Wanderlei "Axe Murderer" Silva is a 31-year-old specializing in Muay Thai fighting, born July 3, 1976 in Curitiba, Brazil, and fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada. At 5' 11" and 205 pounds, he fights in the Light Heavyweight division. He is known for his immense experience, his intense fighting technique, and his power-packed strikes. His favorite techniques are the rear naked choke and striking with his knees. He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 

His interest in fighting came out being a short and fat child, as he puts it, a circumstance which proves to have done him well, considering how he went on to become a two-time PRIDE Middleweight champion, a Grand Prix champion, and an IVC Light Heavyweight champion.  His first UFC bout was a knockout win against Tony Peterra on May 7, 1999 at UFC 20: Battle for the Gold. But it was followed up by two straight losses, the first a title shot loss to Tito Ortiz at UFC 25 and the second to Chuck Liddell seven years later at UFC 79.

When not fighting for the UFC, "Axe Murderer" Silva spent much of his time fighting PRIDE bouts, joining the association in 1999 and becoming Middleweight champion by 2001.  From that point on, he won all PRIDE fights up to 2004 when he was beaten by a 280 pound Mark Hunt. After that, he also lost fights to Ricardo Arona and Mirko "Cro Cop", as well as losing his middleweight belt to then welterweight champ Dan Henderson in 2006 by a knockout left hook.

Most of Silva's fights, however, end with his opponents winding up unconscious, or the referee ending the bout, thus the nickname "Axe Murderer".  As of this writing, Wanderlei Silva's overall MMA record is 31-8-1.