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Dec 8, 2008 - 6:44:47 PM
By: Maynard Sweeney, MMATorch Contributor
This article is the seventh in a series of daily releases counting down the top thirty fights of 2008. We will release a new article each day starting from #30 all the way up until the end of the month.


Top 30 Fights of 2008: #23
Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine vs. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva
UFC 84: Ill Will – 5/24/2008

I know that "Return of the Axe Murderer" sounds like a cheesy 70's slasher flick, but it would have been a more than appropriate title for UFC 84 had we known what the outcome of the Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva fight would be.

Since the summer of 2006, mixed martial arts fans were forced to endure a torturous two year period of not seeing a single win created by Wanderlei Silva. This was both highly uncharacteristic of Silva and downright absurd considering that since 2000, and before his three consecutive losses, he went twenty one for twenty six with only a single no contest, a draw with Mirko Cro Cop, and three losses – each of which were by decision. This meant that the infamously aggressive Silva was fighting four times per year for six years, winning eight times as many fights as he lost.

Silva made his name in Japan's now defunct PRIDE organization before returning to the UFC (where he actually fought before, little known to most fans). He held the PRIDE middleweight title – which is the 205 weight class in Japan – for an astounding five years. Any fight fan knows well that in the anything-goes world of mixed martial arts, to hold a championship for five years is an eternity. On top of his championship reign through eighteen straight fights, he also won the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, in which he defeated Hidehiko Yoshida and former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson in one night.

Silva's martial roots date back before the advent of mixed martial arts though. To truly understand the incredible career of "the Axe Murderer," one must know of his Vale Tudo career in Brazil. The UFC has dawned the slogan "As Real As It Gets" for years now, however, anyone wishing to fully understand the depth and capability of violence martial arts possess must realize that this hip slogan is short a few words. What it should read is something more along the lines of "As Real as the Athletic Commission Lets it Get." Trust me, coming from someone who has trained extensively in both mixed martial arts and reality based modern self defense, I can faithfully assure you that it gets a whole hell of a lot more realistic than the UFC would lead you to believe.

Silva began fighting in his teens in unsanctioned street fighting leagues in Brazil. He used a mix of skills acquired through experience in fights as well as Muay Thai. He later enlisted in the Brazilian military, where he was soon recognized for his combative prowess, and began fighting in Vale Tudo.

Vale Tudo, for this who don't know, is a style of mixed martial arts in which there are literally no rules. The early UFC is considered Vale Tudo, where the likes of head butts, stomping and kneeing a downed opponent, groin strikes, strikes to the back of the head, and many other now-illegal maneuvers were fully available assets to be utilized in the cage. Silva began his career with this kind of fighting, and was quite literally born and bred in blood.

Before fighting Jardine at UFC 84, Silva had lost three consecutive fights to the highest level of competition possible. The first of the three was a loss to a primed Mirko Cro Cop via his trademark left high kick at the PRIDE 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix. Next up was a knockout loss to always dangerous Dan Henderson by a barrage of powerful punches. And then finally a decision loss in his epic 2007 war with Chuck Liddell.

Many attribute these three losses to a lapse in style. Silva made himself famous by utilizing his aggression and unparalleled brutality in the cage. He would overwhelm his opponents with a level of aggression that almost no amount of technical skill can train you for. For reasons unknown, in his three consecutive losses, his approach to winning was methodical and technical.

So the question was posed: was Wanderlei simply over the hill, or would a return to enacting total war upon his opponents return him to his former glory?

It didn't take long to find out, since a mere thirty six seconds after the opening bell Keith Jardine found himself counting the lights on the ceiling of the MGM. The old Wanderlei was back, and the ancient ways of no holds barred fighting was living vicariously through the Brazilian mauler.

Unlike his previous three fights, Silva entered the bout with Jardine carrying a lust for blood. There was no first round dancing to get his timing down, no jabbing and bobbing to figure out how Jardine moved, no clinching and guard work to tire Jardine out. The bell rang, the two met at the center of the cage, and after two years of being bottled up, Silva released his trademark will to commit massacre.

Wanderlei Silva is the last of a dying breed. With athletic commissions taking more and more interest in the regulatory affairs of events, Vale Tudo and bare knuckle fighting events are few and far between. It may be dangerous, but one cannot deny the effectiveness these events have in carving the competitors who survive them out of a type of stone seldom found in the regulated world of MMA. Gyms and dojos can teach just about everything, but there will always be that essence of realism found in Vale Tudo and only Vale Tudo.

That essence is reminiscent of the warriors of the past, where defeat meant serious injury or death. How can you not develop a killer instinct under such conditions?

Stay tuned for #22 of the MMATorch Top 30 Fights of 2008, which will be revealed with a full article tomorrow.

PREVIOUS FIGHT STORY: SWEENEY: The top 30 fights of 2008 countdown 12/7 - #24 (Santos vs. Takahashi)

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