Anderson Silva

Anderson Da Silva (born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion.

Silva is currently ranked as the number one middleweight in the world by multiple MMA publications, and Sherdog ranks Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Silva has announced his intentions to retire as soon as his current contract with the UFC is complete.

Since 2006 he has been the UFC Middleweight Champion, and he is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. He currently holds the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC after getting his ninth win defeating Thales Leites in a five round unanimous decision. 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.

Professional Boxing Career

Anderson Silva has fought two professional fights in boxing. He fought once in 1998 against Osmar Luiz Teixeira which Silva lost by second round TKO.

He stepped back into the ring in 2005 to face Julio Cesar De Jesus. De Jesus had never boxed before as a professional and Silva won by KO in round two.

Pride Fighting Championships and Cage Rage

In 2002, Silva began fighting in Pride. 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. Considering his record at the time - with only four wins to seven losses - Takase was a strong underdog. Surprisingly, after dominating most of the fight with takedowns, top position, and effective ground and pound, Takase submitted Silva with a triangle choke late in the first round. After his loss to Takase, Silva fought in other promotions around the world.

On June 27, 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 on December 31 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. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit. After the loss to Chonan, 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 before fighting in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he fought Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Although he was labeled as the favorite to win the tournament, Silva lost his fight 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 face or to the head when your back's on the ground. So the rules weren't explained to me properly." Nonetheless, Silva was disqualified, and remains bitter about the incident. "I feel it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning," said Silva. "People that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn't."

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.


Ultimate Fighting 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 June 28, 2006. His opponent was The Ultimate Fighter 1 contestant Chris Leben who had gone undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive victories. A relatively unknown fighter in the United States, Silva made an emphatic debut when he knocked out Leben with a flurry of strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. 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 in 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 then crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida. Anderson Silva is expected to make his second stint in the light heavy weight division against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. The bout is all but confirmed by numerous sources, and can be expected at UFC 101.


Defending the Belt

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 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. Silva won via triangle choke submission in the 2nd 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 in Cincinnati, Ohio at the U.S. Bank Arena. 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 bought (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Silva defended his title by defeating Henderson via rear naked choke in the 2nd round.Around four months later, at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008, Silva made his debut at light-heavyweight (Template:Conver) in a bout against James Irvin. Silva won via KO due to strikes in 1:01 of the first round. Silva's next fight, on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90 in Rosemont, Illinois, Silva again defended his middleweight title, this time 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 obvious 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. 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." Silva said in the post-fight news conference: "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 December 23, 2008, it was announced that Anderson Silva's next fight will be a title defense against Thales Leites at UFC 97 in Montreal. Dana White recently said in an interview that if Georges St.-Pierre is able to defeat B.J. Penn at UFC 94, he will then set up a fight between the number one welterweight St. Pierre and number one middleweight Anderson Silva. St.-Pierre did defeat B.J. Penn, so it remains to be seen whether St.-Pierre will be matched up against Silva after their respective fights with Thales Leites and Thiago Alves. At UFC 97 Anderson Silva defeated Thales Leites by Unanimous Decision, defending his Middleweight Championship and recording his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. This also was the longest fight Silva has ever had in the UFC, making it all the way through the fight. 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 "embarassed" by Silva's performance, but still said that he believes him to be "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world". Pursuant to rumors circulating around the MMA community and the internet, it was confirmed by Dana White on April 28, 2009 that Silva would again move up to light heavyweight, squaring off with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. Griffin had been previously slated to take on Thiago Silva.

Record

In June 2009, Anderson Silva was nominated for the 2009 ESPYS "Best Fighter" category, along with Lyoto Machida, Manny Pacquiao, and Shane Mosley. However, Silva didn't gain enough votes and the award was won instead by pro boxer Manny Pacquiao.

Anderson joined the cast of Never Surrender, released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009.