Anderson Silva Biography

As his family could not afford his jiu-jitsu lessons, he started by watching neighborhood kids fight, and later practicing with them. By the time he was twelve, his family was able to pay for his taekwondo lessons. He briefly learned Capoeira and then moved on to Muay Thai at the age of sixteen.

In 1997, Anderson Silva started his professional fighting career in Brazil in the welterweight category with two back-to-back wins, followed by his first loss to Luiz Azeredo in 2000. However, he soon rebounded with a nine-fight winning streak, including one against the then-undefeated Shooto champion Hayato Sakurai on August 26, 2001, in Japan, which made him the new Shooto Middleweight Champion.

On September 11, 2004, he earned a decision win against renowned striker Lee Murray at Cage Rage 8 in London, thereby winning the Cage Rage Middleweight Championship. After his loss to Ryo Chonan on December 31, 2004, by submission, he was cut by Pride FC and returned to Cage to defend his title against Jorge Rivera and Curtis Stout.

During 2007, he won a non-title bout with Travis Lutter and successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt and Rich Franklin, earning 'Knockout of the Night' honors in both the latter fights. He next fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson in a title unification bout at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008, and won the fight via rear-naked-choke in the 2nd round.

Despite winning via unanimous decision, he was widely criticized for not engaging Demian Maia at UFC 112 on April 10, 2010, which prompted UFC president Dana White to leave mid-fight for the first time. His last-moment win against Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 117 made news as Silva took more hits during the fight than he took in his entire UFC career till then.

He next defended his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami and Chael Sonnen, and stopped Stephan Bonnar via strikes in the 1st round of their light heavyweight bout in October 2012. However, his 17-fight winning streak, as well as the longest UFC title reign ended after he lost to Chris Weidman on July 6, 2013, at UFC 162 via KO in the second round.

After returning from his PED suspension, he lost his Middleweight bout against Michael Bisping and his Light Heavyweight bout against Daniel Cormier. However, he bounced back with a victory over Derek Brunson on February 11, 2017, and is scheduled to face Kelvin Gastelum on November 25, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 122.

Anderson Silva married his longtime girlfriend, former gymnast Dayane, in the Summer of 2011, after being together for 20 years. They have two daughters and three sons together. His wife appeared in the 2009, feature film ‘Never Surrender’.

Anderson Silva is known for his love of comic books and has often incorporated superhero themes into his fighting persona.

Silva is a talented musician and has been seen playing the guitar in his spare time.

He has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is known for his impressive ground game skills.

Silva is a big fan of soccer and has been seen attending games and supporting his favorite teams.

Outside of fighting, Silva is a dedicated family man and often posts photos with his children on social media.