Anderson Silva

Anderson “The Spider” Silva held the UFC middleweight title for 2,457 days, the longest reign in UFC history, and made it look like performance art. A Muay Thai specialist out of Chute Boxe, he arrived via Cage Rage and Pride, flattened Chris Leben in 49 seconds, took the belt from Rich Franklin in 2006 and defended it ten times, including the Forrest Griffin demolition, the front kick on Vitor Belfort and the last-minute triangle on Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.

Chris Weidman ended the streak at UFC 162 in 2013 and broke his leg in the rematch, but Silva fought on until 2020 before moving into boxing. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023. CagePotato logged every spellbinding knockout, every listless title defence and every bit of the Sonnen feud.

Anderson Silva fact file
Full nameAnderson da Silva
NicknameThe Spider
Date of birth
Place of birthSão Paulo, Brazil
Organisations fought in
  • UFC
  • Pride FC
  • Cage Rage
  • Shooto
Accolades
  • UFC Middleweight Champion (2006–2013, ten title defences)
  • Longest title reign in UFC history (2,457 days)
  • Cage Rage Middleweight Champion
  • Shooto Middleweight Champion
  • UFC Hall of Fame (2023)

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