The man who knocked out Wanderlei Silva while wearing a tuxedo during last night’s post-fight brawl has been revealed as a member of his opponent’s family.
2024 UFC Hall of Fame inductee Silva returned to fighting for the first time in seven years last night for a farcical boxing exhibition. During the bout, where he was embarrassed by the 44lb lighter Acelino Freitas, the MMA legend was docked multiple points for headbutting and even looked like throwing a kick.
Ultimately, Silva was disqualified, before both teams’ corners piled into the ring and a brawl ensued. During the melee, the former PRIDE champion was brutally knocked out by a mystery man in a tuxedo, who has now been identified in the Brazilian media.
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Man who KO’d Wanderlei Silva in post-fight brawl is opponent’s son
According to Combate, who accessed new angles of the fight from Globo, it is clear that the man who knocked out Wanderlei Silva in the melee is Rafael Freitas. He is one of the former world champion’s sons, and reportedly has something of a boxing background.
The man can seemingly be seen in footage of the brawl first punching Silva in the back of the head, before appearing to eventually land a flush punch that renders the 49-year-old unconscious.
Since the incident, Rafael has deleted his Instagram account, which his brother had tagged him in during the event. It seems that aside from him being a recognizable figure, he was also identified by his sibling Juan Freitas in a now-deleted Instagram story.
The Brazilian tagged his sibling in a post about the incident, which he captioned [in Portuguese]: “When you’re going to talk about my brother, speak softly. Congratulations Rafa!” The post was quickly removed.
Wanderlei Silva ended up in hospital after brutal brawl
Following the fight, Silva was taken from the ring by medics and transferred to a nearby hospital. He was checked into the São Luiz Hospital in the South of São Paulo, although management claimed it was simply ‘a precaution’.
Photos have emerged on social media of him in hospital scrubs with a severely bruised eye, although their veracity is unclear. For his part, ‘Popo’ has seemed apologetic about the incident, although he did blame it on former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.