Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer.

He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days.

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.

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 167 lb) and the first man to defeat Sakurai, who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.

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.

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.

UFC president Dana White, UFC commentator Joe Rogan and numerous mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits have named Silva as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

Silva was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2023.