Thiago Silva rightfully belongs in the top 10 of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. He’s belonged there for a long time—at least since he burst on the scene as a talented young Brazilian in 2007 and went on to knock out his first four UFC opponents.
Since then, the only men he’s ever lost to have been title contenders in the past two years.
Of course, the fact that he still sits so far outside a title shot can be attributed to his difficulty passing drug tests. He’s failed two, both in fights he could have won clean.
Now he’s managed to put together another two straight wins with the pummelling of Matt Hamill at UFC Fight Night 29 on Wednesday.
The only reason Hamill didn’t end up as just another Silva knockout statistic was his sheer resilience. But outside of that, the Brazilian was far too devastating in his striking, as he’s often been for his opponents.
Silva’s come a long way since his fist career loss to Lyoto Machida, both in his maturity and versatility as a fighter. For that, he should be rewarded with a top-10 opponent, or as close to top 10 as possible. Here’s five possible choices.