UFC Profiles: Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva started his fighting career in the welterweight category. In 1997, he submitted Raimundo Pinheiro. He also fought Fabricio Camoes, a future UFC fighter, and disposed of him via TKO. However, his next fight took place 3 years from then in 2000 and he suffered a loss via unanimous decision. This did not diminish his confidence, as he went on to win 9 fights in a row with 6 of them being finished.
PRIDE and Cage Rage days:
Of Silvas 9 fight win streak, 3 were held in the PRIDE organisation. He started with a decision win against Alexander Otsuka and a brutal TKO against former welterweight champion Carlos Newton. However, his third fight in the promotion was a loss against underdog Daiju Takase. Takase only had a record of 4 wins and 7 losses but proceeded to dominate Silva and get the stoppage via submission. In the fight, you could really see the lack of experience from Silva on the ground as Takase smothered him and slowly wore him down with a multitude of submission attempts until he was finally locked in a triangle choke after Silva tried escaping the side mount. This defeat severely damaged Silva's confidence, to the extent that he was considering retiring.
After the defeat, UFC veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira convinced him to keep on going and advised him to leave PRIDE and fight in other organisations. He then left his team at Chute Boxe and joined the Noguiera brothers at Brazillian Top Team. He fought in numerous promotions such as Cage Rage in England before losing in his return to PRIDE. Silva racked up more title defences before entering Hawaii's rumble of the rock tournament. Entering the tournament as a favourite, Silva would suffer a loss against Yushin Okami via disqualification. Yushin was given the opportunity to carry on but opted for an instant win. Silva would bash Yushin in his statement calling him a coward for taking the easy way out.
Silva went on to defend his Cage Rage middleweight title before joining the UFC.
UFC: Anderson Silva ERA
Silva made his debut in UFC Fight Night 5 against Ultimate Fighter contestant Chris Leben. Leben was very confident in his ability as he was on a 5 win undefeated streak in the UFC. Silva proceeded to shine in his debut, out striking Leben and finishing him with a knee in the first round.
Silva was such a fan favourite that the UFC sent out a poll to ask the fans who they want to see him fight next. The fans chose the middleweight champion, Rich Franklin. Rich Franklin, now the vice president of one championship, boasted a record of 22 wins and 1 loss coming into the fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 64. Rich Franklin struggled with southpaws and Anderson Silva took advantage, outmanoeuvring him and hitting him with consistent counters. Silva controlled Franklin with a double collar tie, hitting him with vicious knees. Rich Franklin said the knees were 'slowly shutting down his body' as soon as they hit him. Silva continued to dominate in the clinch, overpowering the champion. Rich Franklin continued to block the knees until his arms went numb as Anderson Silva went for the kill with knees to the head, stopping the champion inside the first round.
Silva was to have his first title defence at UFC 67 against The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Travis Lutter. However, due to Lutter missing weight, the fight was made as a non-title bout. Many speculated that Lutters' only chance would be to take the fight to the ground as he was a jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlos Machado. Silva won via the combined force of a triangle choke and vicious elbows.
The next two title defences were against Nate Marquardt and Rich Franklin. Both of these ended by TKO. His next title defence was a unification bout with PRIDE middleweight champion Dan Henderson. Henderson was favoured on the ground as he was an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler. Silva defeated Henderson via a rear-naked choke and decided to move up to light heavyweight to fight James Irvin. Silva Koed Irvin after catching a leg kick and following up with a straight right in the very first round.
Silva decided to defend his middleweight title at UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. This was the start of a spur of criticism against Silva's antics in the ring. In the third round, Cote landed awkwardly on his leg, hurting his right knee. The fight was stopped and the decision was ruled a TKO. Dana White was the first to voice his criticism against the lacklustre performance, saying that 'it wasn't the Anderson I've seen for the last two years.' Silva responded to the criticism by informing everyone the gameplan was to go the distance and not finish in the early rounds.
Silva's next fight marked his 9th consecutive win as he beat Thales Leites via unanimous decision. In the fight, it seemed fans turned against Anderson due to his lacklustre performance and his bored expression. Anderson repeatedly lowered his guard in the 4th and 5th rounds beckoning his opponent to fight, but Leites was exhausted and couldn't put up any resistance. One thing fans didn't see was the two fighters wanted very different things, Anderson wanted to stand up and wait on the counter while Leites wanted the fight on the ground. The clash of gameplans made the fight less exciting, resulting in Dana White calling the fight 'embarrassing'.
Stepping away from the middleweight division, Silva once again decided to go up to light heavyweight to face Forrest Griffin. Silva showcased his elusive fighting skills and knocked down Griffin 3 times in the first round. Anderson Silva seemingly reignited the excitement of the fans within one round of fighting. The fight got the knockout of the night and the fight of the night.
