Wanderlei Silva officially kicks off campaign for a seat in the Brazilian congress

Former PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva has officially started his political campaign.

“The Axe Murderer” mentioned the possibility of being a candidate in 2014, but never officially applied for it. For October’s elections in Brazil, however, Silva will run for a seat in the Brazilian congress as a federal deputy, he announced on his social media.

“My fight is here now,” Silva’s post reads.

Speaking with MMA Fighting in July, Silva talked about his intention to enter politics and how that would affect his career in mixed martial arts. If elected in October to work as a federal deputy starting in 2019, the Bellator fighter could hang up his gloves.

“I’m facing this as maybe it is my last fight,” Silva said of his upcoming Bellator 206 bout withQuinton “Rampage” Jackson. “I will run for federal deputy now. It’s a new career, a new time in my life. I’m seeing the need for it. There are guys being elected that have no business being there, a bunch of poor guys, dishonest guys that steal from the people. You have to put guys that have an ideal and already have money to live so they don’t need to steal from the people.

“I will do this fight and then I’ll run for congress and if I get elected, I’ll go one direction, and if I don’t get elected, I’ll go another one. But the intention is that maybe this is my last fight. … I think that being elected or not, maybe this is my last fight. I’ve done enough. But there are a lot of people coming back. I think that my performance will say if it’s my last one or not.”

Silva vs. “Rampage” co-headlines Bellator 206 on Sept. 29, eight days before the Brazilian elections.