Anderson Silva

Life

Brief History

Anderson "The Spider" silva is a mixed martial arts fighter from Brazil who was born april 14th, 1975. Anderson is the current UFC middlweight champion and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Making his name fightin in king of the cage, shooto, rumble on the rock and Pride, "The Spider" was always regarded as a tough fighter, but few realized the potential in this man. Once Silva entered the UFC, it was hard not to see what a force he would be to reckon with.

Entering the UFC

Anderson's first fight in the UFC was against a tough Chris Leben who, at the time, was thought to have a chin of steel. The wide open stance from Leben and his lack of boxing technique turned this fight into a one sided beating. Anderson walk straight up to Leben and scrambled his brains with two stiff jabs. Leben was noticably shaken by the punches but contiued to press forward to attack the brazlian. Once he entered Silva's range, it became clear to everyone that Anderson Silva posses pin-pint accuracy with his fists. He hit Leben with a barage of punches that all landed flush. Leben slumped to the floor, obviously hurt, but managed to get back to his feet. Then Anderson showed us what the most devastating part of his game is, his Muay-thai clinch. Silva wrapped his hands around the back of the stunned lebens head and delievered one solid knee to his opponent which proved to be the last nail in the coffin. Since that day, Anderson has been both feared and respected in the middleweight devision.

A Star is Born The power of Silva rocks Leben's world.

Most fans were skeptical of the newly introduced Silva when he was awarded a title shot against then champion Rich "Ace" Franklin, but after the fight it was clear who deserved to wear that belt. The always agressive Franklin had no answers for the strength and speed of Silva. Once the Muay-thai clinch was applied, Franklin was helpess and defenseless as the knee's crushed his sides. Half way through round number 1 Franklin was noticably hurting, and Anderson could smell the blood. Once against locking up the clinch, Anderson delivered one of the most brutal knee's most had ever seen directly to the nose of the champ. Franklin crashed to the floor and a new champion was crowned.

Pound For Pound The Best

After crushing Franklin in a rematch and stopping jiu-jitsu ace Travis Lutter with a triangle choke, the hyped fight was being set-up between Dan henderon (pride middleweight champ) and Anderson Silva. With Nate Marquardt falling victim to the spider's power, Henderson looked like the only middleweight that could stop Silva. Unfortunetly, like the fighters before him, Henderson was rocked by knee's and eventually choked out after a solid effort. That victory left Anderson Silva atop the pound for pound best in the world rankings at many highly respected MMA publications. It's hard now to imagine a middleweight being able to defeat anderson Silva, even more so after he moved up in weight to light heavyweight for a special fight with James Irvin, which Silva won in devastating fashion. So the challenge still remains out in the open. Rumors continue to swirl about a potential boxing match between Silva and Roy Jones Jr, but the match is un-likely to happen anytime soon. Even most interesting are statements from George St. Pierre (welterweight champion) that he would like to move up and face Silva at 185 for the title. Whatever happens, you can be sure that Silva will be well prepared to face anyone at 185.

Stats

Tale of the Tape

• Age: 34
• Height: 6'2"
• Weight: 205 lbs.
• Reach: 78"

Other

• Born: Curitiba, Brazil
• Fighting out of: Curitiba, Brazil
• Record: 25-4-0
• Division(s): Welterweight (170), Middleweight (185), Light Heavyweight (205)

Trivia

• Silva has a boxing record of 1-1.
• He appears in the movie Never Surrender.
• He has a black belt in Judo, Tae-kwon-do, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
• He is the Cage Rage Middleweight Champion.
• He owns the record for most consecutive UFC wins with 14.