The start of Anderson Silva’s legendary title reign has been uploaded.
Fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil, the middleweight will go down as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) 185-pound champions that has ever stepped into the UFC octagon.
Silva made his UFC debut within the title eliminator in 2006 and his career skyrocketed following his knockout win over Chris Leben, with the 44-year-old winning the middleweight championship at UFC 64 by beating Rich Franklin in dominant fashion.
That win started a lengthy title reign that saw Anderson Silva successfully defend his belt ten times, which is still the most title reigns recorded for a middleweight champion. Along the way, the Brazilian defeated big names such as Dan Henderson (via submission at UFC 82), Forrest Griffin (via knockout at UFC 101), Chael Sonnen (at UFC 117 and UFC 148), and Stephan Bonnar (via TKO at UFC 153).
Ultimately, Silva would lose the middleweight title to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 due to him showboating during the bout, and while he hasn’t been the same since his fights against Weidman, no one can ever erase the historic reign of Anderson Silva.
Check out Anderson Silva winning the UFC Middleweight title: