Wanderlei will Disappoint

Disappoint (Mostly Lose)		39%	(13)
Dominate All (Become Champ)		39%	(13)
Failure (KO He's Done)		9%	(3)
Possibly try out for 1st male ringirl (jk)		12%	(4)

I think there is too much hype surrounding Wanderlei in his return to the octagon. His record is impressive, at first glance. If you look deeper, half the guys he KOed have terrible records.



Thats my predictions for his first match against a top UFC LHW.

I'm on the fence. You could be right, but he could also be a force. For people who've only ever watched the UFC, Silva could be a 205-lb Brandon Vera. But meaner-looking.

the other half of the guys he KOd are very good fighters though, ask rampage how tough he is. dont underestimate wandy based on the fact that some "pride" guys havent lived up to a lot of the hype surrounding them. the guys that have lost are all very good fighters and im sure will adjust to fighting in the US and in a cage at some point.

Its hard to say if he would be good enough i think he could KO Jardine or even give him Houston Alexander but i think Houston would KO Silva lol No matter who he fight at least he is always intertaining Fight for sure.

He is intimidating as hell. Let's hope he can still back it up

I don't underestimate him. I know hes a great fighter. As is Rua, CroCop, and the rest of former Pride fighters. It will be interesting to see what happens.

i think houston alexander vs wanderlei "industries" silva would be a good matchup

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Posted by cowcatcher

the other half of the guys he KOd are very good fighters though[...]

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Right. You also can't evaluate a guy's record while ignoring his Losses. Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Cro Cop, and Hendo. Those are the guys who defeated Wanderlei in the last seven years.

Their combined record, not counting their Wins over Silva, is 58-20. Mark Hunt landed a couple of punches that looked like something out of a comic book, and still only won a Decision. Cro Cop was not only the perfect type of fighter to beat Silva, he was on a roll, kicking the hell out of everybody in 2006.

Silva didn't look right to me in his fight with Henderson, from the opening bell. It will be almost a year between fights by the time he climbs into the Octagon, and if he hasn't got his head back in the game he'll lose to a decent fighter. He's in the same position a lot of guys have been in; some of them have washed out (David Loiseau, Joe Riggs), some of them have come back strong (Georges St. Pierre, Rampage Jackson), and some of them are on the bubble right next to Wandy (Cro Cop, Chuck Liddell).

I don't underestimate him, I know he is a great fighter. I also belive that his best years are behind him, and he will not dominate the UFC LHW and IMO very unlikely that he will ever have the belt around his waist.
Much the same can be said for Chuck.

Well Wandy had fought in a cage before......I think he has what it takes to make a difference. It's not like the last 2 fights he lost were against horrible fighters. Come on Cro Cop, one of the most awesome strikers we've ever seen, plus the guy was in a higher weight class than Wandy. Though their weights weren't too far apart. Hendo was already a champ when he beat him, and those two aren't too far apart in weight either.

But I don't know, 2007 has been full of upsets this year. So I geuss you never know.

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Posted by xxMALICExx

He is intimidating as hell. Let's hope he can still back it up

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He kinda looks like the guy in your avatar in that pic

I don't think he's going to disappoint...not if he keeps working with Randy Couture. I wanna see him fight Rampage again. Not right away of course, but it'd be nice to see it next year.

I agree and I think his lackluster history in The OCtagon is gonna mess with his head and make him have flashbacks.

I think he might pull out a win but mostly lose and we'll have forgotten all about Wanderlei in a few years.

I honestly think Dana White should force a situation where Wanderlei and Shogun have to fight one another.

Just for kicks.

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Posted by AchillesHeel

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Posted by cowcatcher

the other half of the guys he KOd are very good fighters though[...]

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Right. You also can't evaluate a guy's record while ignoring his Losses. Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Cro Cop, and Hendo. Those are the guys who defeated Wanderlei in the last seven years.

Their combined record, not counting their Wins over Silva, is 58-20. Mark Hunt landed a couple of punches that looked like something out of a comic book, and still only won a Decision. Cro Cop was not only the perfect type of fighter to beat Silva, he was on a roll, kicking the hell out of everybody in 2006.

