Wanderlei César da Silva (/ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay, Brazilian Portuguese: [vɐ̃deʁˈlej ˈsɛzɐʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ], Japanese: [bandaɾeː ɕi.ɯba]; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

[2] Silva's aggressive style is rooted in street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing, which he began learning at the age of 13 in Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown Curitiba.

Silva's first professional match was on 1 November 1996, in the bare-knuckle organization Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting (BVF).

The match was arguably the worst defeat of his career, lasting only 44 seconds and left him knocked down against the cage by Belfort's punches then being stopped by the referee.

From 1999 to 2004, Silva won eighteen-straight fights in PRIDE, excluding a draw against Mirko Cro Cop (under slightly modified rules in which if the match would go to the time limit, the bout would be declared a draw) and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel (Silva accidentally kicked Yvel in the groin), giving him a twenty-fight unbeaten streak.

Silva's reputation as a formidable MMA fighter grew as he developed a successful 5-year win record in the middle weight division (205 lb) of Pride.

Sakuraba suffered a broken clavicle and was forced to withdraw after the first round, giving Silva a TKO win via doctor's stoppage.

Mere minutes before the fight, Silva's teammate Cristiano Marcello had choked Charles Bennett unconscious in the locker room after a confrontation.

Emelianenko's doctors stated that his hand, which had recently undergone surgery, would not be in good enough shape to fight because the metal implant would still be present.

Silva moved to the semi-finals of the Open Weight Grand Prix after defeating Kazuyuki Fujita by TKO (punches and soccer kicks) at 9:21 of round one.

On 10 September 2006, at Pride Final Conflict Absolute, Wanderlei Silva was knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop in their rematch during the Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals.

Silva then announced he would be out of action until 2010, as he underwent facial surgery to repair his nose (which was broken during Silva's second fight with Cro Cop, and then repeatedly broken again in later matches) and remove some scar tissue from above his eyes to avoid bleeding and being easily cut open during future fights.

At UFC 110, announcer Joe Rogan emphatically stated that Wanderlei looked like a totally different person in the wake of his recent facial reconstructive surgery.

"[25] Silva underwent knee surgery in late July 2010 and his doctors had stated that he would need to wait at least 4 months before returning to training.

[27] However, after Silva voiced his reluctance to face Stann, he was replaced on the card by returning UFC veteran Jorge Santiago.

During the fight's first round Leben won by KO with several uppercuts before following Silva to the ground for a referees stoppage at the 27 second mark.

Silva would fight again after replacing an injured Vitor Belfort against former Strikeforce Middleweight champion Cung Le at UFC 139.

[35] In an interview with Sherdog asking about his future, Silva said: "I want to either fight a catchweight bout at 198 pounds (90 kg) or at light heavyweight.

[37][38] The fight was notable as it was Silva's return to the Saitama Super Arena, where Pride FC ran the majority of its shows.

Silva defeated Stann via KO in the second round in a bout that featured back and forth action, and earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

[47] As a result of his refusal to submit to the drug tests, Silva was given a lifetime ban and a $70,000 fine by the Nevada State Athletic Commission at their meeting on 23 September 2014.

[48] In May 2015, judge Kerry Earley overturned the lifetime ban that was imposed on Wanderlei Silva by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

[50] Subsequent to his ban, Silva competed in a tag team grappling match with Kiyoshi Tamura against former opponent Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro at an event on 17 April 2016 for startup regional promotion Rizin Fighting Federation.

In July 2016, it was announced that Silva would return to mixed martial arts competition in Japan as part of Rizin's 16-man openweight tournament beginning 25 September 2016 in Tokyo.

[53] Silva was scheduled to face Mirko Cro Cop in a trilogy bout on 29 December in the Rizin Open Weight quarter finals.

The previous lifetime ban handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission was reduced to a three-year suspension retroactive to 24 May 2014.

[59] On September 1, 2022 Silva officially announced his retirement from MMA, expressing interest in boxing, calling out Dan Henderson.

[64][65] Though his grappling expertise was initially considered inferior to his striking skills due to his preference for ground and pound, he had a refined Brazilian jiu-jitsu transitional game.

[1] In 2018, Silva admitted that he has been bearing symptoms consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and has expressed a wish to donate his brain for research.

[73] Wand Fight Team is a mixed martial arts training organization headed by Wanderlei Silva.