Experts certainly knew of a few of the gifts Anderson Silva could bring to the table when he made his move from British promotion Cage Rage to the UFC in 2006.
No one, however, envisioned Silva unleashing a seven-year reign of terror on the UFC’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, all of which began with a swift and vicious knockout of the surging Chris Leben at Ultimate Fight Night 5.
Of the 15 opponents Silva thrashed following the Leben fight, only elite wrestlers Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen managed to reveal any chinks in the Brazilian’s armor.
In three fights, Henderson and Sonnen grounded “The Spider” a combined five times. “Hendo” controlled Silva and won round one of their middleweight title bout at UFC 82, and Sonnen did much of the same for almost five rounds at UFC 117. “The American Gangster” also floored and controlled Silva in the first round at UFC 148.
But Silva, in typical Silva fashion, weathered each storm and finished all three of those bouts, choking Henderson, and stopping Sonnen twice, once via triangle armbar and again via TKO.
He’s stood atop the mountain in MMA since ripping the belt from Rich Franklin at UFC 64. Here are five reasons Silva is better than every other MMA fighter.