Wanderlei Silva and the Most Brutally Aggressive Fighters in MMA

At UFC 132, Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva will step back into the Octagon after being away from the cage for well over a year.

Fans everywhere are saying the same thing: It's about damn time.

Silva is not the most relevant fighter these days. He has won only two fights in the past five years. However, one thing about him has never changed and that is he always puts on a show for the fans.

In honor of "The Axe Murderer's" return to the UFC, we at BR thought it would be fun to take a look at the most aggressive fighters in MMA.

For a fighter to qualify for this list, they needn't be an all-time great. They don't even need to be particularly good, just aggressive.

This list is reserved for fighters that are always moving forward, always pushing the pace and never letting their opponents rest.

Honorable Mentions

Jon Fitch: The Purdue Boiler-Maker is aggressive in his own, nontraditional way. Fitch is always moving forward and he definitely makes his opponents work. However, he doesn't really embody the reckless spirit that is typically related to aggression.

Brock Lesnar: Lesnar is an incredibly aggressive fighter... until he gets hit. Then he becomes a scared little boy.

Shane Carwin: Carwin isn't a push the pace kind of fighter, but with as many first round finishes as he has, it's hard to argue that he's not aggressive.

Paul Daley

Paul "Semtex" Daley has the mentality of a fighter.

This is the kind of guy who keeps moving forward because he thinks it's cowardly to move back.

You might see him take a step back here and there to get out of the way of punches, but he'll be pressing forward again right after that.

Daley isn't well-rounded fighter at welterweight, but on the feet he's a handful for anyone in the division.

Brian Bowles

Brian Bowles is a hell of a competitor; it's all sorts of fun watching this guy fight.

He has really good killer instinct and one of the slickest guillotines in MMA.

Bowles has only lost once in his MMA career, the loss coming at the hands of current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

Brian will look to get one step closer to another title shot when he faces Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132.

Norifumu Yamamoto

Norifumi Yamamoto is a wild man.

Like most of the people on this list, he has very aggressive striking. Unlike a lot of the people on this list, he also has very aggressive wrestling.

Yamamoto stays busy when he gets guys to the ground and works quickly to try and gain dominant positions.

Norifumi was unsuccessful in his UFC debut, but he'll look to bounce back at UFC 135 when he takes on Damacio Page.

Clay Guida

I was hesitant to put Clay on here because he's a lot more aggressive than he is brutal, but I decided to give him the nod.

Clay sticks to his opponents like glue.

It would be a safe bet to assume that no one at lightweight wants to fight Guida. Not because they think they couldn't beat him, but because it just really sucks to have to fight Clay Guida.

Jose Landi-Jons

Jose isn't a fighter that many casual fans are familiar with and he has never had much success within the sport.

That being said, he has fought some of the greatest fighters of all time and he does own a victory over Matt Hughes.

Landi is a fighter who falls under the category of "aggressive to a fault." His aggression often times ends up leaving him open to his opponents attacks. He always puts on a good show for the fans, though.

Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez is a guy with one speed: Go.

He's got cardio for days and a warriors spirit.

Every time you see this guy fight, he's fighting like he'll die if he loses.

Sanchez is coming off a couple big wins in the welterweight division and he'll hope to continue with his winning ways when he meets Matt Hughes in the Octagon later this year.

Jose Aldo

I don't even need to explain this one.

If you think Jose Aldo doesn't deserve to be on this list, watch the video.

Chris Leben

If you haven't been watching the videos thus far, I recommend taking the time to watch this one.

It's very well made and it shows off my favorite aspect of Chris Leben. Not only is the man aggressive, he has an indomitable spirit. This guy goes until the final bell and is always trying to finish the fight.

His come from behind victory of Terry Martin was nothing short of inspiring.

Leben is going to face off against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 in what could very well be the most exciting fight in UFC history.

Thiago Silva

Thiago Silva is a mean dude.

He has some of the most devastating striking in the light heavyweight division (which is a division stacked with devastating strikers).

Silva comes to fight and he gets noticeably frustrated when his opponents don't give him enough of a challenge. Thiago was frustrated with Brand Vera in the third round of their fight and he let him know it by using Vera's back as a bongo drum and slapping him repeatedly in the face.

