Wanderlei Silva, one of the most legendary figures in mixed martial arts, will be stepping into the squared circle as the MMA legend has announced his boxing debut against Brazilian bodybuilder Felipe Franco this November.
The “Crazy Dog” is back: Wanderlei Silva announces exhibition boxing fight in November
It has been five years since the world had seen “The Axe Murderer” in action. The last time Silva fought was in September 2018 when he lost to Rampage Jackson at Bellator 206, which made the head to head record between the longtime rivals to 2-2.
Since then, there had been no lead on any retirement fight nor return fight for the Brazilian, until last year when Silva announced that he is parting ways with MMA. At that time, there were no talks of making a future switch to boxing.
However, cut to the present and Silva has just announced his boxing debut. The former PRIDE middleweight champion announced on social media that he will be squaring off against Felipe Franco in an exhibition bout on 25th November.
“My friends, fans and admirers, I’m here today to share news that fills my heart with emotion and excitement. After some time away from the rings, I’m back, but this time in a different modality: boxing,” wrote Silva in a recent post on Instagram. “The decision to return to the ring in boxing was not taken lightly. But the fire that burns in me, the passion and love for the sport, motivated me to seek new challenges, overcome limits and show the world that the will to fight never goes out.”
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While Wanderlei Silva will be making his first boxing appearance, for Felipe Franco, this will be the first time for him to make a combat sports appearance, as the bodybuilder had never competed in MMA or any other discipline in the past.