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When you watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship you want to see skill and drama. Anderson Silva gave you just that. He was the best pound-for-pound fighter of his time, and many consider him the best of all time. If you were to look at the MMA odds from Fanduel, you’d notice that none compare to the favorited numbers they gave to Silva.
In 2013, Silva was considered the best UFC champion of all time. He had earned his Middleweight title in 2006 and has defended it year after year with absolutely no real challenge against him. Silva even took on some lightweight fights and won those too.
Looking back through his stats, Anderson has the longest UFC winning streak of all time, having defended his Middleweight belt a whopping 10 times.
Silva is a living legend, and if you look back on some of his matches, you can see just how much talent and strength goes into his strikes. In the match against Bonnar, we saw everything Silva had to offer at once. He grappled Bonnar’s chops, pulled him down to a slick trip takedown that almost broke Bonnar’s knee. Silva was brash and a wild shot, managing to land in the kill while defending himself.
Even the shoulder-to-shoulder strikes showed us Silva’s commitment to the dangerous sport.
When Anderson achieved the middleweight championship title for two years running and finished every UFC fight after just two rounds, he was moved up to a heavyweight category.
Silva had started his middleweight dominion, and he was starting to develop an air of untouchable radiance. But even with these amazing accomplishments behind him, many people didn’t know how this middleweight champion would fare against a heavyweight fighter. Not only was Silva out weighted, but he was also against James Irvin. Irvin was an unstoppable force.
However the bookies knew something that the rest of us didn’t. Silva was placed as the favourite, despite his new energy into the heavyweight category. We didn’t know how this “spider” would do against a thicker opponent.
Well, we were answered in the blink of 61 seconds.
Silva caught a body kick that should have knocked him to the ground, then he pulled out a right cross, and the crowd hushed. Irvin dropped. The match was over. The unstoppable force had fallen.
It’s no surprise that Anderson Silva has developed a worldwide fanbase. None can put him down.
If you’re in the ring and your opponent drops their hands to their sides, they are suggesting that you are so weak that they don’t need to block you. The act is more of a statement than a reality, as most fighters who try this end up with a strike to the face as soon as they are within range. The taunt is meant to put the opponent into a state of anger and emotion, leaving an opening for you, but it rarely goes down well.
However, Silva played this very card against former heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. Silva knew he was so much better than this measly fighter, so he walked forward, calm and with his hands by his side.
Griffin went for the jab, but Silva got there first. With one hit, he knocked Forrest out.
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