Wandy Posts Kimbo Tribute: Admits Probable Brain Damage

UFC and PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva has posted a length tribute to the recently deceased Kimbo Slice on Instagram. In it, he excoriates promotions for not taking care of fighters, and admits he is showing the signs of brain damage due to concussion. Overnight, Bellator fighter Wanderlei Silva posted the following message on his Instagram account:

R.I .P. Be in peace thanks for the entertainment! You make your job very well !!! Descanse em paz , caraca primeiro o Randeman agora o Kimbo , da até um medo , ta chegado cada mais cedo pros meus ! Não sabemos ainda todas as sequelas causadas por nossa profissão, nem as consequências no corpo e na mente , como falo pros meus amigos" Esse lance de esquecer as coisas é até bom , por que vc esquece o Q é ruim tb kkkkk " piadas a parte estive presente a uma palestra sobra concussion ( pequenos dando cerebrais causados por impacto) de 15 sintomas apresentado pelo especialista , eu tinha 12 ! Mais fazer o Q ! Por exemplo, essa lei Q proíbe os. lutadores de tomar soro é um crime ao cérebro dos lutadores , pois quando vc desidrata perde líquido tb no cérebro , aumentando em muito a chance de ter graves danos ao cérebro , decorrentes dos golpes ! " ! Tem vários dos meus amigos , Q estão muito diferentes de antigamente " estão fincado meio loucos " e agora quem vai cuidar de nós ? Quem não guardou um dinheiro ,vai passar por dificuldades infelizmente, não temos nenhum tipo de ajuda em nada ! Tudo por nossa conta !

A photo posted by Wanderlei Silva (@wandfc) on Jun 8, 2016 at 8:18am PDT

According to a translation made by Bloody Elbow, the text reads:

“Rest in peace. Man, first Randleman and now Kimbo, that’s scary. It’s coming earlier and earlier for my people. We don’t know yet all the consequences caused by our profession, or the consequences on your bodies and minds. It’s like I always tell my friends, forgetting things is actually good, because you forget the bad stuff, too. Jokes aside, I attended a lecture about concussions and I had 12 out of the 15 symptoms presented by the expert there." "What can you do? This law that forbids fighters from using IV’s is a crime against fighter’s brains, because you lose water from your brain when you dehydrate, too. That greatly increases the chances of serious brain damage. I have a lot of friends who are different from before. They are getting kind of crazy. Who is going to look after us? Whoever didn’t save some money is going to face some hard times, because we never get any help. We are on our own.”

Silva has made numerous social media posts and videos lamenting the treatment of fighters since his dispute with the UFC and subsequent ban for refusing to take a drug test. Since then he has signed a contract with Bellator and is scheduled to fight in the RIZIN FF open-weight tournament.