Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Return of Wanderlei



Credit Xtreme Couture Blog



The Axe Murderer is back in Las Vegas. And he’s intent on learning how to wrestle and how to use the cage. What better way to do that than to study with the Master?



That’s exactly what he’s doing. Wanderlei is studying under Randy twice a week in the mornings. In addition to that he will be joining our Pro Team for practice. Despite physically training here for the Chuck fight, Wanderlei didn’t train with our team outside of sparring with Shawn Tompkins. Instead he worked with his personal trainers. Wanderlei tells us that when he went to rope a dope Chuck in the first round of their fight he realized he couldn’t bounce of the cage and counter Chuck the way he could coming off the ropes in the PRIDE ring.

Training partner Phil Baroni says Wanderlei is already picking up some of Randy’s tricks after the first session. “He feels strong. He’s open minded and willing to learn. He picks things up fast.” The New York Bad Ass adds, “Once he learns to use the cage and incorporate wrestling into his game he’ll be really tough to beat in the UFC. It’s an honor to train with Wanderlei. He’s a guy I’ve always tried to emulate and I look up to him.”

Randy says that he and Wanderlei will continue working up until Wand’s next fight. We’re not sure if we’re allowed to say who he is fighting next. But we’re told it will happen in May and it is someone who has fought Chuck. He and the rest of the UFC’s 205lb division had best be on notice. There will be a new and improved Wanderlei next time he steps in the cage. Wanderlei tells us he’d like to rack up a couple of wins and rematch Chuck on New Year’s. That’s a fight we’d love to see.

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