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:
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.