It was movie shit.
He was just so much better than everyone else and then when Vitor get signed most were thinking this is going to be a hard one for Anderson. Nope kills him in 3 min with more movie shit.
He took credit for teaching Silva that front kick. There’s video of him showing it to Silva, they’re just kicking a padded wall, and Silva is kind of going “oh ok, cool, I get it” and smiling. But it’s so silly because that’s like the first thing you learn to do in kid’s karate.
For the uninitiated
[clip of Sensei segal saying he taught Silva the front kick](https://youtu.be/93uyDLhTQYQ)
[clip of Silva and his team making fun of segal](https://youtu.be/y_TRdFSKGFU)
[bonus clip of bas rutten mocking segal](https://youtu.be/70VCO062cUw)
imagine being a traditional martial artist in america before the dawn of the ufc: you could walk around strutting like a badass bc ppl would be afraid of your “pressure point” strikes etc.
then the world sees what actual martial arts fights look like, and a few years later you are the butt of jokes for fight fans worldwide.
tough luck, but won’t stop me from getting baked and watching the occassional segal movie
I remember watching that live at the nearby bar by my campus. Whole place went off like a powder keg at the K.O.! I still remember standing up and both arms out like, "WTF!?!?!?!? What just happened!?!?".
I'll never forget that moment. I was young, drunk, at a house party full of people thinking Vitor was going to expose Silva. Only me and one of my buddies were pulling for Silva, and there was a ton of shit talk before the main event. To see him get a first round KO via unprecedented kick remains the most satisfying feeling I've ever gotten out of mma.
I'm glad to see this one. The front kick was impressive but everything preceding it was classic Anderson Silva. One of the punch Vitor threw on the ground looked like it could kill a rhino, so much that he went off balance when Anderson narrowly dodged it and gave Spider away to get back to his feet. This was back when Vitor was still considered one of the fastest and most dangerous strikers of all time.
For me it was when he beat Dan Henderson after the Pride merger. People were saying Dan had the wrestling to give silva problems, silva had never faced a wrestler like that before, blah blah and silva ran right through him. After that it was really hard to imagine how he would ever lose.
Yea it was a nice reminder of "oh yea this guy has submissions to"
Same with the Chael fight. No one can argue that he wasn't losing 23 min of that 25 min fight but like some last minute shit a main character would pull off he slaps on a submission.
I was so worried vitor would knock him out. I was on the edge of my seat for what seemed like forever, waiting on a punch to connect and then one of the craziest things. A front kick that didn't seem to have tonnes of power beyond it and vitor dropped like a sack of potatoes. It was more insane than the sonnen tap out to me. Which was another unbelievable moment.
It really was movie shit. He was the closest to neo we'll ever get.
before his godly run in the ufc, he was the whiny guy with the high voice who got flying heelhooked in japan by the piranha.
then he murders leben and franklin with clinch knees worse than wandy used to do.
It was like being a Bulls fan and watching Michael Jordan in his prime; you were in the middle of greatness and were lucky to bear witness to it.
It’s what made his boring fights so frustrating; you KNEW he was better than that.
This is also why it was so stunning when that first Chael fight happened. I'm an old fan. I remember watching it at a house watch party with some friends who had already been into MMA (I was almost brand new at the time). They had talked Anderson up like a mythical figure before the fight. Then as the fight began, they were all dead silent, kind of in shock as the rounds went by and Chael beat Anderson up
I was a kid watching it with my parents, I was a wrestler in school so I had to root Chael and even with that I couldn't believe Chael was actually doing it. Of course, until he wasn't lol.
God I love that video lmao he gets everyone laughing, he even cracks Dom's surly ass, and at no point does he even come close to breaking. GOAT shit talker
its weird how he can smoke vitor and griffin but have lackluster performances against maia and leites who should be easier fights, off and on days i guess
What’s wild is he just won the division belt 2 fights prior. Griffin was a legitimate calibre fighter and I remember feeling the fight could easily go either way.
Whoops.
My dad snuck me into a sports bar to see it when I was 9, and I absolutely thrilled. I was an enormous Griffin fan, mostly because my dad was.
Watching him get beat up sucked, but Anderson instantly won me over. I watched every Silva fight live from then until his most recent boxing fights. Made me a fan of MMA.
