2. Giant Silva
Sometimes confused with Jorge Gonzalez (“El Gigante”), Giant Silva formerly competed in Pride but didn’t have a lot of success.
The 7ft2inch Silva, was a member of the Brazilian national basketball team, and was back-up centre when the team competed at the 1988 olympics. He was recruited by the WWE to become a professional wrestler in the mid 90s. He joined a stable named “the Parade of Human Oddities” but was somewhat limited in what he could do in the ring.
In the early 2000s Silva left the WWE to perform for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and was noticed by Pride FC executives. Pride of course, was never shy about organizing a freakshow fight, and they saw money in Silva.
Silva never faired well at MMA however. In Pride he would drop his first fight to Heath Herring, before getting his first ever MMA victory by submitting Sentoryu Henri. From there Silva dropped his next 5 bouts. He would finally get his second victory in his last ever bout, when he defeated the larger former sumo champion Akebono Taro with a kimura for K-1 Dynamite in 2006.
