411 Fighter Profiles 04.08.08: Anderson Silva
Posted by on 04.08.2008
It’s the debut of 411 Fighter Profiles! It's more than just a list of wins and losses, this is an in-depth look at the brightest and best in MMA, including videos of some of their greatest fights! In our first edition of this ongoing feature, 411mania’s Adam Tool tells you everything you want to know about the career of the #1 fighter in the world, Anderson Silva!
Anderson Silva
Nickname: "The Spider" Record: 21-4 Weight: 185 lbs. Height: 6' 2" Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil Ranking:#1 Pound-For-Pound, #1 Middleweight Association: Black House Organizations: UFC (current), PRIDE FC, Cage Rage, Rumble On The Rock, Shooto, Mecca Accomplishments: UFC Middleweight Champion (current), Unified UFC Middleweight & PRIDE Welterweight Championship, Cage Rage World Middleweight Champion (current), Shooto Middleweight Champion
Introduction
In this world of mixed martial arts there are thousands of competitors fighting in hundreds of organizations around the world, each of them working toward the chance to ply their trade on the biggest stage against the best this sport has to offer. Among all those guys (and gals) that consider MMA to be their profession, there is only one that stands at the top as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He is the current UFC middleweight champion. He is undefeated against top competition in his last seven fights. He is one of the best and most dangerous strikers to ever compete in this sport. He is "The Spider," Anderson Silva.
Early Life
Anderson Silva was born in Curitiba, Brazil on April 14th, 1975. He first entered the world of martial arts in 1989 when he started learning tae kwon do at age 14. For the next 11 years he worked several odd jobs, doing everything from clerical work to flipping burgers at McDonald's, but he never gave up his training. In 1998 he tried his hand at boxing and lost to Osmar Teixeira. Soon he moved on to Muay Thai and eventually mixed martial arts.
Training
Early on in his career Anderson trained with Chute Boxe Academny, where he met up-and-coming fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Maurico "Shogun" Rua. However in 2003 he left the camp and started training with Chute Boxe rivals the Nogueira brothers at Brazilian Top Team. Soon they would form Muay Thai Dream Team, which was eventually renamed Black House. In addition to Silva and the Nogueira's, Black House is also the current training camp for up-and-coming UFC light heavyweight Lyoto Machida.
MMA Career
Loss, Luiz Azeredo, decision (split), round 2, 10:00 Mecca World Vale Tudo 1, Curitiba, Brazil, 05.27.00 Win, Jose Barreto, TKO (strikes), round 1, 1:06 Mecca World Vale Tudo 2, Curitiba, Brazil, 08.12.00
-Although Silva lost his first time in MMA, his bout with Barreto would kick off a 9 fight win streak. It would also be the first of many spectacular finishes.
Win, Claudionor Fontinelle, TKO (strikes), round 1, 4:35 Mecca World Vale Tudo 4, Curitiba, Brazil, 12.16.00 Win, Tetsuji Kato, decision (unanimous), round 3, 5:00 Shooto: To The Top 2, Tokyo, Japan, 03.02.01 Win, Israel Albuquerque, submission (strikes), round 1, 6:17 Mecca World Vale Tudo 5, Curitiba, Brazil, 06.09.01 Win, Hayato Sakurai, decision (unanimous), round 3, 5:00, Shooto Middleweight Championship Shooto: To The Top 7, Osaka, Japan, 08.26.01
-Silva wins his first championship in the Shooto middleweight (167 lbs.) division, and hands Sakurai his first loss. Unfortunately he would never get the chance to defend his title, as the next time Silva fought in Japan it would be under the banner of PRIDE FC. The belt was then vacated for three years until it was won by Jake Shields in July 2004. Win, Roan Carneiro, submission (punches), round 1, (time unknown) Mecca World Vale Tudo 6, Curitiba, Brazil, 01.31.02 Win, Alex Stiebling, TKO (doctor stoppage), round 1, 1:23 PRIDE 21: Demolition, Saitama, Japan, 06.23.02
-This is Anderson's debut in PRIDE, and he made a big impact right away. Prepare for one of the nastiest head kicks ever delivered.
