Anderson da Silva[1] (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion[6] and the promotion's longest reigning champion.[7] With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history.[8] UFC president Dana White has proclaimed Silva as the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.[9][undue weight?]
Silva is ranked as the number one Middleweight in the world by multiple publications,[10][11][12] and is the consensus #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com and other publications.[13][14][15] Silva is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and a former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.
Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, likewise Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 14, training Tae kwon do and earning a black belt by the age of 18.[16] He is also a black belt in Judo[16] and a yellow rope in Capoeira.[17]
Once a member of the Chute Boxe Academy, Silva left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined new team Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers
In response to the victory, the UFC quickly 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 October 14, 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.[26] 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 then crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida.
On February 3, 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.[27] 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 combination of a triangle choke and elbow strikes in the second round.
In his next fight at UFC 73 on July 7, 2007, Silva successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt, winning by TKO at 4:50 in the first round.
Three months later, on October 20, 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.[28] Silva defended his belt by defeating Franklin via TKO in the 2nd round.
On March 1, 2008 at UFC 82 Silva fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, in a title unification bout (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Again, many thought that Henderson had 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.
At UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008, Silva made his debut at Light Heavyweight (205 lb (93 kg)) in a bout against James Irvin. Silva won via KO due to strikes in 1:01 of the first round after catching Irvin's attempted leg kick with his left arm and delivering a straight right that dropped Irvin to the mat, Silva then finished a prone Irvin with a blitz of punches to the head.[29][30][31][32]
Silva's next fight was on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90 in Rosemont, Illinois, Silva defended his Middleweight title against Patrick Côté. In the third round, Côté landed awkwardly on his right leg while throwing a kick and fell to the mat grasping his right knee in pain. Referee Herb Dean declared the fight over when Côté could not continue, ruling the bout a TKO victory for Silva. Côté, however, became the first of Silva's UFC opponents to make it past the 2nd round.
After his fight with Côté, Silva was criticized for seemingly avoiding contact during the bout.[33][34] Dana White criticized Silva, saying: "I didn't understand Silva's tactics... It wasn't the Anderson Silva I've been watching the last two years."[35] Silva said in the post-fight news conference:[36]
"There are many people saying I was disrespecting Cote, but this is absolutely not true. My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn’t waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault."
On April 18, 2009 at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada, Anderson Silva defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Thales Leites by Unanimous Decision, and recorded his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. Thales Leites is credited with being the first man in UFC history to take Silva through 5 rounds to a judges' decision. The crowd repeatedly booed his lackluster performance, bored expression, and frustrated attempts to goad his opponent into fighting, and in the 4th and 5th rounds took to dancing, lowering his guard and slapping his opponent without retaliation. Following the fight, Dana White has stated that he was "embarrassed" by Silva's performance, but still said that he believes him to be "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world".[37]
At UFC 101 which took place on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Silva again fought at 205 pounds against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was knocked down three times in the first round. The bout earned Silva Beatdown of the Year honors from Sherdog. The bout shared those honors with the second bout between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir.[38] Both fighters were awarded $60,000 as Fight of the Night bonuses and Silva received $60,000 in bonus money for Knockout of the Night.
After defeating Griffin, a Yahoo! Sports reporter allegedly claimed that Silva's manager, Ed Soares, had confirmed that Silva would abandon his Middleweight belt to fight at Light Heavyweight.[39] However, Soares and a UFC spokesperson confirmed that a conversation agreeing Silva would permanently move up to Light Heavyweight never took place. Silva did not relinquish his title to fight exclusively at Light Heavyweight. Soares stated his attorney plans to speak to Yahoo! Sports about the matter.[40]
Silva was expected to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship against Vitor Belfort on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108. However, Ed Soares announced that the bout would not take place as Silva would not be fully recovered from surgery.[41] Silva was then set to face Belfort on February 6, 2010 at UFC 109.[42] The fight, however, was dependent on Silva's healing, which he described as "not going as planned."[43] The fight was canceled because of Silva's slow recovery.[44] Silva was once again scheduled to face Belfort on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112.[45] The fight was later canceled again due to an injury to Belfort.[46] Demian Maia was selected to fill the spot and take on Silva for the belt.
In the first two rounds fighting Maia, Silva appeared to mock his opponent while employing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change. He looked to Maia to be the aggressor while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva for his conduct. The crowd began to side with Maia, who was the only fighter attempting to engage.[47] After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Silva was widely criticized for his performance. Dana White said it was the most embarrassed he had ever been since becoming UFC president.[48] Midway through the fourth round, White walked away from the fight and gave the championship belt to Silva's manager, Ed Soares. White was so annoyed that he declined to personally place the belt around Silva's waist, claiming it was the first time he had done so after a title match.[49] It was also claimed that Silva verbally insulted Maia multiple times during the fight.[50]
In the immediate post-fight interview, Silva apologized and said he did not know what got into him and said he should have been more humble. However, in the official post-fight press conference, he said he "owed nobody an apology" and that "he couldn't please everyone". He also made multiple references about how Demian insulted him. In the same conference, Dana White apologized to the fans that "bought this shit", and said he would make it up to them.
On August 7, 2010, Silva faced Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 117. In the first round, Sonnen stunned Silva with a punch before taking him down and dominating from the top position, landing multiple blows. The following three rounds played out in a similar fashion, going to the ground early with Sonnen dominating from inside Silva's guard. In the fifth round, Silva slipped while ducking under Sonnen's left hook and the challenger took advantage by once again establishing a top position and delivering strikes to Silva. With about two minutes left in the round, Silva was able to lock up a triangle armbar on Sonnen, forcing Sonnen to submit at 3:10 of Round 5.
Silva was hit more in the fight than in his entire career. According to CompuStrike, in his first 11 UFC fights, Silva was hit 208 times. Sonnen hit him a total of 289 times.[51] After the bout it was revealed that Sonnen would have won a judges' decision. All three judges had Sonnen marked as the winner of all four rounds, judges Nelson Hamilton and Dan Stell had Sonnen taking Round 1 10–8, as well as Hamilton awarding the challenger another 10–8 total in Round 3.[52]
Silva allegedly went into the fight with injured ribs and his doctor advised him not to fight. During the first round, he cracked his rib and was out until 2011 because of the injury.[53] Following the fight the California State Athletic Commission confirmed that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PED's).[54][55] Doping tests revealed Sonnen had an elevated testosterone level which fell outside of the normal range prior to his fight with Silva.[56] Dana White announced that Sonnen would get a rematch when Silva returns. This was revoked after the issue with PEDs came to light, but Dana White had a change of heart and scheduled the rematch.
Silva faced Vitor Belfort on February 5, 2011 at UFC 126.[57] Belfort was expected to face Yushin Okami on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122, but was replaced by Nate Marquardt.[58] After a "feeling out" period of about two and a half minutes in the first round, Silva and Belfort started to trade strikes. Silva landed a brutal front kick to Belfort's jaw and followed up with punches to the grounded challenger. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight at 3:25 minutes into the first round.[59] Silva extended his record streak of title defenses to eight and his overall record to 30–4.
Silva then faced Yushin Okami on August 27, 2011 at UFC 134. He defeated the Japanese middleweight by TKO at 2:04 of round 2, displaying fantastic head movement and pinpoint striking, comparable to his destruction over Forrest Griffin. His record then went to 31-4, avenging his DQ loss to Okami back in 2006.
Dana White has confirmed a rematch with Chael Sonnen will be Silva's next fight.[60]
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