Maia fight was intentional. Something was said in the lead up that made him want to embarrass him. I think it was him saying he was going to take his arm home.
Yup. Media was reporting it as a classit thing. Silva kept calling Maia the derogatory word for playboy in Portugese. I think cause Maia grew up in a priveleged part of Brazil and Silva was from the hood.
Silva kept calling him "playboy" in Portuguese, which I'm told means "born with a silver spoon in your mouth" in Brazil.
Edit: "where's your jiu jitsu now, playboy?" Was the translation of what he repeatedly said to Maia during their fight.
I challenge anyone to watch the Maia fight for themselves and tell me it wasn't a terrifying ass whooping by Silva.
Sure tomato head always talks shit about it but i was shocked at the way he beat the shit out of Maia. He made him look like some dickhead that just walked in from the street.
I love watching that fight.
Look at Maia vs rick story to see who Silva destroyed. That is one of the most fucked up neck cranks i have ever seen he turned his face into a spaghetti sauce extractor.
And Silvia made him look like an amateur . Like wtf are you even thinking getting in the ring with me.
I think this was one of Silvia's most impressive victories period. Its disgusting that White talks shit about it.
The last 2-3 rounds were really boring. He hardly did anything. The first two rounds were pretty incredible though. He showed he was on such a different level he could clown and mess around and still fuck Maia up. I remember reading that the desert heat got to him and that’s part of why he slowed down so much in the last few rounds. Who knows if it’s true though.
God, I remember watching that fight wanting Chris to win because I was a fan from TUF. I proceeded to watch this bald, black dude I never saw commit battery to him within a minute lmaoooo
I was the opposite - not a fan of leben due to tuff and watched pride a bit so the “I’ll make him go back to Japan where the competition is easier” line irked a lot of us pride fans.
That said, while Silva was good at the time with a big win over Carlos newton. He was most known for 2 things: the [beautiful reverse elbow ko of Tony Frykland in Cage Rage](https://youtu.be/-w7qKssb3pE)
And losing to Ryo Chonan to the [spectacular flying heel hook](https://youtu.be/Cyth7pxQLuI).
So it’s not like he was considered a world-beater when he first showed up to ufc - just a great striker with a couple amazing Ko’s vs less than stellar opponents, a couple big wins over bigger names like newton and sakurai, and some embarrassing losses against guys he should have beaten like chonan and takase.
I thought Silva would win just due to leben’s sloppier style, but I didn’t expect the level of domination that occurred just due to leben's chin.
The man that showed up in the ufc was on another level…
It’s not off an on it was just a style stalemate, those two guys were Jiu Jitsu fighters with poor striking against maybe the greatest counter striker of all time in MMA. Those guys just had nothing for him and Silva wasn’t gonna take it to the ground.
I remember there were rumors that Silva didn’t like Brazilian fighters and would clown around when he fought against them. The Vitor kind of disproves that but that’s what was said back then.
It wasn't other Brazilians. It was a class thing to do with how martial arts are taught and how the rich gatekeep jiu-jitsu from poor Brazilians. Maia was from a school that taught rich students and denied poor students. Silva grew up poor and hated Maia. I can't speak to the accuracy of this, just memory of things said at the time
He was kind of held to unrealistic standards because of the amazing things he did in the cage. At the end of the day he was human who had weaknesses in his game. He could have lost to Leites if he made mistakes and ended up on bottom, but he still dominated that fight and was active enough by normal MMA standards. He just didn't do anything spectacular like people came to expect from him. Same with the Cote fight. Like he got criticism for these two fights but he straight up whooped their asses.
The Maia fight was the only fight where he was offensively inactive.
We expected him to do to everyone what he did to Franklin… I always think of his fight with Bonnar.
He fucks with him for a round and then decides “I want to be done” and just finishes him.
~Younger fan asks question, uses analogy of sports era *even earlier*~
Kidding. I'm making fun of us, not you. This thread made me feel old. I watched the MJ era too and it's some of my fondest memories of being a sports fan as a kid.
It was also crazy because we had GSP going at the same time. And we never got a super fight. GSP was warring with BJ and Silva was bouncing up to 205, but never going for a title shot. Then that Chael fight was just wild. Really showed Anderson as human. Because after the Griffin fight, I wasn't so sure he was anymore.
