Issue 167

The first round of Silva vs Stann out in Japan in for UFC on Fuel 8 brought a couple things to mind. Firstly, it has to compare to the Hearns–Hagler round as the best ever. And second, Wanderlei Silva is one hell of an entertaining fighter! The Tokyo crowd must have been electrified. I watched at home with my family and I sure was.

I was out of town so I recorded it. One minute into the second round the recording stopped. My family freaked. My son, Daniel, logged onto the computer and we watched the final round. What an adrenaline rush. Then I started thinking about the other Wanderlei fights I’ve been fortunate enough to see live and the relationship I’ve had with him.

Josh Barnett invited me to be part of his team when he fought in Japan. I never expected to be in the same arena as so many of the baddest fighters in the world: ‘The Last Emperor’, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’, ‘Shogun’, ‘Minotauro’, and Barnett ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’. Each has given us historic fights and the personal stories I have with them are all priceless, but none of them are Wanderlei Silva.

‘The Axe Murderer’ is a horse of a different color. I saw him for the first time in the hotel lobby at my first Pride FC fight. Wanderlei stood out amongst all the other Brazilians. His tattooed head instantly caught my attention. I told myself, ‘That must have hurt – and it makes him look like a bad ass!’ He looks like a human pitbull.

The moment he transitioned from The Axe Murderer to Wanderlei, the joker, was at a hand-wrapping seminar that Pride officials asked me to do for the fighters and trainers. ‘Ninja’ Rua volunteered to get wrapped. While wrapping, Wand and Shogun started joking and calling me Santana (they still call me it today). But I never imagined years later I’d be wrapping Wand’s hands and ankles and working his corner.

Fast forward to Wand’s UFC debut. When the Pride fighters made the transition to the UFC they felt comfortable with me wrapping their hands. The date was December 29th 2007, UFC 79. Chuck Liddell fought Silva at the MGM. I wrapped Wanderlei’s hands and we talked about the great times in Japan. A week earlier I’d mentioned my birthday was the same night as the fight. Nothing more was said.

Silva entered first to the loud approval of the fans. The grandfather of cutmen, Leon Tabbs, applied grease. Chuck Liddell walked toward me, slapping fans’ hands on the way. I prepared him with Vaseline and he entered the Octagon. The crowd was just so loud, knowing that two future Hall of Famers were about to go toe-to-toe.

The action was just like the Stann fight, but this time I heard the thunderous blows up close. Round one ended and I go in with John Hackleman to work on Chuck. He has a small cut that’s no problem. Round two was like round one, all action. I told the gatekeeper, Joe Spalding, that I could hear the pounding. After round two I go back to work on Chuck. Hackleman gives him all the right instructions.

I knew Leon had his work cut out with Silva. I could see the swelling grow as the fight went on. The third round was no different from the first two. The crowd was on its feet. Blow after blow, the two warriors stood in front of each other and traded bombs. It was a fight that either could win.

I was blown away. The Axe Murderer, Wanderlei Silva had just finished one of the most brutal fights in history and hadn’t forgotten that it was my birthday. One of my proudest moments, and definitely one of the top-three fights I’ve ever seen.

Wand is such a great person. In the ring he is one of the most feared fighters ever. Outside of it he has the heart of a giant. I get a big laugh every time he calls me Santana and I looking back now that moment was just the start of a great friendship.