Anderson Silva is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history and it seems his time in the UFC has come to an end. After his fight with Uriah Hall back in October, Silva was let go by the organization. At 46 years old, Silva walks away from MMA as a legend.
While being a guest on Ariel Helwani's show, Silva breaks down how he is done with MMA, but might still participate in combat sports.
According to Marc Raimondi, Anderson Silva “will still compete in other combat sports, he told Helwani. The Brazilian legend is already booked to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a boxing match June 19 in Guadalajara, Mexico. But no more MMA,” he said.
With Silva leaving MMA for good comes the end of an era. During his prime years in the UFC, Anderson Silva was easily one of the best fighters we've ever seen. During his time holding the Middleweight belt, Silva defended the belt 10 times, a record set back in 2012. It was a record that he held for five years until Demetrious Johnson broke it with 11. Jon Jones also notched 11 title defenses, as he secured his 11th title defense in 2020.
Anderson “The Spider” Silva was a master of martial arts. He was known as a dangerous striker, bobbing and swaying his head away from punches then would land a furry of his own. He was also dominant in the clinch, where his knees proved to be one of the deadliest weapons in the UFC during his reign. Additionally, his ground game was solid as well, as he has multiple submission victories throughout his career.
One of the most all-around fighters we've ever seen, Anderson Silva didn't have a weakness in his game. In fact, he made most of his fights look easy throughout most of his historic career. Silva burst into the UFC scene back in 2006 where he launched his UFC career versus Chris Leban. At the time, Leban was viewed as a top contender of the Middleweight division. Silva made quick work of him and won the fight by TKO in the first round. He was then given a title shot immediately, where he destroyed Rich Franklin by TKO in the first round as well.
From there, Silva went on to defend his title 10 times while also fighting at the Lightheavyweight division as well. One of the Spider's most memorable highlights was at UFC 101 when he faced off against Forrest Griffin. At the time, Griffin was one of the top contenders of the Lightheavyweight division and many believed he'd be too much for Silva to handle. Instead, Silva dodged nearly every strike with his hands down, resembling boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Eventually, Silva won the fight by TKO in the first round, where Griffin essentially gave up after being knocked down repeatedly.
Anderson Silva never really faced a challenge until UFC 117 where he fought Chael Sonnen for the first time. Sonnen was a prominent wrestler and utilized his strengths throughout most of the fight. In fact, Sonnen was likely ahead on the scorecards as he continuously took Silva down and punished him with ground and pound. However, just over halfway through the fifth and final round, Silva caught Sonnen with a triangle choke, forcing Sonnen to tap out. It was one of the most impressive finishes in Silva's career, as he pulled off a miraculous submission victory to retain his belt.
His next fight after Sonnen holds Silva's top highlight though. At UFC 126, the Spider was put to the test by Vitor Belfort. At the time, Belfort was known as a knockout artist. It was believed Belfort was the one who could stand and bang with Anderson Silva and finally knock him off the top of the mountain. Instead, Silva kept his distance and landed a perfect front kick to Belfort's face, knocking him unconscious immediately.
There has been plenty of talent in the UFC through the years, but Anderson Silva is more than deserving to be at the top of the list. His prowess in the Octagon is unmatched, as he would put on a spectacular performance in nearly every fight. No other fighter has made their bouts look as easy as Silva did. It got to the point that if Silva put his hands down and used his head movement as his only defense, fans knew it was only a matter of time before the fight was over.
Silva will wind up in the UFC Hall of Fame and be considered as one of the greatest of all time. Many fighters today look up to Anderson Silva as inspiration, similar to how NBA players today looked up to Kobe Bryant. We may never see anyone quite like Silva ever again, but even so, the Spider has left his mark in the MMA world.
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