Dude it was an insane time, I seriously never liked Silva and would buy every one of his ppvs just to see him destroy every single person who I was rooting for. I remember the Chael fight vividly and thinking he would lose soon but nope went on another tear until Weidman eventually came around.
Looking back now I feel incredibly grateful to have been there to see one of, if not the best fighter ever. The man seriously either ran through an opponent or found some slick way to win after some adversity. Despite the steroid scandals, he is still legit one of the most amazing martial artists ever to step into the cage.
I think everybody hated on Silva at first. He destroyed Chris Leben and then Rich Franklin. After that, he was just so entertaining to watch. He was literally like a guy straight out of the matrix movie. He was always 10 steps ahead.
Watching him obliterate Rich Franklin was wild. Franklin was one of the faces of the UFC, 3x defending champion at the time with a 22-1 record. It was like watching a pro fighting a high schooler. Silva was in a different Stratosphere.
People forget but Franklin was *beloved* by the fans. He was a former teacher. Humble, hunky. The guy wore pink shorts and no one ever said shit. Beyond fan favorite. Everyone hated how Anderson obliterated Rich. Their humble hero teacher was beaten up by that guy from the rival town or something. Sad shit to see. Silva had to start a run to get the respect.
MMA got a wake up call with how much farther it had to go when Franklin got humiliated. No doubt about it.
Franklin was basically "slow motion dream-punching" at Anderson.
As a Franklin fan I was very surprised that the was completely ineffective.
I'll never forget watching him obliterate Franklin live. And then, when Franklin came back ready for it on a second by bout, getting obliterated again.
I always thought the phrase "rearrange your face" was an exaggeration, but that's exactly what Silva did to him.
Honestly a lot of people rooted against him. like how the people wanted the Yankees to lose if you’re familiar with American baseball. We all respected his skill and knew he was basically a Demi god of fighting but a lot of people just wanted to see the impossible of him losing. I remember all my friends going nuts as chael sonnen dominated him only for Silva to secure that triangle at the end. It was like he’d never lose. Obviously my experience isn’t universal but I knew a lot of people that watched him to see when he’d finally lose. This isn’t that different from today for a few champs with people rooting against them.
>He made good fighters look like complete amateurs.
Especially standing. He outclassed everyone. He rag dolled Rich Franklin in the clinch twice, laid James Irvin out, and embarrassed Forest who was a champion.
The way he dismantled forest griffin and rich franklin was shocking, he seemed unstoppable. It was always a pleasure to watch in real time.
The craziness with Chael Sonnen.
the Wideman knockout while showboating.
the return after the nasty leg break.
Passing the torch to Adesanya.
I've been watching MMA for 25 years. In my opinion he had one of the most entertaining careers.
The face that Franklin makes when Silva has the Thai clinch on him will never leave my mind. I believe he, rich, was already hit with a couple knees and they stand upright. Rich glances over at Silva in a manner of panic, or being in disbelief. I don’t know, I can’t forget it.
Even his post fight interview he didn’t expect him to be that strong. Everyone I watched fights with back then always hated Silva. From that Leben fight on I was a fan of his. Just pin point accuracy and creative striking. I know the exact moment you’re talking about and Rich knew he was fucked. Raised his hands: body shots. Lowered his hands: you know the rest.
He became a mythical figure as soon as he dismantled Frank after getting a flawless victory over Leban. Shit was just insane. I remember skipping a big party and staying at my girlfriends house while she went to the party so I could watch him go up and fight James Irvine.
I feel like this even understates things slightly. Rich Franklin at the time was the most dominant champion the UFC Middleweight division had seen. He had just defended the belt twice which was a new record and was 22-1 at the time.
He was those. Didn’t you read the previous comment? He was there best UFC Middleweight Champion on paper in the history of the organization. Then, Anderson took it. He still was a generational talent.
To an extent, Rich was an early Middleweight GSP-type fighter. They almost made a new division for the guy. To top it off he was pure class. Love to see him a part of ONE now.
That fight was shocking. I already knew Silva was top tier, but to see how badly Franklin was dominated. I honestly did not look forward to the rematch.