Miguel Torres

Miguel Torres is going through a tough time in his career.

In 2009, Torres lost the UFC Bantamweight Championship to Brian Bowles. Since then he has been working on reclaiming the belt. At UFC 130, Torres had a two fight winning streak snapped by Demetious Johnson, setting him back considerably in the hunt for the belt.

No matter where Miguel sits in the division, he is always an entertaining fighter and as a result I'm expecting him to have a long and successful career in the UFC.

Nick Diaz

Nick Diaz is an 'in your face' fighter.

This guy will not leave you alone.

Diaz sticks on his opponents and makes them work. He's known to taunt and mock his opponents if they're inactive for mere seconds.

Nick also known for trying to beat his opponents at their own game. This was most evident is his fight with Paul Daley. Diaz was hurt badly on the feet several times, but refused to try and get the fight to the ground. Nick ended up knocking Daley out with seconds left if the first round.

Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem has arguably the most devastating striking in all of mixed martial arts. This guy isn't afraid to stand and bang with anyone.

Not only is he a successful striker in MMA, he is also the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion.

'Reem is undefeated in his last ten fights. Nine of those fights have ended in the first round.

Junior Dos Santos

Junior dos Santos has the best hands in the UFC's heavyweight division and he's well aware of it.

Dos Santos is 7-0 in the UFC with five of those victories coming by knockout.

Sometimes it takes Junior a minute or two to get going, but once he starts to time his opponents, he unloads with vicious combinations.

Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez is a fighter we may never see in the UFC and it's a shame, really.

Eddie has gone on record before saying he isn't a fan of the way Dana White does business and that he has little interest in fighting for the UFC.

A lot of fans believe that Alvarez is one of the top lightweight fighters in the world, but with so much of the world's top talent in the UFC we may never know where he really fits in the the pound for pound rankings.

Jon Jones

Jon Jones just straight up makes other fighters look bad.

Jon has fought for the UFC eight times and none of the fights have even been competitive.

Jones is able to press the action a lot in his fights because his freakishly long reach makes it difficult to counter him.

For a while people doubted the abilities of Bones Jones, but after he became the first man to ever legitimately TKO Mauricio Rua, no one could deny that the hype was real.

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko is considered by most to be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time and it's hard to disagree.

Fedor is not more than a few fights away from retiring and it'll be a sad day when he's gone.

Emelianenko has a very calm demeanor outside of his fights, but inside a cage or a ring, he is a predator stalking it's prey.

Mauricio Rua

Due to a series of mediocre performances in the UFC, a lot of fans have forgotten just how dangerous Mauricio "Shogun" Rua can be.

Anyone who followed Shogun is his Pride days knows that he has the potential to be one of the most exciting and dominant fighters in the world.

Unfortunately, Rua has had a series of injuries, some requiring surgery, and those have taken a lot of the spring out of his step.

I'm a firm believer that 2005 Mauricio Rua would have beat Jon Jones.

Hector Lombard

The UFC needs to sign Hector Lombard before he gets too old (he's 33, currently).

The UFC's middleweight division is weak right now, especially with Chael Sonnen on hiatus and Nate Marquardt dropping to welterweight.

Lombard is exactly what the UFC needs to spice up the division and create some more interesting fights.

It would also answer the question: Can Hector Lombard compete with top middleweights?

Hector has a very impressive win/loss record, but hasn't fought a relevant fighter since 2006.

Wanderlei Silva

The most important thing to Wanderlei Silva isn't championship belts, or his overall record, it's putting on a show for the fans.

Wanderlei isn't the same fighter he was back in Pride, but he is still one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC's roster.

With a record of 2-3 since returning to the UFC, you would think that Wanderlei would be at risk of losing his job. Fear not, even if he loses his next fight, the UFC is going to keep this guy around for as long as possible because they know fans will tune in to watch him fight.

Melvin Manhoef

Melvin Manhoef is just plain reckless.

Sometimes his recklessness gets him into trouble because technical strikers are able to take advantage of the openings he leaves, but one this is for sure, this guy is never in a boring fight.

Manhoef has been fighting in Strikeforce's middleweight division, so there's a chance we could see him fighting in the UFC sometime in the next couple years.