![]() ![]() Silva was the champion, but Belfort was the star, at least in their native Brazil. If the win over Sonnen showed his championship mettle, his fight with and victor over Vitor Belfort is what made him a legend. ![]() ![]() Silva arched his back, extending his hips, adding an armbar to the equation and Sonnen tapped, quickly, before trying to argue that wasn’t the case.įor the second time in 364 days, Silva put his brilliance on full display, with the confusing effort against Maia standing in between as an example of what could happen when he wasn’t fully engaged. Shortly after the contest, a brash challenger named Chael Sonnen appeared on the scene, launching verbal salvos at Silva, his teammates, and the nation of Brazil, promising to wrest the middleweight title away from the dominant, but mercurial, champion.įor 23 minutes at UFC 117, Sonnen was true to his word, relentlessly pursuing Silva and putting him on the canvas, grinding out rounds from top position until his coronation as the new middleweight champion felt inevitable.īut before he could claim the title, Sonnen made the cardinal mistake of letting Silva gain wrist control and, in the blink of an eye, the battered, seemingly beaten champion threw up a triangle choke that left the challenger dead to rights. He followed his best performance (to date) with his most enigmatic, a five-round decision win over Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112 where he didn’t really engage all that much. When Griffin looked to press forward, Silva put him on the canvas with a sharp jab and Griffin raised his hands in surrender, the intriguing co-main event clash over in less than three-and-a-half minutes after looking like a one-sided sparring session for a clearly superior talent. Hands at his waist, he twisted his torso and slid his shoulders back to avoid the incoming fire, which looked slow and labored in comparison to the rockets Silva was sending at Griffin. He lowered his hands and stood in front of Griffin, unbothered by what could potentially come his way.įor the next 60 seconds, the middleweight champion made like Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix, evading every punch Griffin offered and cracking him back with sniper blasts that did clear, immediate, punishing damage. His fight with Patrick Cote at UFC 90 ended with the French-Canadian title challenger suffering a knee injury, and his bout with fellow Brazilian Thales Leites went the distance in Montreal, with Silva looking non-plussed in each fight, prompting many to wonder whether he was starting to slip or was simply unbothered by the prospects of facing either man.Īny questions about slippage were answered emphatically on Augin Philadelphia, when Silva stole the show at UFC 101 by turning in a virtuosic performance against former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.Īfter feeling Griffin out for the first two minutes, Silva stumbled the fan favorite with a right hook before meeting him in the center of the Octagon and imploring him to come forward and fight. MORE 2023 HALL OF FAME: José Aldo | Jens Pulver He kicked off 2008 by submitting former PRIDE champ Dan Henderson, then moved up in weight and dropped James Irvin in 61 seconds on Spike TV, catching a lazy kick and crushing him with a shotgun blast of a right hand that showed Silva could thrive at light heavyweight if he wanted to permanently relocate to the light heavyweight ranks. And Franklin got stopped for a second time by a storm of knees, giving Silva three wins in 2007 and a 5-0 record in the UFC. Nate Marquardt couldn’t escape the first. Travis Lutter made it into the second round before getting finished. Less than four months later, he felled Rich Franklin in just under three minutes, finishing him with a similar shot to claim the middleweight title. Anderson Silva beat Chris Leben in 49 seconds in his promotional debut, stopping “The Crippler” with a knee from the clinch. ![]()
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