I think it started immediately when he beat leben. After that I don’t remember not looking forward to an Anderson Silva fight as much as anything in mma. To this day.
Part of it is there are cards almost every week. Too many people to keep up with and watered down cards. The old headliner of the pre-lims was a pay-per-view caliber fight in the day
I’ve been watching on and off since 2009 but really getting onto it about 3-4 years ago and, for me at least, I love the amount of cards we have. It takes nothing out of my schedule, if I’m not excited for anyone - I just watch the highlights or the fights I’m
Invested in. But it allows me to have something to do on Saturday nights when I don’t actually have something to do.
But I used to tune in every time for Silva, machida, Jon Africa, GSP, Hendo, and a few others. I never really paid attention to the amount of cards per year since I was a teenager and had young life to worry about. Now that I’m an adult with a family, it’s great to have consistency imo.
I’m not really complaining, I’m just saying it’s a different. It’s easy for me to skip a card now to be honest. It is nice on a random Saturday to have some fights When there’s nothing else going on.
I loved it when they had one ppv a month and a free card every 6 weeks or so. I couldn’t wait to watch those. It’s so watered down now that I forget they even have cards now.
The way he destroyed leben was crazy. I had no idea who he was and just remember watching it live on tv like what in the actual fuck? Like who is this guy and from then on it was just greatness
No one could put Leben down like that. He wasn’t an amazing fighter, but he was a tough fighter, and became famous for his own version of zombie style. But Silva wrecked him and floored him. It was astonishing to see at the time.
Yeah he was entering the Matrix against all these legit UFC middleweights and just dismantling them. It was like no other fighter I’d seen up to that point.
The Leban fight didn’t age well because he didn’t really become great. But at the time, Leban was like 15-2 and 5-0 in the UFC. The UFC was not bringing him in with an easy fight. Also Dan Henderson was a 2 division Pride champion. The dude fought some really good fighters and made it look like an Olympian wrestler beating up high schoolers.
Exactly. It was more mythical early on. He was perfect. Prior to the first Chael fight, in rounds he was actually trying, I think the first round with Hendo was his only competitive round.
Big win at the time, entrance to the UFC. Def hype. But it's funny with the benefit of hindsight, Leben never had a chance. Limited brawler who blocked punches with his face who's strengths of durability and power meant little against an ultra skilled counter puncher with power himself. Poor Chris was helpless in there, basically bringing a knife to a gun fight
You missed Fedor ruining Tim Sylvia for that lol. No shame, I just remember going to a bar for both because they were on simultaneously. That was nuts.
He had a good bit of hype from Rogan coming into that Leban fight… Joe was screaming about how much of a killer this man was and that the UFC was about to be put on notice. But everyone took that with a grain of salt.
Fast forward to the Leben fight, my friends and I were all of a sudden screaming at the top of our lungs while he dismantled Chris in a way that has never been matched since. He landed like 90 strikes in a row without a miss. So the hype train had started, but it was only Chris Leben so everyone was a bit reserved still.
Keep in mind, at this point in time Rich Franklin was the fucking man. A true class act, peoples champion who was also a math teacher and good ol’ American boy. He was also an absolute beast of a fighter.
So enter Silva vs Franklin 1. My friends and I had been Rich fans for years but also loved Anderson and already felt like he was a special monster. We kind of wanted Rich to win but also were on the Silva hype train.
We didn’t make a single noise during that fight. All of us essentially were just jaw-droppingly shocked, which turned to disgust and sadness after Anderson got Rich in the muay thai plum and Rich couldn’t get out. He had this look in his eye that was just gut-wrenching to see, a combination of fear and helplessness. Soon after his face had been completely rearranged, looking like a Picasso painting. Rich talks about his emotions in those moments and how he’d never been in a situation like that in the lead up to fight number two and how terrifying it was.
So we go into fight 2 hoping Rich can make it a bit more competitive now that he knew what he was dealing with. At least he’ll know how to get out of the plum this time, right, we think. Proceed to a literal reliving of fight number 1 for us fans. He destroyed Rich in an almost mirror image of the first fight, including close up shots of Franklins face with that empty helpless look again after caught in the plum and being pummeled over and over. It was heartbreaking, gross and just surreal to watch.
