ vs Chute Boxe tapes are a prime example of this. It’s a video that shows an altercation backstage at Pride Shockwave 2005. Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett is chilling after his first-round armbar victory over Ken Kaneko. Bennett was sharing a locker room with Wanderlei Silva. As he watches the live feed of the show, the American is seen exchanging words with Chute Boxe coach Cristiano Marcello. A fight breaks out. Bennett gets his man to the floor and rains down punches. The Brazilian stays calm. Encouraged by Wand and the gang, he eventually snares Krazy Horse in a triangle and Bennett goes to sleep.
The video was soon posted online. It spoke for itself. Krazy Horse, a former drug dealer better known for mugging to the crowd and back flips than being a serious martial artist, had run his mouth, picked a fight with the wrong guy and got what he deserved.
As is the norm these days, the conspiracy theorists soon emerged. Why had the video been released? Why were Chute Boxe so keen to publicize a scrap with an undercard lightweight fighter? Some pointed to a cut in the footage, claiming that a long section of the fight had been edited out with the suggestion that Marcello had received help from his teammates.
In the post-fight press conference, Krazy Horse outlined the origin of the dispute in his typically blunt style: “I really don’t like those fucking Brazilians. After a long fight with Kaneko, I had one of them Brazilians [Marcello] come in the ring and say you’re next. It’s like, bitch, get your own studio time. Right now, you’re on mine.”
In a number of interviews and press calls, Krazy Horse went on to tell his side of the story. His versions contradicted themselves in places, but the main points went like this. Cristiano Marcello carried on the argument backstage. Krazy Horse smiled at him and it sent the Brazilian insane. Marcello threw the first punches and applied the triangle to finish the fight.
Bennett then claims events took a sensational turn. He came round after being choked out to find Wandelei kicking his legs. Krazy Horse says he leapt to his feet, threw a right hand and knocked ‘The Axe Murderer’ out. As the rest of the 20-strong Chute Boxe crew looked on stunned, Krazy Horse headed for the door. He took a few shots before escaping – laughing all the way.
Not surprisingly, he was mocked mercilessly. For a significant number of MMA followers, Wanderlei was the epitome of MMA – the superstar who propelled every decent highlight reel of the Pride era. The idea that a no account punk like Bennett could KO him was borderline blasphemy.
Undeterred, Krazy Horse stuck to his story and even cheekily demanded he should have been awarded a Pride belt as he had beaten the champion. He was an irritant who wouldn’t go away. Last January, Cristiano Marcello struck back via YouTube, addressing his remarks direct to Krazy Horse. “The only way you knocked out Wanderlei was in the time I put you asleep,” he said. “Stop talking bulls**t about him and me.” He went on to say that the next time he was in America, he would kick Bennett’s ass.
As Marcello campaigns at lightweight, it is possible that this showdown could happen. Krazy Horse is still active, but his glory days are well behind him. ProElite briefly made him a star, heavily promoting his bad boy image as he hit a winning streak on the way to his high-profile 2007 clash with Victor ‘Joe Boxer’ Valenzuela. Bennett lost in the first round and it’s been a tough road since – going 4-9. No doubt Krazy Horse would welcome a lucrative grudge match against Marcello, but if the pair were to meet in the cage, it would do nothing to clear up the events of New Year’s Eve 2005.
The closest we have come to solving the mystery came last year. Wanderlei was among the combat sports legends invited onto the HDNet show The Voice Versus. Over 50 minutes, host Michael Schiavello conducted an in-depth interview covering the career of the legendary fighter. Inevitably, he was quizzed about the infamous incident at the Saitama Super Arena. ‘The Voice’ asked him straight up: “True or false that he (Krazy Horse) knocked you out backstage?” Wanderlei replied: “That’s a secret,” then laughed and joked to avoid giving a straight answer, finally adding, “wait for the book.”
The clear implication is that Krazy Horse really did KO Wanderlei. Whatever went down in the locker room, it doesn’t affect the stature of the two men. Wand defeated Ricardo Arona to retain his belt later that evening and remains one of the icons of the sport. Krazy Horse is a footnote in history, best known for a lucky punch in a scuffle that nobody saw and may not have even happened.
