In this edition of Occupy The Throne, Samer Kadi and I look back at Anderson Silva’s title reign.
Jeremy Lambert: The greatest title run in UFC history ended on Saturday night. Anderson Silva made his UFC debut on June 28, 2006 by defeating Chris Leben. He won the middleweight title from Rich Franklin in his next bout. He defended the title 10 times against the likes of Franklin, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, and Yushin Okami. He became the greatest fighter of all-time during his run and never failed to disappoint, even if he was just clowning around.
What “The Spider” did during his middleweight run will never be duplicated. Georges St. Pierre and Jon Jones may break Silva’s title defense record, but it won’t quite equal up to what Silva did. St. Pierre’s biggest flaw is that he can’t finish fights, while Silva finished fights seemingly any moment he tried. And Jones’ biggest flaw is that he’s just not very likable, while fans adored Silva for his demeanor outside the cage and fighting style.
His highlight reel is second to none. From the destructions of Franklin to the front kick on Belfort to the pinpoint knee against Sonnen, Silva never failed to provide a memorable moment in his fights, even if it was something as simple as extending his hand to help Patrick Cote to his feet.
Silva wasn’t an unknown when he entered the UFC, but he also wasn’t thought to be the world beater that he became. He had a decent run in PRIDE, highlighted by finishing Carlos Newton, but he did lose in his final two appearances in the PRIDE ring. He found success in Cage Rage, but that’s Cage Rage.
Despite destroying Chris Leben in his UFC debut and turning “The Crippler’s” granite chin into paper mache, many questioned how he could get a title shot after just one win. He actually entered the middleweight title fight against Franklin as a slight betting underdog, which seems nearly impossible and completely stupid in hindsight. I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the way that fight played out and everything we witnessed after.
Samer Kadi: During Anderson Silva’s near seven-year title reign, 26 men and women held UFC gold. Such is the dominance of the greatest mixed martial artist the world has ever seen. In a sport so unpredictably volatile, exerting the kind of consistent brilliance Silva did is nothing short of astounding. Throughout his title run, Silva’s only less than stellar performances were willingly sub-par, while the one time he was in serious trouble, he managed to pull off a memorable comeback in one of the greatest bouts this sport has ever witnessed.
It is a cliché to claim that Anderson Silva was taken for granted, but he really was, even at an advanced age. In fact, what makes Silva’s now legendary run even more fascinating is its occurrence at an age where most fighters are beginning to exit their prime. For a man in his late 30’s to exhibit the kind of head movement and overall defensive wizardry that he does is quite dumbfounding.
And yet, from the moment he made a complete joke out of Chris Leben to the moment the joke backfired against Chris Weidman, Anderson Silva did it like only he can. Whether he was pummeling Rich Franklin in the clinch, choking out Dan Henderson, or putting on puzzling performances against Maia and Leites, Silva was unlike any of his peers.
Jeremy Lambert: With the exception of one fight against Chael Sonnen, “The Spider” always made it look easy in ways that seemed impossible. He embarrassed opponents in the cage. Sometimes on purpose, but most of the time he embarrassed opponents because he was on a level that no one could get to. Rich Franklin will go down as one of the best middleweights in UFC history, but he was decimated twice by Silva. Dan Henderson will go down as one of the best American fighters of all time, but even he couldn’t last 10 minutes with Silva. Vitor Belfort is a future Hall of Famer and his longevity in the sport is absolutely amazing, but he failed to dent Silva.
Every time the middleweight title was defended we always heard, “this is the man to beat Silva” and until UFC 162, it only came close to being true one time. No one could touch the Brazilian champion if he didn’t want to be touched. Chael Sonnen was less than three minutes away at UFC 117, but like he always does, Silva seemingly did the impossible when he locked on a triangle choke and forced a quick tap from the challenger.
Against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Demian Maia, Silva took embarrassing opponents to a whole new level. He chastised his opponents, imitated other fighters, tried to help them up when they went to their back, hid behind the referee, and did just about everything you could think of in the cage to make his opponent feel inferior. The crowd turned on him, but because he’s Anderson Silva and he has a certain charm and fans can’t help but recognize his greatness, they instantly forgave him the moment he put his next victim on his highlight reel.
Samer Kadi: What Silva did inside the cage was pure art, and that is what sets him apart from his peers. Georges St-Pierre has been nearly as consistent, Jon Jones rivals him in terms of violence, and Brock Lesnar drew bigger audiences. Moreover, you could make the case for either St-Pierre or Jones as having fewer weaknesses. The latter in particular, may go on to achieve greater things than the Brazilian wizard due to his young age and limitless potential. And yet, neither man will ever be the artist that Silva is.
Like any artist, Silva was a fascinating figure. His behavior, interviews and comments were sometimes funny, other times downright bizarre. Like a real artist, he was difficult to understand, as Dana White himself would tell you. As a complex figure, nobody really understood what made Silva motivated, angry, or excited. He took great offense at some rather minor comments by Vitor Belfort and Demian Maia, and in the case of the latter, dragged him into one of the strangest 25 minutes in UFC history.
He often spoke of retirement only to sign 10-fight deals, showed lack of enthusiasm towards a significant amount of suggested fights, acted disinterested inside the cage, as well as a load of other peculiar behavior. Nevertheless, when it came time to deliver, unless he willingly chose not to, Anderson Silva did it like no other. Some fighters make the sport exciting, others make it violent, while some make it boring. Anderson Silva made it beautiful.
Jeremy Lambert: When the lights went down and DMX uttered the words, “It’s dark. And hell is hot” before the beat kicked in and “Ain’t No Sunshine” officially started, you knew you were about to witness something special. When Anderson emerged from the back he was always the calmest man in the building, often times smiling, jumping, and rolling his shoulders as a way to warm up. He didn’t look like a man heading into a fight, he looked like a man heading out to an 80’s dance party.
Like my partner mentioned, Silva was a fascinating figure. He rarely broke his calm demeanor and when he finally did, in a conference call prior to his rematch against Chael Sonnen, it caught everyone off guard. He put on a mask before facing off with Vitor Belfort at the weigh ins, he chin checked Sonnen during the weigh ins, he refused to touch gloves with Dan Henderson, he asked the crowd not to boo Patrick Cote after he blew out his knee even though they were booing him. He rarely spoke English even though, as we learned on Saturday, he speaks pretty fluent English. You can’t say that he was oblivious, because he wasn’t. He was calculated. Whether he was in the cage or out of it, Silva was always calculated in his moves.
From October 14, 2006 to July 6, 2013, Silva solidified himself as the greatest fighter of all-time with what he did in the cage, and while he may one day be passed, it’s hard to imagine another fighter measuring up to Silva’s brilliance during his reign.
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