Silva didn't look right to me in his fight with Henderson, from the opening bell. It will be almost a year between fights by the time he climbs into the Octagon, and if he hasn't got his head back in the game he'll lose to a decent fighter. He's in the same position a lot of guys have been in; some of them have washed out (David Loiseau, Joe Riggs), some of them have come back strong (Georges St. Pierre, Rampage Jackson), and some of them are on the bubble right next to Wandy (Cro Cop, Chuck Liddell).

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I can't give you props 'cause I got to share the love, but the is a quality, well thought out post. Someone give the man some props.

One thing I think we all do to much of is dismiss a fighter when he goes through a rough patch. Things can be turned around for fighters like Chuck and Cro Cop. Shogun will come back to his old form if he puts his mind to it. People dismissed Couture after his back to back losses to Chuck. No one thought A. Silva was gonna turn out like he did after his loss to Chonan. No one thought Forrest would reach his current level after his loss to Jardine.

Fighters are going to lose and for every Murilo Bustamante, there is a Rampage Jackson. One fell out of the sport, one revamped his career and kept improving.

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Posted by AchillesHeel

Their combined record, not counting their Wins over Silva, is 58-20. Mark Hunt landed a couple of punches that looked like something out of a comic book, and still only won a Decision. Cro Cop was not only the perfect type of fighter to beat Silva, he was on a roll, kicking the hell out of everybody in 2006.

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Totally with you there, Wanderlei has taken some losses, but only against high quality opposition, and even then he has hardly lost, 4 losses in 7 years, that nearly a loss once every 2 years, not many others can boast a record like that!

His fight with Hunt impressed me immensely, and gave me a lot of respect for both fighters. Hunt showed an impressive innate ring ability, not getting stuck on the ground, and while he could have used his power to explode out of bad positions, he didn't really do that, as he didn't allow himself to get into many bad positions. Wanderlei impressed me with his ability to take a punch, he took some monster shots from Hunt, and had his chin tested hard. Granted he was loser, and I think the one vote he got in the split decision was a bit of a sympathy vote imo, as to me, Hunt clearly won, but both fighters looked amazing in that fight, one of my favourite all time fights.

IDK, I am 50/50, I believe all the news I here on other MMA news sites about how Pride Fighters are on steroids because they are no were near as explosive or as aggressive as they were over seas but IMO Wandy will always be the person that we have always loved. You knwo he will give it his 100% all and just go out and fight!!!

I think he will be the same and if he does lose he goes out swinging like in the Hendo 2 & Cro Cop 2 fights...

Wandy is the person I'm counting on to turn this around!!!

If him and Fedor lose....I'm calling it right now....

Steroids!!!! or Pride might be overrated...

I think a lot of people are going to pick him to win, but based on how all the other PRIDE guys have fared since they came over, I do have to be a bit skeptical. Yes, I definitely would like to see him and all the others be successful in UFC, but they're making the transition too quickly and getting right into these big fights against much more experienced fighters (at least in terms of UFC experience) and generally find themselves getting outmatched. Doesn't help that they can't use their stomps, soccer kicks, and other PRIDE moves that UFC doesn't allow now. Bottom line, I think he will disappoint...at first. Give them a couple fights, even if they have to lose one or two, and once they're comfortable they should start winning and putting on consistently better showings.

I do think Wandy's past his prime, but look at his last two opponents. Not exactly easy competition. With this last interview I've read from Wandy after UFC 76, I think he's motivated, and we've all seen what Couture has done, and maybe Wandy can do it to.
However, over the years, he's taken a lot of shots. He's been through the ringer. If he gets in the right place mentally and physically, and doesn't take anything for granted, like Shogun/Forrest, than I think he may suprise some ppl. He's already wanting revenge for his teamate, calling out Forrest Griffin.
Even though I think he's past his prime, I would love to see the old Wandy come back to life and show these new fans what he's capable of. The only think I don't like is that his (Wandy's) and Shoguns' strenths aren't going to be featured/highlighted with the UFC's rules. No stomping on heads or soccer kicks to the head when your opponent is on the ground. Hell, that's their specialty, what they're known for.
With all that said, I think Wandy wants to prove something to the American fans who he thinks doesn't know who he is. However, us hard-core fans have watched him the last several years and are completely aware of what pain, suffering, and damage he's capable of inflicting on an opponent.
After all, Vale Tudo is Portugese for, "anything goes."

Depends on who they give him. If they give him strikers he will do great. If they give him grapplers, he's in for some pain.