Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion who unified the UFC Middleweight and Pride World Welterweight Championship, and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ended in 2013 and included a UFC record 16 consecutive victories in that span. Silva left the UFC in November 2020 and returned to boxing. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Silva was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2023.

Background

Silva was born on 14 April 1975, in São Paulo, Brazil. The son of a poverty-stricken family, he spent the majority of his childhood in Curitiba with his aunt and uncle, who was an officer with the Curitiba police force. Silva's first foray in martial arts began as a child training jiu-jitsu with neighborhood kids. As a teen, Silva began training in taekwondo, capoeira and muay thai.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career (1997–2002)

Silva initially fought in Brazil in the welterweight category. Silva made his professional debut in 1997 with a pair of wins. Silva recorded his first loss in 2000 to Luiz Azeredo by decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO. After winning his first match in Japan, he was put up against Shooto champion Hayato Sakurai on 26 August 2001. Silva beat Sakurai by unanimous decision after three rounds and became the new Shooto Middleweight Champion (at 168 lb, equivalent to welterweight in most other organizations including the UFC) and the first man to defeat Sakurai, who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.

Pride Fighting Championships and Cage Rage (2002–2006)

In 2002, Silva was scheduled to fight then-current UFC Welterweight Champion, and future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes at UFC 36. However, Silva instead signed a contract and began fighting for PRIDE Fighting Championships. In his first fight with the promotion, he stopped Alex Stiebling with a cut resulting from a high kick. In his next match, he won via decision against the "Diet Butcher" Alexander Otsuka. At Pride 25, Silva faced former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton. Newton tried to shoot in on Silva, but was hit with a flying knee. Newton collapsed and Silva finished the fight with strikes, winning by technical knockout.

At Pride 26, Silva faced Daiju Takase. Takase, with a record of four wins and seven losses, was the underdog. However Silva was dominated on the ground for almost the entire fight before being submitted by Takase when caught in a triangle choke late in the first round. After his loss to Takase, Silva became demotivated and thought about quitting MMA, but was convinced to keep on fighting by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Silva then left Chute Boxe, joined Nogueira in Brazilian Top Team and started to fight in other promotions around the world. On 27 June 2004, Silva fought Jeremy Horn and earned a decision victory.

Three months later, Silva made his debut in the Cage Rage promotion in England. At Cage Rage 8 Silva fought and defeated noted striker Lee Murray by decision. That year, Silva returned to Pride FC on 31 December to face Ryo Chonan. Silva was in control with a take down and body triangle in the first round. Chonan was able to counter Silva's knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns. Chonan was perceived by some to be winning up until the finish. During the third round, Bas Rutten, commentating alongside Mauro Ranallo, stated that he believed Anderson must obtain a knockout or strong finish or he would lose the fight. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a rare flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit. After the loss to Chonan he was cut by Pride, Silva continued fighting in the Cage Rage promotion, as well as other promotions around the world. Silva defended his Cage Rage title against Curtis Stout.

Although he was slated to fight Matt Lindland at Cage Rage 16, Lindland's decision to fight Mike Van Arsdale at Raze Fight Night put an end to the highly anticipated match up. Instead, Silva defended his championship against Tony Fryklund, winning the fight with a reverse elbow, knocking out Fryklund early in the first round.

Silva competed in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he fought Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Though labeled as a favorite to win the tournament, Silva was eliminated from the tournament when he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position. Okami's knees were on the ground at the time, making the attack an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent. Silva later said that the rule had not been properly explained to him before the bout. "When I fought Okami the rules really weren't explained to me properly in the event I was fighting in," said Silva. "You could kick a downed opponent to the groin or to the head when your back's on the ground. So the rules weren't explained to me properly." While Okami was given the opportunity to recover and continue fighting, Okami opted for the disqualification win. Silva responded by saying he "felt it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning," and that "people that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn't."

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2006–2020)

Debut and middleweight championship

Although speculation ran rampant about where Silva would sign next, the UFC announced in late April 2006 that they had signed him to a multi-fight contract. It was not long before the UFC started promoting Silva, releasing an interview segment almost immediately after announcing his arrival.

Silva made his debut at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on 28 June 2006. His opponent was The Ultimate Fighter 1 contestant Chris Leben who had gone undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive victories. Leben, confident of victory, had predicted he would KO Silva in a pre-fight interview. A relatively unknown fighter in the United States, Silva made an emphatic debut when he knocked out Leben with a flurry of pinpoint strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. Silva's striking accuracy was 85%. This fight earned him his first Knockout of the Night award.

In response to the victory, the UFC tallied a poll on their main page, asking viewers to select Silva's next opponent. The majority of voters selected the UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Silva fought Franklin at UFC 64 on 14 October 2006, and defeated him by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 in the first round. Silva hit Franklin with knees to the body from the Muay Thai-clinch, then badly broke Franklin's nose with a knee to the face. Unable to strike back, Franklin dodged the last of Silva's strikes before falling to the ground, where referee "Big" John McCarthy ended the fight. Silva was crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida. This fight earned him a Knockout of the Night award. This was also awarded the 2006 Knockout of the Year.

Record-setting championship reign

On 3 February 2007, at UFC 67, Silva was scheduled to fight The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Travis Lutter in what would be his first title defense since defeating Rich Franklin in October 2006. However, Lutter failed to make the 185 pounds (84 kg) weight limit and the match was changed to a non-title bout. Many felt that Lutter's best chance to win was to take the fight to the ground, with Lutter being an accomplished jiu-jitsu blackbelt. Silva won via submission with a combination of a triangle choke and elbow strikes in the second round.

In his next fight at UFC 73 on 7 July 2007, Silva successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt, winning by TKO at 4:50 in the first round. This fight earned him another Knockout of the Night award.

Three months later, on 20 October 2007, at UFC 77, Silva fought a title defense rematch against Rich Franklin, in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, at the U.S. Bank Arena. Silva defended his belt by defeating Franklin via TKO in the 2nd round. This fight earned him a $40,000 Knockout of the Night award.

On 1 March 2008, at UFC 82 Silva fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, in a title unification bout (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Henderson was believed to have the edge on the ground, having competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Silva defended his title by defeating Henderson via rear naked choke in the 2nd round. This fight earned Silva a $60,000 Fight of the Night award and a separate $60,000 Submission of the Night award.