A New Look For Wanderlei Silva?

September 9, 2009, at 11:13 pm

Do you recognize this man?

Believe it or not that’s Wanderlei Silva. Silva recently had facial surgery that not only changed his appearance but was “necessary for a fresh beginning” at 185 pounds. Silva posted a video blog to address his surgery.

If your at work or just don’t feel like watching here’s some of what Silva said via MMAJunkie:

“There was a lot of speculation about my surgery,” said Silva, who spoke in his native Portuguese and provided English subtitles. “People are noticing my eyes, and this is what happened. [The doctor] scraped the eye’s bones. I’ve had more than 200 stitches … in the area of the eyes. So the doctor scraped my skull, so that (swelling) will go down.”

“The goal is for me not to get cut so easily in my next fight because before I was receiving big cuts only from scratches. I was always having to get seven, 10, 15 stitches, and this was hurting my performance.”

“I fixed my nose, and now I’m breathing better, snoring less,” said Silva, who said he suffered from sleep apnea and awoke four or five times per night. “Now I can sleep through the night, and I’m feeling very good.”

So there you have it. I’m excited for the new Silva. You might be shocked to learn that despite his long and storied MMA career Silva is only 33 years old. And despite a 1-3 UFC record all signs point to a Silva resurgence. The surgery will help, the long break will help (remember this a guy fighting every couple months for 10 years) and the move to a lighter weight class will help.

Wanderlei Silva was one of the fighters that made me fall in love with this sports and personally I hope he can get back to the top.