Win, Alexander Otsuka, decision (unanimous), round 3, 5:00 PRIDE 22: Beasts From The East 2, Nagoya, Japan, 09.22.02 Win, Carlos Newton, TKO (strikes), round 1, 6:27 PRIDE 25: Body Blow, Yokohama, Japan, 03.16.03 Loss, Daiju Takase, submission (triangle choke), round 1, 8:33 PRIDE 26: Bad To The Bone, Yokohama, Japan, 06.08.03
-Anderson suffers his first loss in three years, against a guy he was a huge favorite to beat. Of course that's one of the great things about MMA: anything can happen. After the loss Silva would spend the next 18 months fighting around the world before he returned to PRIDE in late 2004. Win, Waldir dos Anjos, TKO (corner stoppage), round 1, 5:00 Conquista Fight 1, Brazil, 12.23.03 Win, Jeremy Horn, decision (unanimous), round 3, 5:00 Gladiator FC: Day 2, South Korea, 06.27.04 Win, Lee Murray, decision (unanimous), round 3, 5:00, Cage Rage Middleweight Championship Cage Rage 8: Knights Of The Octagon, London, England, 09.11.04
-This was Silva's first fight in Europe, as well as his debut in Cage Rage. He won the Cage Rage World Middleweight Championship, and still holds the title to this day. He would defend it three times before joining the UFC.
Loss, Ryo Chonan, submission (flying scissor heel hook), round 3, 3:08 PRIDE: Shockwave 2004, Saitama, Japan, 12.31.04 Win, Jorge Rivera, TKO, round 2, 3:53, Cage Rage Middleweight Championship Cage Rage 11: Face Off, London, England, 04.30.05 Win, Curtis Stout, KO, round 1, 4:59, Cage Rage Middleweight Championship Cage Rage 14: Punishment, London, England, 12.03.05 Loss, Yushin Okami, DQ (illegal kick), round 1, 2:33 Rumble On The Rock 8, Honolulu, HI, 01.20.06
-This would be the last time Silva tasted defeat in his MMA career. Once again "The Spider" was responsible for another unforgettable finish.
Win, Tony Fryklund, KO (elbow), round 1, 2:02, Cage Rage Middleweight Championship Cage Rage 16: Critical Condition, London, England, 04.22.06
-After this fight the bright lights and big paydays of the UFC welcomed Anderson Silva with open arms. In his final fight for Cage Rage he delivered one of the greatest knockouts in his career.
Win, Chris Leben, KO (knee), round 1, 0:49 Ultimate Fight Night 5, Las Vegas, NV, 06.28.06
-Not only was this Anderson's debut in the UFC, it was also his first time fighting in the continental U.S. The fight was aired on Spike TV and gave "The Spider" a national stage to grab everyone's attention. He did just that by knocking out the previously un-knock-out-able Chris Leben in less than 1 minute. Win, Rich Franklin, TKO (strikes), round 1, 2:59, UFC Middleweight Championship UFC 64: Unstoppable, Las Vegas, NV, 10.14.06 Win, Travis Lutter, submission (triangle choke), round 2, 2:11 UFC 67: All Or Nothing, Las Vegas, NV, 02.03.07
-Originally this was supposed to be Silva's first defense of his newly won middleweight title, but Lutter failed to make weight and it became a non-title fight. In the end it didn't matter as Silva submitted Lutter, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, with a triangle choke (and some elbows) early in the second round. Win, Nate Marquardt, TKO (strikes), round 1, 4:50, UFC Middleweight Championship UFC 73: Stacked, Sacramento, CA 07.07.07 Win, Rich Franklin, TKO (strikes), round 2, 1: 07, UFC Middleweight Championship UFC 77: Hostile Territory, Cincinatti, OH 10.20.07
-This was the second meeting between "The Spider" and the "Ace" after Silva beat Franklin to win the UFC middleweight belt, and it was held almost exactly a year after their first encounter. The end result was the same both times: Silva won the fight, and Franklin had to have surgery to repair his broken nose. Win, Dan Henderson, Submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:52, Unified UFC & Pride Middleweight Championship UFC 82: Pride Of A Champion, Columbus, OH, 03.01.08
The Future
With his last win Silva defeated the man that was supposed to be his biggest challenge to date, and unified the 185 lbs. belts for the two largest fighting organizations in history. Where exactly does one go after an accomplishment like that? He has quite nearly cleaned out the UFC middleweight division, and made it clear that there's nobody currently in the organization that poses a threat to his title reign. Rumors (and common sense) are saying that Silva will next get the chance to avenge his most recent loss by defending his middleweight championship against Yushin Okami, but as you saw Okami was the one that got knocked out in that fight. At this stage of their careers I see no reason why Silva wouldn't win a potential rematch.
Whomever the UFC places in front of "The Spider," fans will come out, and tune in, to watch.
They'll watch because they know when Anderson Silva steps into the cage, you're going to get your money's worth.
I know I'll be watching because I don't want to miss out on the chance to see one of the greatest fighters of all time.
