Wanderlei Silva made his return to the ring in São Paulo, Brazil, facing former two-time boxing champion Acelino Freitas in an exhibition bout. Silva repeatedly landed illegal headbutts during the fight and was disqualified in the fourth round after a fourth warning.
Immediately following the disqualification, a chaotic scene unfolded. Silva was knocked out by Rafael Freitas, son of his opponent. Many debated whether Silva was at fault, but Chael Sonnen strongly disagreed.
Sonnen Speaks Out on Silva’s Side
“The fight happens and Wanderlei headbutts the opponent. The headbutt ends up happening a total of four times, and the referee says, ‘enough, you’re disqualified.’ It is at that point all the shenanigans you’ve seen on social media and the videos that are going viral takes place.”
Sonnen described how Silva mostly stayed on his side of the ring, avoiding escalation:
“Wanderlei, for the most part, is staying on his side of the ring. He’s watching turmoil. Wanderlei has his own guys going to the other side of the ring, and Wanderlei himself, though, is staying on his part when a guy comes in under the ropes on Wanderlei’s side. Comes from around Wanderlei, Wanderlei’s back, but he throws like a hook motion and punches Wanderlei.”
Sonnen stressed that Rafael Freitas’ strike was outside the competition rules and unprovoked:
“It’s complete chaos. At some point, this same gentleman, he’s wearing a tuxedo, gets in front of Wanderlei, comes at him and throws a punch. Wanderlei does not know he’s fighting this guy. Wanderlei isn’t trying to fight nobody. In fact, from the footage that I’ve seen, it looks as though Wanderlei would like to calm this thing down. The guy hits him. The guy knocks him out.”
Distinguishing Sport from Assault
Sonnen explained that while Silva was disqualified, this did not justify being attacked by someone unlicensed:
“If an unlicensed third person enters the ring, not only do you have a trespass – It would be illegal for somebody to even be present in that moment. He is now punching a tired and gloved up, un-expecting Wanderlei. That is a crime.”
“Wanderlei did not headbutt the son. Wanderlei did not fight the guy who hit him. Wanderlei did not headbutt anybody outside of the jurisdiction of the boxing match. Wanderlei did not deserve to be punched. He did not deserve to have to fight somebody that wasn’t the person he agreed to fight. Wanderlei did not deserve to be attacked by somebody who is not wearing gloves, whose hands are not wrapped, who is completely fresh and attacking him from behind. Wanderlei is completely the victim in this situation.”
Legal vs Sporting Rules
Sonnen emphasized the difference between sporting penalties and criminal behavior:
“Wanderley’s side has come forward and said, ‘We’re suing them. That is a crime. That is an assault, and we’re going to sue you guys.’ Now, I had somebody else come out and say, ‘Yes, that looks very bad, but you have to understand how they got there.’ They got there through Wanderlei doing an illegal action to the point that it was ruled illegal and Wanderlei was punished in the form of a disqualification.”
“Whether this is his opponent’s son or not, he has nothing to do with this. He is not supposed to be there, and he’s got no justification to hit Wanderlei. But there was a little bit of chatter back and forth that the son was somehow justified. And that’s the part where I’ve got to stop you.”
“We have two different things happening here. We have a boxing event that comes with rules. It’s an adjudication, and the judge of that adjudication is known as the referee who saw the headbutt, who gave a warning for the headbutt, who was tired of giving warnings for the headbutts and ultimately ruled a loss, a disqualification. At that point, the boxing match is over. You are no longer protected by the commission.”
Post-Brawl Suspensions
After the melee, the Brazilian National Boxing Council (CNB) handed down suspensions. Wanderlei Silva and Acelino Freitas received 180-day bans from CNB events. Silva’s longtime coach Andre Dida was suspended 365 days for striking Rafael Freitas during the fracas. Former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum and Silva’s son Thor were not sanctioned as they were unlicensed.
Freitas’ team members Luis Claudio Freitas and Iago Gutierrez Freitas received 180-day suspensions, while Lucas Pontes da Silva was banned for 90 days. Rafael Freitas himself was not directly suspended but CNB plans to recommend an indefinite ban from boxing events for him.
