30 Really Interesting Things To Know About Anderson Silva

19 December 2017, 11:29 am EST By Ruby Karnick

Anderson da Silva, currently ranked the #6 contender in official UFC middleweight rankings, held the longest title streak with 2,457 days in UFC history, which ended in 2013 after 16 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses. Here are some very interesting facts about mixed martial artist:

Silva, popularly called ‘The Spider’ is very popular Brazilian mixed martial artist, who for almost two decades has gathered a lot of major awards and championships.
As one of the most decorated careers in UFC history was removed from the UFC Shanghai main event bout with Kelvin Gastelum on November 25, after failing an out-of-competition usada drug test on October 26.
He was born on April 14, 1975, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He along with his older brother was raised by his mother’s sister from the age of four due to poverty.
He took to ‘Jiu-Jitsu’ watching his neighborhood kids and learnt on his own. At the age of thirteen his mother was able to send him to ‘Tae Kwon Do’ classes and subsequently he learned ‘Capoeira’ and ‘Muay Thai’ by the age of sixteen.
His love for comic book and fascination for comic book heroes makes Spider-man, Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali a personal hero apart from his mother the biggest of his personal heroes.
His penchant for his sister’s dress, her shoes, dolls and even practiced ballet around the age of 14, made lot of people think that he was gay. That probably wasn’t helped by the fact that he has an unusually high-pitched voice.
Around the time Silva was making living teaching jiu-jitsu classes, Rafael Cordeiro, Chute Boxe head coach objected and slapped him during a heated argument. He nearly killed Cordeiro with shot gun, but was talked out of the action when coach didn’t turn-up in time.
He is Brazilian black belt holder in Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Judo and a yellow rope in Capoeira apart from being a professional boxer.
He has trained with Chute Boxe Academy before forming his own Muay Thai Dream Team and moved on to Black House Team in November 2006 finally settling with Nogueira brothers.
According to unofficial record, he lost his first bout to Fabricio Marango. However officially he turned professional in 1997 and won his first bout against Raimundo Pinheiro on June 25, in the same year.

Silva’sfirst official loss came at the hands of Luiz Azeredoof Brazil at the Meca World Vale Tudo event by unanimous decision on May 27, 2000. Subsequently he went on a winning spree with nine bouts including a knockout against Carlos Newton on March 16, 2003.
After he inflicted Hayato Sakurai’s first defeat in 20 bouts, on August 26, 2001, for his ‘Shooto’ title, he started participating in Pride Fighting Championship and experienced his second loss at the hands of underdog, Daiju Takase, on June 08, 2003, at Pride 26.
Although Ryo Chonan, was a underdog in the Pride FC on December 31, 2004, he was able to counter Silva with knees, takedowns and body triangle. He was done with rare flying scissor heel hook into submission in the third round.
On January 20, 2006, in the ‘Rumble on the Rock’ fight against Yushin Okami, he was eliminated from the tournament after he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position, terming it an illegal strike. Silva felt cheated and cheap, cowardly way of winning when Okami refused to continue.
In April 2006, he was signed up by UFC for a multi-fight contract and made his debut at ‘Ultimate Fight Night 5’ on June 28, 2006, against Chris Lebon. As an unknown fighter in the U.S,he made a telling impression with pinpoint strikes and destroyed Lebon, in 49 seconds by way of knockout.
On viewer’s choice he took on UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006. He knocked him down in 2:59 in the first round to be crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion.
After Travis Lutter failed to make the weight category on February 03, 2007, the match was termed as non-title bout at UFC 67. Silva won the bout with a combination of triangle choke and elbow strikes to force a submission in the second round.
After his surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow, he returned to fight Demian Maia on April 10, 2010. Though he won the bout by unanimous decision, he was widely criticized for his tactics and UFC president, Dana White, refused to place the belt around Silva’s waist.
His fight on August 07, 2010, against Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 117, was most one-sided with Sonnen dominating right from the start before being pinned to ground at 3:10 of Round 5. Silva was hit 289 times during the bout, 81 times more than his entire UFC career beatings.
After his loss to Chris Weidman on June 06, rematch was scheduled on December 28, 2013, at UFC 168. He entered the ring with possible cracked shin bone which only aggravated during the fight, breaking his left fibula and tibia. He underwent successful surgery and was out of action for six months.

Silva used his time off to recover from the injury he suffered against Chris Weidman in 2014, by attending ‘Los Angeles School for Police Department’ to become a police officer. Incidentally his brother, nephew and his uncle are police officers.
He was declared ‘The Most Outstanding Fighter’ and also the ‘MMA Most Valuable Fighter’ for the year 2012 by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Apart from being exponent of martial art, he tried his hand on professional boxing with mixed result. He contested in two bouts, losing one and winning the other by knockout against Julio Cesar De Jesus on August 05, 2005.
He has also tried his stint in the movies starting with ‘Never Surrender’ in 2009, as Spider to the latest American competition reality show, the ‘Ultimate Beastmaster’ on the Netflix on February 24, 2017. He has to his credit seven film.
He has written a book about himself called ‘Anderson Spider Silva’ that relates from a champion in the Rings & Life in 2012.
He is married to Dayane and has fathered five children, Kaory, Gabriel, Kalyl, Kauana and Joao Vitor.
Silva is marketed by 9INE, a sports marketing company co-owned by former Brazilian footballer Ronaldo.
Silva holds the longest title streak in UFC history with 16 consecutive wins and 10 titles defenses, stretching for 2,457 days. He has 13 post-fight bonuses, the second most in UFC history.
He has sponsorship deal with Sports Club Corinthians Paulista, fast food chain Burger King and most recently by beer brand Budweiser. His Nike contract ended in late 2014, after they withdrew from the UFC.
On February 2015, it was revealed that he tested positive for Drostanolone and Androstane, two anabolic steroids, in the pre-fight drug screening before his faced Nick Diaz on January 31, 2015. He was subsequently banned for a year and fined his full bonus, as well as 30% of his show money.