Coker potentially very interested in Wand, potentially
“Wanderlei Silva is one of the legendary fighters in the sport and he still has something left to give. He’s someone we’d potentially be very interested in.”
Wanderlei Silva’s legendary career has veered between tragedy and farce since his last fight in nearly three years ago, when he beat Brian Stann. He ran, literally, from a PED test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and was eventually suspended indefinitely, perhaps for life. The courts determined that that was an over reach, and Silva faces another hearing in Feb.
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The UFC released Wand from his contract, as he requested. So if he is suspended for only a year or two, at 39, he could still fight again. He could also fight immediately in Japan, where there is no regulation, but if he did so while under suspension, he likely could never fight again in a regulated contest.
Spike has enjoyed great success bringing older fighters to the public, and Wand would fit in with that perfectly. Further, Spike has a relationship with the “new PRIDE” RIZIN league, which would undoubtedly be interested.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker spoke on Thursday with Dave Doyle for MMAFighting.com and said that while the two parties haven’t spoken yet, they are interested.
“Wanderlei is one of the legendary fighters in the sport and he still has something left to give,” said Coker. “He’s someone we’d potentially be very interested in.”
“He’s out of the country, so we haven’t talked yet. But we will. It could be something where he fights in Japan, it could be he fights here, we won’t know til we see what he’s thinking, and of course we have to see how his situation plays out.”
As Coker noted, the first thing that has to happen is next month’s hearing.
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