Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, title defenses and longest winning streak in PRIDE history. He is the former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. He most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Mixed martial arts career Early career 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. In his late teens he joined the Brazilian army and was quickly recognized for his fighting talents. He was asked to join Vale Tudo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school. Silva enlisted after already winning fight tournaments in his age group in Brazil. Silva developed scar tissue around his eyes from fighting in bare-knuckle vale tudo. Silva's first professional match was on 1 November 1996, in the bare-knuckle Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting organization (BVF), where he knocked out Dilson Filho via right elbow at BVF 6. He fought in one other match in BVF, BVF 10 on 1 July 1997, against Marcelo Barbosa, who submitted due to a shoulder injury. Silva fought six matches in four different International Vale Tudo Championship events, IVC 2, IVC 6, IVC 9 and IVC 10, from 1997 to 1999. He won five of these matches by KO/TKO, with his one loss being the result of a cut stoppage against Artur Mariano in the IVC 2 show on 15 September 1997. Though Silva dominated Mariano with punches and knee strikes, the cut was above Silva's left eyelid and opened back up several times, partially because Silva continued to use the cut side of his head to inflict many headbutts on Mariano over the course of the match. The doctor observed the cut several times before the fight was ended. Silva culminated his IVC career by winning the promotion's Cruiserweight belt with a submission win over Eugene Jackson in the IVC 10 show on 27 April 1999. It was after this fight that Silva earned the nickname "The Axe Murderer". Silva participated in one Meca World Vale Tudo event, Meca 2 on 12 August 2000, where he knocked