8 Most Notorious Gym Fights In MMA
2. Wanderlei Silva Vs. Fabricio Werdum
As we've mentioned already, the culture of frequent hard sparring migrated from Brazil to the USA, embedded into the fighters who also made the move.
Wanderlei Silva appears to fully believe in the doctrine that sparring hard allows a fighter to improve. While this definitely can be the case, it is the responsibility of both people sparring to ensure that they take care not to go overboard or intentionally hurt their partner. This video of Silva sparring with Fabricio Werdum shows an example where sparring crosses the line into a pure beatdown.
These days, Werdum is a more-than-competent standup fighter in his own right, owning a knockout victory over Mark Hunt. However, his skills back in 2011, when this footage was taken, are clearly far less refined. While Werdum has been a BJJ whiz throughout his MMA career, he clearly looks out of his depth strictly striking with Silva here.
Wanderlei shows Werdum no mercy as he peppers his friend with strikes, unloading several multi-punch combinations while he has no option but to cover up. Werdum is offered a moment of respite as he manages to trap Silva in a clinch but it is short lived. Silva pushes him against a wall and lands a flurry of heavy strikes to both Werdum's body and head.