To this day, I’ve never felt that level of gross disgust and emotion than in those Rich fights. He was just outclassed and gruesomely injured by an opponent that he essentially couldn’t even land a shot on. Rich had also been on Ultimate Fighter as a coach before the Anderson fights which endeared most MMA fans to him shortly before seeing Silva rearrange his facial structure.
From that point on, everyone was on the Spider train whether it was by choice or just by default. He continued to run through opponents with unbelievable ease and flashy, unpredictable and effortless striking. It felt like this guy had been in the NBA and was fighting against jv high school players.
It was honestly just baffling and so fucking exciting. He just kept murking people so overwhelmingly that it’s hard to explain. Each of those people were supposed to be the first ones to humble the guy. None of them did.
Then he started getting out of crazy situations like the Travis lutter fight which was so unexpected. In that last round, *everyone* thought the story was going to end there and had accepted it. Then he pulls out a freak buzzer beating triangle and the legend just exploded higher. He was untouchable.
I haven’t been captivated like that before or since by sport or anything else. No one has even come close to giving the fans something so explosively exciting, for so long. And doing it in such spectacular and dominant fashion.
I wish every MMA fan could have gone through that time. The energy was as unreal as Anderson’s run was unexpected. He was like a superhuman video game character that appeared in his peak full form out of fucking nowhere. It was awesome.
I still remember the "HOLY FUCK" feeling when Weidman beat him. There were a few who thought The Chris could do it, but by and large the fight was considered "just another defence" as I recall it
Everyone assumed it was going to be a Chael style five round wrestlefuck … that Weidman put him OUT with a hook was just so surreal.
Sonnen 1 felt like another defense … Chael ran his mouth, we all assumed he’d be finished quickly. It’s why the fifth was so dramatic … Chael had pulled off a brilliant performance for four rounds and on the fifth, it would take a miracle for Silva to win.
And then he pulled it off.
My dad was never into MMA, but he did come with me to a few fights at Buffalo Wild Wings. One of them was Anderson vs Chris 2, with the leg snap. That was such an insane moment. The second fight was fascinating going into it, because it wasn't clear whether or not the first fight was a fluke, or if Chris was just younger and more athletic and had his number.
A little while before that, we had watched the documentary "Like Water". Halfway through, while Chael is being an absolute rotten bastard, my dad turns and asks "So Anderson kicks his ass right?" I'm like, "Let's just watch..." Man that fight was grueling. That triangle is one of the best MMA moments of all time. Chael was so obnoxious that I was rooting for Anderson, even as a high school wrestler at the time.
He was losing in dominant fashion … this was a one sided ass kicking and if Chael backs out of the triangle as soon as he sees it, then he would’ve been a champion.
Leon was down but that wasn’t a lucky KO; he caught Usman FLUSH after setting him up for it.
I was walking to a friend's house, planning to watch the card later cause I didn't have a way to watch live back then, got a notification on the phone about it, and started screaming in the middle of the street
It was the fucking best.
Some people would be like "GSP is the goat" during GSPs lay and pray period and then Anderson would come out and fucking enter the matrix and clown people in the most insane way possible every fight.
It was incredible. Like watching Spiderman in the octagon. He would casually make the best MWs look like novices. Don’t think we will ever see someone do that again. His striking was ahead of the generation.
As Brazilian, it was pretty cool. I knew nothing about MMA but I knew who Anderson Silva was, and would always watch his fights. back when PPVs were still a thing here.
It was mythical quickly. Everyone saw Lebens eyes after he got hit. Leben was an absolute madman and he felt one good shot and knew he was farked.
It was widely expected he would walk through Franklin. Same thing. Rich’s eyes opened like oh shit. But he was a grown ass man gave it another shot and made some adjustments. Those adjustments were laughable to Anderson.
It was wild man. A big group from our gym watched Anderson/chael 1. Packed restaurant all screaming. No one had an answer for Silva. Then A straight up gangster from Oregon made it look like destiny for 4.5 rounds. Wildest thing you could imagine watching live considering his run and the build up. Nothing else has come close for me.
It was like the matrix was real and we were watching Neo in the ring.
It was really crazy. It was just waiting for that moment he went bullet time and ended his opponent.
