MMA Roots: The Night Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell Were Introduced to the MMA World

At a time when wrestlers were starting to dominate the global fight scene, the International Vale Tudo Championship staged a landmark event on Aug. 23, 1998 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There, at IVC 6, Boxe Thai’s Ebenezer Fontes Braga and Chute Boxe’s Wanderlei Silva—they repped the two major schools in Brazilian muay thai—showed that aggressiveness could work as an antidote for ground-and-pound. Meanwhile, Jose Landi-Jons, a man with 15 fights under his belt, was beaten by a newcomer named Chuck Liddell in an epic 30-minute clash.

Known throughout Brazil for his fighting spirit and an uncanny knack for turning bad situations to his favor, Braga had suffered two defeats against wrestlers. He lost a semifinal war with Kevin Randleman under the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting banner in 1997, though it was considered instrumental in Carlos Barreto’s win in the tournament championship. A year later, he was battered by Dan Severn’s ground-and-pound in their IVC 1 superfight.

In his return to IVC against another wrestler, the 6-foot-4, 196-pound Braga had to deal with the ground-and-pound of the bully-minded Branden Lee Hinkle. The 6-foot-3, 199-pound Mark Coleman disciple threw the Brazilian out of the ring at the very beginning of their fight. It resumed with both men on their feet, and as Braga managed to land a punch, Hinkle took him down once again. Once there, he put together an almost eight-minute-long massacre from inside Braga’s guard.

As the local crowd fell into stunned silence at the sight of the Brazilian’s mangled face, Braga mounted his response. With Hinkle trying to punch him between the ropes, the Rio de Janeiro native controlled one of his arms and started to answer through punches and kicks. Soon, Hinkle’s face bore significant damage, too, and Braga capitalized. He locked in a triangle choke for the finish 12:33 into the match. Braga’s countrymen went wild.

A TASTE OF GOLD FOR ‘THE AXE MURDERER’

After winning two fights to advance to the IVC 2 tournament final—he lost to Arthur Mariano—in September 1997, Silva returned to the organization on a doozy of a mission: beat bulldozing American wrestler Mike Van Arsdale, who had earned a divisional championship by submitting three Brazilians at IVC 4. Three months later, Van Arsdale won his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 17 with a keylock submission of Joe Pardo. His IVC 6 assignment saw him step into the ring as an overwhelming favorite against Silva.

Van Arsdale raced out to a quick start and took down the Brazilian twice. However, Silva managed to get up on both occasions, allowing him to take advantage of the American’s willingness to trade. “The Axe Murderer” knocked down Van Arsdale with a hook, then wasted no time in landing a soccer kick to the back of the head that prompted the stoppage. While doctors treated a cut and wrapped Van Arsdale’s broken hand, Coleman offered me his view of the fight while standing next to his friend. “Mike’s mistake,” he said, “was training too much boxing and thinking he was ready to trade with Wanderlei.” Silva’s manager, meanwhile, was utterly exuberant. “With this win,” he told me, “it will be easy to get him in Pride [Fighting Championships] or the UFC.” Those words were soon proven prophetic.

Two months later, Silva made his Octagon debut opposite Vitor Belfort at UFC 17.5, and after two more IVC victories and another UFC appearance, he finally arrived in Pride. There, he reigned over the 205-pound weight class for six years and remains known to this day as “Mr. Pride.”

‘THE ICEMAN’ STUNS LANDI-JONS

While he was training for a fight with Wallid Ismail, Landi-Jons was notified less than one month before their scheduled encounter that his opponent had not reached an agreement with IVC. With no one available at his weight, “Pele” accepted the challenge to move up a division to face an inexperienced American prospect in Liddell who had just won his professional debut in a boring UFC 17 tournament alternate bout.

Landi-Jons had no way of knowing a future superstar was waiting for him. Despite moving up weight, his clash with Liddell was a seminal moment in the sport. Less than a minute into the fight, Landi-Jons took down the American and secured full mount, only to see “The Iceman” escape. Landi-Jons did not relent and floored his counterpart with a head kick. Again, Liddell rose to his feet. From that point forward, the fight belonged to him. Exploiting the Cuba-born Brazilian’s open guard, Liddell took over by winning the striking exchanges and also excelling on the mat, where unleashed vicious ground-and-pound and punished “Pele” inside the guard.

Once the 30-minute time limit was up, the judges ruled unanimously in Liddell’s favor. Afterward, Sergio Batarelli—the event promoter and Landi-Jons’ manager—shouldered the blame for his client’s loss.

“I insisted for him to put on 10 pounds to fight Liddell, who weighs 198 pounds,” he said. “That’s why I repeat my claim once again: In his weight class, I still consider ‘Pele’ unbeatable.”

Following their clash at IVC 6, Liddell and Landi-Jons carved out successful paths in their respective weight classes and established themselves as true legends of the sport. Liddell became undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion in 2005. Already regarded as the best Brazilian fighter at his weight, Landi-Jons went on to defeat Pat Miletich and Matt Hughes, stopping both men inside one round.