Boxer Wanderlei Silva faced Acelino Freitas in an exhibition match at Spaten Fight Night 2, but things took a dramatic turn when he was knocked out in a brawl after being disqualified from the fight.
The fighter, who was initially selected to fight at GFL, recently headlined the Spaten Fight Night 2 main event, but the bout was cut short after Silva committed multiple fouls by head-butting his opponent twice, leading to his disqualification. Following the ruling, an altercation broke out between members of both Silva’s and Freitas’ teams. As the melee escalated, Silva was knocked out by a punch that left him bruised and hospitalized. It was later revealed that the perpetrator was Rafael, Acelino Freitas’ son.
Since the assault, Wanderlei Silva has been in the hospital undergoing tests and examinations. The incident shocked fans, with many blaming Freitas for the escalation. However, the WBO and WBA champion placed the blame on Silva for fouling and for bringing his team members into the ring.
“When the fight ended, the referee disqualified Wanderlei for the three head butts he hit me, and his coach went after me and punched me, he really hurt me,” Freitas said in a video posted on social media. “Wanderlei, the fight was between you and me and had nothing to do with the team. If you head-butted me, cool, I don’t care. But, unfortunately, Werdum cowardly entered the ring with your son [Thor Silva] and went all over everybody. And I saw that someone also punched you.”
Fabricio Werdum, who cornered Silva for the fight, had a different account of the brawl, blaming Freitas’ team for the “horrible” incident.
“The images don’t lie,” Werdum said on social media. “Everybody saw what happened. We were in there, Dida, Thor, and I, and we entered the ring when it was all over and Wanderlei was disqualified. A lot of people entered from Popo’s side. I think it was 20 of them, and only me, Wanderlei, Thor, and Dida. We were reacting to their attacks. They started screaming and coming at us, and we were only four.”
“And it was so evil for that guy to punch Wanderlei,” he added. “He punched the back of Wanderlei’s head. I don’t know if it landed clean, but it could have been very serious. Wanderlei is in the hospital now, getting stitched up. It broke Wanderlei’s nose because it was very mean. Wanderlei had his gloves on, tired from the fight.”
Since the incident, Silva’s team has reached out to the Brazilian National Boxing Council, though the body has yet to issue a statement. Spaten Fight Night addressed the brawl on social media:
“We believe that sportsmanship and respect to the rules must always prevail,” the statement read. “We reprove the events that happened after the end of the last match, it doesn’t represent these principles. We will continue to work to support and elevate the values of the sport and martial arts.”
Silva’s original opponent, Vitor Belfort, who withdrew from the match after suffering concussions in training but attended Saturday’s event, placed most of the blame on Silva’s shoulders.
“What makes me sad is that it reveals who they always were,” Belfort said in a video posted on social media. “You literally destroyed something we built over years. Martial arts is respect, brother. You were fighting a great boxer.
“You shouldn’t even be in this ring with him. He stepped in on short notice and you do something like that. Popo, I want to congratulate you on the patience you had during those rounds, but it’s sad to see some people admire that crap. Guys, this is a sport. When you lose, you lose. And when you win, you win. But what makes me sad is the entire country of Brazil has seen this embarrassment. Wanderlei, you need to ask for forgiveness, brother, because what you did is not right.”
As of now, Wanderlei Silva remains in the hospital and is responding to treatment. On Sunday, he shared a health update on Instagram.
“Thank you all very much for your messages,” Silva wrote to his fans in Portuguese. “I’m not feeling very well, very dizzy, and have a headache that won’t go away. This week, I’ll do more detailed tests to find out if I had any more serious head trauma.”