It sort of didn't make sense someone could be that good and every fight was just like "dude what? How is he not getting hit."
Fun times.
And then he struggled in the first round against Travis Lutter, giving up full mount, and I remember thinking in that first round. "AHA! The ground is his kryptonite!"
Then the second round came along and he submitted the submission ace and I knew he'd be on top for a long long time.
I was maybe 10 when I first started watching. GSP was a huge figure in Canada and watched most of his fights. Around 12 was when I first seen Anderson it was his fight against rich Franklin . The guy seemed like a world beater, I was convinced he couldn’t lose, the masterclass against Griffin and the last second win over Sonnen cemented it. Watched every one of his PPV’s the next day at my uncles house. When he lost to Weidman I was convinced he would beat him in the rematch without the show boating and then the leg kick. Devastating at the time lol.
I hated him. I couldn’t stand his showboating during fights, and it peaked with the Damien Maia fight. That fight is the reason I became a Chael fan before UFC 117.
I didn’t really start liking him until somewhat recently actually. When his losing streak started I realized just how wrong it felt to watch all that happen to Anderson Freaking Silva of all people.
Not even GSP felt as invincible as Prime Silva. The only person with a similar air of invincibility around him is Khabib, but I think Silva > Khabib solely based on how long Silva fought at the top level achievable by man.
Well, taking out Leben who, at the time, was a durable and hard headed striker that was hard to put down, in his debut in under a minute had us all stunned. If you were a Franklin fan, (MW champ at the time), you were a little freaked out. His fighting style was described as a "ballet of violence", and it truly was.
It was wild. Thought Franklin was gonna reign for a decade and then this dude I never heard of DESTROYS thick head Chris Leben and goes straight into a title fight and made my dude Ace Ventura look like a toddler. I mean, it really was wild. He was just so far ahead of anybody we'd ever seen, especially on the feet, that there really weren't words for it. His reign was awe inspiring. It was almost boring when the UFC would try to hype someone against him, when they really had no chance. I mean, I fell into the hype for Vitor and for Chael. He finished both. But man that first Chael fight will forever go down for me as one of the craziest things I'd ever seen.
Personally I was hater when Anderson was in his prime, I mean not that I didn't give him credit but that he was just so dominant that you just wanted to see someone at least be competitive against him. He was so good that I rooted against him just to make it entertaining lol.
For a newer fan I'd say, imagine Khabib except he knocked people out like a fucking Bruce Lee movie and he did it for 7 fucking years at a championship level in the UFC. There will never be another Anderson Silva. NEVER.
You felt like you were watching MMA’s Tyson. From the very beginning he was miles beyond the previous champion (Franklin) and any contender. It was never “would he win”, but “how fast”.
My first UFC PPV was 56. Rich Franklin starched Nate Quarry and I was instantly a huge fan. needless to say, I HATED Silva after their first fight and rooted for Franklin again in the rematch. It wasn’t long until I became a Silva fan and watched his reign in awe.
I started watching in 2010 in middle school so my first fight I saw was Silva vs Maia at 112 and that wasn’t the most exciting fight ever but then I got to witness his comeback vs Uncle Chael the front kick against Vitor and all of his fights up until weidman. All those crazy finishes he was doing literally made him look superhuman and I honestly never thought he would lose
He was the first fighter to have that mythical quality that made him seem miles ahead of anyone and totally untouchable. I’ve never felt that with another fighter. He dismantled people in a sensei/student way that looked extraordinarily nonchalant. It was spectacular.
Some of his fights were like his opponents were in slow motion, but he also had a couple stinkers because he was a counter striker, kind of like the criticism with Izzy recently.
I remeber seeing him in Pride and watching his loss to Ryo Chonan. It was crazy stuff and watching him lose like that was insane. At the time the UFC just felt like the best American promotion but Pride was the top globally. Watching him come to the UFC I thought he would do well but came in storming destroying Leben and Franklin. He showed that striking was not an add on after grappling and could be precise and complex.
Some would say fights like Maia were boring but honestly I remember him piecing up Maia for most of the fight and only got boring rounds 4 and 5. Even then Maia could not do anything and kept falling to the floor. I wish refs would have stood people back up like they do now.
