how would peak wanderlei silva do in today's ufc

[GoshiShun17]

the roided axe murderer in pride, time travel to today, let's say dana doesn't drug test him, ufc rules

how would he rank against current middleweight landscape

who would he beat in the top 10, would he be a title contender

MIDDLEWEIGHT
SEAN STRICKLAND
1 Israel Adesanya
2 Dricus Du Plessis
3 Robert Whittaker
4 Jared Cannonier
5 Marvin Vettori
6 Paulo Costa
7 Roman Dolidze
8 Jack Hermansson
9 Brendan Allen
10 Kelvin Gastelum

That version of Wanderlei you are talking about fought above the 185 division.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I won't disagree as long as we both agree whittaker is even more overrated


Weak MW era? Time will tell

I think prime Witthaker was very, very good but I do think he is passed his prime now, which is not controversial at all. His style relies a lot on explosive speed, which a man loses in his 30s, it's normal.

 

[BigOlJeet]

Juiced to the gills Wand in his prime was a beast, now he gets KO’d stiff by a breeze on the walk to the octagon.

 

[Shabal]

Would be champ or come very close. Wanderlei is a different breed of warrior compared to the current UFC roster. Kill or be killed every time.

 

[mkt]

MW? He might beat everyone at LHW, in fact most of them he surely would. Wandy wasn't that good by the time he was in the UFC, but he was a terror as the axe murderer in Pride.

You think a USADA-friendly Wand would beat Poatan and Jiri? Remember, he built a lot of his reputation roided to the gills and fighting 170 pound non-juiced Japanese fighters.

 

[moreorless87]

To be honest I think the current LHW division would probably play to his strenghts, guys involved would have the potential to KO him as well but they are all hittable and generally not great at holding people down.

 

[HHJ]

He'd do great.
That homicidal agression is always leaving bodies in its wake.

 

[Westbrick]

For this to be a fair question, we have to assume Wand under USADA or that every current UFC MW and LHW can enjoy unrestriced roiding like guys did in Pride. (Roid-raging Jiri would be something.) Remember, Wand refused a drug test before leaving the UFC. Here's an early Wand fight when it was roider vs. roider.

theres not that much people out striking a 1st round roided young Belfort in MMA history, and thats before he had his problems.

 

[Ibm]

Too small for todays division.

 

[ninja boot]

Wandy is tough as hell when his opponent is looking to stand toe to toe. Realistically speaking most aren't going to do that in 2023 and i can't see him getting past 10th-8th

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Outside of wrestlers who can take him down, his chances would be really good in most striking situations. Wandy traded with Mark Hunt and Crocop for fuk sakes lol. Solid chin, great recovery, if he could close the distance and get in the inside, Wandy could put you out.

 

[Black Blood]

Super juicy Wand, in his mid to late 20s with fully intact chin and recovery would be handful for anyone who gets drawn into a firefight with him. Still, not really UFC champ material without a bit of luck on his side.

 

[Striker Fox]

Too small for todays division.

Rampage was a decent sized LHW

 

[moreorless87]

Outside of wrestlers who can take him down, his chances would be really good in most striking situations. Wandy traded with Mark Hunt and Crocop for fuk sakes lol. Solid chin, great recovery, if he could close the distance and get in the inside, Wandy could put you out.

I think really his big strenght was just how much punishment he could inflict when he rocked someone, it was VERY rare you'd seen him hurt and opponent and not finish them which I think could be bad for someone like Jiri.

Size would potentially be an issue you could argue and perhaps Wand today would be fighting at 185lbs.

 

[Ibm]

He had heart, he was just fat

Rampage was a decent sized LHW

For that time yes, even Rampage is small for todays division.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

For this to be a fair question, we have to assume Wand under USADA or that every current UFC MW and LHW can enjoy unrestriced roiding like guys did in Pride. (Roid-raging Jiri would be something.) Remember, Wand refused a drug test before leaving the UFC. Here's an early Wand fight when it was roider vs. roider.

Bad stylistic matchup for Wandy and Vitor Belfort was just as terrifying. Pre Jesus juice Vitor had a guy like Anthony Rumble Johnson (rip) panic wrestling.

 

[kingmob6]

MW division is trash. Roided Wand would buzz through some of these top 10 fighters just on aggression alone. Izzy was scared shitless of Romero, who allowed him to just score 3 leg kicks per round to steal a victory. There is no way Wand would allow that kind of a fight. He would bring the fire into your face. Izzy might catch him with something on the counter, but he would be running, and the only way I see that fight ending is with someone face down.

Wand would be inconsistent though, just because he is a flawed fighter, someone with decent grappling would definitely neutralize him.

However, there is so much mediocrity at MW, that he would definitely be able to just bulldoze through and have his way with a good chunk of fighters.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

I don't think prime Wanderlei would fight at MW(185) he was never very good at cutting weight.

Maybe he is better for 205 where he can bulk, and become as powerful as possible?

But I don't know? Maybe 185 should have been his weight class all along? He was small for 205 and a very past prime Wanderlei beat Bisping at 185. A past prime Wanderlei also arguably beat Franklin at 195.

I really wonder what a prime Wand and prime Saku could have done at 185 pounds. They didn't have the same opportunities all these modern fighters have. Wand and Saku were forced to fight the baddest 205 lb and HW fighters in the world. They are like the boxing legends of 100 years ago. Real life gladiators.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Maybe he is better for 205 where he can bulk, and become as powerful as possible?

But I don't know? Maybe 185 should have been his weight class all along? He was small for 205 and a very past prime Wanderlei beat Bisping at 185. A past prime Wanderlei also arguably beat Franklin at 195.

I really wonder what a prime Wand and prime Saku could have done at 185 pounds. They didn't have the same opportunities all these modern fighters have. Wand and Saku were forced to fight the baddest 205 lb and HW fighters in the world. They are like the boxing legends of 100 years ago. Real life gladiators.

It seems Wanderlei struggled with the weight cut but he did seem to figure it out by the Bisping fight. He also fought really smart in that fight where he kept the fight close and in the last minute would go in for the kill and nearly finished him or had him hurt at the end of every round.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

For this to be a fair question, we have to assume Wand under USADA or that every current UFC MW and LHW can enjoy unrestriced roiding like guys did in Pride. (Roid-raging Jiri would be something.) Remember, Wand refused a drug test before leaving the UFC. Here's an early Wand fight when it was roider vs. roider.

Ain't no shame in losing to Vitor. Those are two great fighters. Somebody had to win. Both were super young too.

Wand only got better after his losses to Vitor and Tito. You can see the improvement in his game between 2000 and 2006.

Wanderlei had a much better career than Vitor when all was said and done. Vitor is amazing too and has a lot of great wins but so does Wand. Wand was world champion and even won the 2003 MWGP to become undisputed Champ Champ. When he rematched and beat Rampage again a year later there was no debate.