Wanderlei Silva Recalls Jackson KO, Describes It As His “Art”
Wanderlei Silva recently shared his thoughts on his legendary knockout victory over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Pride 28. In a new podcast documentary on Silva by MMA TRUFAN, he recalled how he felt when he first saw Jackson unconscious on the ropes.
“When I have this movement, it’s like a martial art, art. Like you paint something or make a sculpture,” Silva said. “Somebody can watch this, like a 1000 years (from now) in Pride from right now and say, ‘Hey this is good, this is a martial art.’”
Silva shared the significance of this fight in regards to his legacy.
“When I hit him in the face, I feel something on the knee. When I look at him on the ropes and all the blood go out and the people scream very loud. That moment for me be one of the best (moments) of my career. Because this (is) a blast kick and I think it’s one of my greatest knockouts ever.”
Former Pride Vice President Jerry Millen was in attendance for the fight and shared his thoughts.
“I was sitting ringside for the Quinton Jackson fight when Wanderlei hit him with those knees and sent Quinton through the ropes and blood just blew out of Quinton’s face.”
Silva and Jackson’s Rivalry
The rivalry between Silva and Jackson began at Pride 25 in 2003. After Jackson’s knockout win over Kevin Randleman, he challenged Silva who was sitting ringside. Silva climbed into the ring to accept the challenge and shoved Rampage, which led to a melee in the ring.
Later that year, Silva and Jackson faced each other in the finals of the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix 2003. Silva went on to stop Jackson via technical knockout. Their rematch would be a year later at Pride 28.
Sports Illustrated called Wanderlei’s second knockout over Rampage the 2004 Knockout of the Decade. Wanderlei finished his career with twenty-seven knockouts including brutal finishes over Kazushi Sakuraba, Keith Jardine and Brian Stann. However, he considers his second knockout over Rampage one of the greatest of his career.
Hear the entire MMA TRUFAN documentary on Wanderlei Silva below.
