Anderson (photo) won the UFC belt in October 2006. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Last week, Anderson Silva celebrated the eight-year anniversary of winning his UFC belt. On October 14, 2006, the “Spider” knocked out Rich Franklin to become the organization's middleweight champion, beginning one of the longest reigns in UFC history.
To celebrate the date, the SUPER FIGHTS takes a look back at Anderson's long career in the ring and cage, which goes from the fights in Brazil, the stumbles in Japan, the success in England to winning the UFC.
The beginning in Brazil and the passage through PRIDE
Anderson Silva He began his professional career in MMA at the age of 22, but in a short time he emerged on the international scene. Interspersing fights in Brazil and abroad, in 2001 the fighter won what he considers his first world title by beating the tough Japanese Hayato Sakurai in Shooto. Thus, his debut at PRIDE, the biggest MMA event at the time, was just a matter of time.
And in his first fight in the Japanese organization, in June 2002, Anderson already left his mark. His opponent was Alex Stiebling, or “Brazilian Killer”, as he called himself. This is because the North American was coming from a sequence of six victories against Brazilian athletes, including over veterans Allan Góes and Wallid Ismail, already in PRIDE. But, with Anderson, the story was different: in just over a minute of fighting, Spider showed his sharp muay thai and connected a powerful shin to Stiebling's forehead, which opened a large cut and forced the doctors to stop the fight. Such a devastating performance caused the American to remove his shorts, which had the nickname “Brazilian Killer” printed on them, and give them to Anderson as a gift.
Even though Anderson followed up with two dominant wins, including a fine knockout against former UFC champion Carlos Newton with a flying knee, his PRIDE career didn't take off. In June 2003, Spider suffered a surprising defeat against Japan's Daiju Takase. Apathetic, the Brazilian did not cope with his rival's ground game and was caught with a fair triangle, being forced to give the “three taps”.
The result, along with a disagreement with his then team, Chute Boxe, caused drastic changes in Anderson's career. He joined forces with his brothers Rodrigo Minotauro e Rogério Minotouro and started to fight in other organizations: in Brazil, he participated in Conquista Fight and beat “Diamante Negro” Waldir dos Anjos; in South Korea, he defeated veteran Jeremy Horn at Gladiator FC; and, finally, he made his debut in the British Cage Rage. In a fight surrounded by provocations, valid for the organization's vacant middleweight belt, Spider overcame the controversial Lee Murray and won the title.
On December 31, 2004, Anderson tried once again to stand out in PRIDE, but the result again didn't come. After dominating Ryo Chonan for two and a half rounds, the Brazilian suffered one of the most beautiful submissions in MMA history when he was caught with a flying heel hook.
Anderson is submitted by Chonan at PRIDE Shockwave 2004. Photo: Disclosure
Anderson enchants England and the world of MMA
Outside of PRIDE, Anderson turned his attention to Cage Rage, where he defended his belt twice by knocking out Jorge Rivera and Curtis Stout. However, he also participated in a tournament in Hawaii at the Rumble on The Rock event, but lost to Yushin Okami when he was disqualified for performing an illegal pedal stroke. In his next fight, however, the shine returned: Anderson defended his Cage Rage belt for the third time in a knockout that oozed beauty and technique, with a well-aimed elbow to Tony Fryklund's face.
Striking debut boosted Brazilian in UFC
Anderson (left) hits Leben (right); fight at UFN 5 was short-lived. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
England was already too small to Anderson Silva after his third consecutive title defense at Cage Rage, especially due to the way the Brazilian knocked out Tony Fryklund. Thus, in mid-2006, Anderson Silva signed with the UFC and his debut was surrounded by expectation.
As the Brazilian's first opponent, the organization chose the veteran of the first edition of the The Ultimate Fighter Chris Leben, who was undefeated in the octagon and even predicted that he would beat the previously unknown Anderson by knockout.
It was up to the duo to head the card of the fifth edition of the UFC Fight Night on April 22, 2006, a Saturday, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
If the prospect was that Anderson would have a good debut in the Octagon, Spider far exceeded that prediction. In just 49 seconds, the Spider mercilessly massacred Leben, with an 85% success rate in his strikes, in a preliminary sample of the style for which he would later become famous.
In the arms of the people, Spider reached the belt
The impressive debut brought notoriety to Anderson Silva. Soon after the damage to Chris Leben, the UFC launched a poll on its official website asking fans who would be the best opponent for the Brazilian next.
The overwhelming majority voted for a duel between Spider and the then champion, Rich Franklin, and the Ultimate organization responded to the popular outcry. The duel between Anderson and Franklin was scheduled for October 14, 2006, at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas (USA).
It seemed unlikely, but even against a champion in his fourth title defense, Anderson had an even more remarkable performance and won the middleweight title with a technical knockout in just 2:59. In total, the Spider spent just an incredible 3m58s inside the octagon before he was able to wear the championship belt.
The duel against Franklin is still notable today due to the sequence of knees to the clinch applied by Anderson, which forced the former champion to undergo facial reconstruction surgery, especially because of the multiple fractures suffered in his nose.
For Silva, that was the first of eleven consecutive victories in title fights, a record in the history of Ultimate, and the second step in an undefeated streak in the octagon that lasted exactly 2565 days – between April 28, 2006, when he won Chris Leben, and July 6, 2013, when he was defeated by Chris Weidman.
[vox id=”25995″]
Comments