Vitor Belfort was expected to be Silva's next opponent but their bout was cancelled three times due to recurring injuries from Silva and an injury on Belfort's part once. Damian Maia was next in line for the title shot and fans were once again angered due to Anderson's taunting and bored expression. Anderson seemed to switch off as Maia was the only one trying to engage in the fight. By the fourth round, President Dana White gave the belt to Silva's manager and left the event. Silva apologised, claiming he needed to evaluate the humility that brought him all this success.
Teddy Atlas, an esteemed boxing trainer and disciple of the legendary Cus D'Amato, once said that there is no fight without adversity. Silva's first taste of adversity within the UFC was against Chael Sonnen. In the first round, Chael capitalised off of a few setups and got the takedown. His ground and pound proved effective as he hit Silva a total of 289 times. To put this into perspective, out of his last 11 UFC fights before Chael Sonnen, Silva had been hit 208 times. Chael proceeded to rinse and repeat his takedown to the ground and pound for five rounds. With about two minutes left of the fight, Silva locked in a triangle choke and snatched the victory. This was the closest fight Silva had been in when fighting in the UFC. Silva claimed he was fighting whilst having a cracked rib which obviously hindered his performance. A rematch was put in place but Chael tested positive for synthetic testosterone, destroying any chance of an instant rematch.
Silva extended his streak of title defences to 8 by disposing of Vitor Belfort via KO in the first round. The fight consisted of a feeling out process until the two men started exchanging and Silva threw a devastating front kick that caused Belfort to collapse.
Silva would then avenge his DQ loss at the hands of Yushin Okami by defeating him via TKO in the 2nd round. His next fight was a long-awaited rematch against Chael Sonnen. The fight proved controversial as the end blow was a knee to the body while Sonnen was on the floor. Fans speculated whether it was legal as the knee could have hit the face which would then mean Silva would've been disqualified.
His next fight was at light heavyweight against Bonnar in which Silva became the first person to finish Bonnar.
Title loss and Post Championship Fights:
Anderson Silva retired after the Bonnar fight but decided to return to defend his title against Chris Weidmann. Silva was the favourite going into the fight but was dealt a shocking upset defeat by KO in the second after a failed attempt at showboating.
This was the start of a decline in Anderson Silva's performances. A rematch was put together for UFC 168 and Silva suffered his second defeat via TKO. In the second round, Silva checked one of Weidmann's kicks, causing his fibula and tibia to break.
Despite many fans urging him to retire, Silva signed a 15 fight contract that replaced his contract that had 8 fights left. His first fight post-injury was set against Nick Diaz. Silva won the unanimous decision but was later found to have tested positive for two anabolic steroids, resulting in the fight being changed to a no contest. Silva's defence in the case for the disciplinary hearing argued the test failed due to a tainted sexual enhancement drug on his trip to Thailand. They also commented on the commission not following procedures properly. The Commission rejected his defence and took 30% of his fight purse as well as his full win bonus. He was also banned for a year.
After his 1 year suspension, Silva faced Michael Bisping. The fight proved controversial as Silva dropped Bisping by a flying knee while Bisping was signalling to the referee that he had lost his mouthpiece. While Silva was celebrating, Herb Dean told him the fight was still on. The fight went the distance and Silva lost the fight via unanimous decision. Silva went on to lose against Daniel Cormier in a non-title bout via a unanimous decision.
Derek Brunson would be Silva's last win and that proved to be controversial as many thought Brunson won the fight. Anderson later faced Israel Adesanya, the current middleweight champion. At the time, Adesanya was rising through the ranks and found himself fighting one of his idols in Anderson Silva. The bout proved to be technical with both men having their moments. Adesanya won via unanimous decision. At this stage, it felt like the passing of the torch between the two as Israel had begun his rise in the sport, while Silva was making his way out. In my opinion, this would've been the perfect place to retire. However, Silva still had a competitive spirit in him and decided to fight 2 more times against Uriah Hall and Jarod Cannonier both fights resulting in TKO losses. At this point, the UFC has released Silva, opening him up to other organisations.
Anderson Silva has etched his name into UFC history, reigning in the middleweight division for the longest ever recorded time. He had a journey full of ups and downs, full of dominance and controversy. Although he is not in his prime, he still has the desire to compete and win which keeps him going. Teddy Atlas commented on Silva's greatness on his podcast: 'It's always sad when you see someone who is great stay too long. For all Silva's greatness, there will be people out there diminishing his legacy. The sad part is some people will never see his greatness. ' To this point, I do feel Anderson Silva may have stayed in the fighting game too long, but you can't take what he's accomplished away from him. You can't take away the grace he had whilst in the octagon, the sheer dominance, the brutality he inflicted whilst displaying a calm demeanour. Without a doubt, Anderson Silva will always be known as one of the greatest of all time.
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