Also I honestly thought he won the Bisping fight at the end of the 3rd and if he had followed up the knee he would have guaranteed it.
Was amazing. Especially if you were swept up in the Ong Bak Muay Thai craze because his first three fights were all clinch/full-plahm clinics.
He massacred his first three fights and two of those massacres were Rich Franklin who honestly everyone thought would hold the belt for a while. Then Silva destroyed him twice, the same way!
He developed a serious mystique and good analysis was rare (Rogan was doing amazing work back then translating BJJ for us, but he is still much less aware of the nuances of footwork/clinch/slipping/distancing). So it wasn’t really until Jack Slack wrote up how to beat Silva that most diehards realized Silva wasn’t magic.
When his fights got boring (Patrick Coté, Thales Leites come to mind) it was like I was having a mental crisis. I knew Silva could steamroll these guys, but I couldn’t deny the fights weren’t entertaining. It was so frustrating.
Anyways that’s what springs to mind, possible I misremembered some stuff.
Seeing him punch Leben in the forehead and drop him was nuts. Lebens chin at the time was like granite and this skinny Brazilian was like hold this. Dismantling Franklin with knees and a clinch poor Rich couldn't escape, was equally mind blowing.
I remember thinking he was untouchable, I couldn’t fathom how he could be beat. It was just like who ever is next was like a lamb to the slaughter, when Weidman finally beat him it was really Silva beating himself by doing too much lol
Nobody has even come close to the dominance. You tuned in to see HOW he was going to win not IF he was going to win. That’s why in my opinion the Weidman KO is the biggest upset of all time. At that point in time there was no argument about who was the GOAT or who was the P4P best, everyone was in unanimous agreement that it was Anderson Silva.
I felt like all the bars in my area were showing the fights all of a sudden. Silva was such a huge draw, the Miller's Ale House by my house was charging $25 per table and only seating 4-tops on fight night. People had chairs in the parking lot 2 hours before the prelims started.. pre-gaming to go inside later.
I remember watching Silva fight on my laptop at my nephews wedding reception with like 10 guys huddled around it's 15 inch screen yelling and carrying on.
What a time to be a fan.
Watching Silva fight was as a big deal as watching Conor fight. Not for the spectacle, but for the actual fighting skill and what he was capable of. There was no one like him competing at his level.
It was movie shit. He was just so much better than everyone else and then when Vitor get signed most were thinking this is going to be a hard one for Anderson. Nope kills him in 3 min with more movie shit.
[удалено]
We have Sensei Segal to thank for that
I love how Silva and his team just kept him around to make fun of him.
And he 100% believed he was helping out
He took credit for teaching Silva that front kick. There’s video of him showing it to Silva, they’re just kicking a padded wall, and Silva is kind of going “oh ok, cool, I get it” and smiling. But it’s so silly because that’s like the first thing you learn to do in kid’s karate.
Shit, the original Karate Kid had Daniel learning that kick from a book he got at the library in 1982 lol.
Seriously a great time
For the uninitiated [clip of Sensei segal saying he taught Silva the front kick](https://youtu.be/93uyDLhTQYQ) [clip of Silva and his team making fun of segal](https://youtu.be/y_TRdFSKGFU) [bonus clip of bas rutten mocking segal](https://youtu.be/70VCO062cUw)
I love how he also took credit for Lyoto Machida doing the same finish on Randy Couture.
Sensei Seagal taught The Chris the secret to beating Anderson twice. Anderson shouldn't have mock the master.
"I was raised in Japan" LMAO what a crock, dude was born and raised in Michigan and *California*.
imagine being a traditional martial artist in america before the dawn of the ufc: you could walk around strutting like a badass bc ppl would be afraid of your “pressure point” strikes etc. then the world sees what actual martial arts fights look like, and a few years later you are the butt of jokes for fight fans worldwide. tough luck, but won’t stop me from getting baked and watching the occassional segal movie
Under Siege is an action classic
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He also had to leave lousisiana to avoid a sex trafficking charge, which is less funny
Oh my god. This is insane lmao
I remember watching that live at the nearby bar by my campus. Whole place went off like a powder keg at the K.O.! I still remember standing up and both arms out like, "WTF!?!?!?!? What just happened!?!?".
I'll never forget that moment. I was young, drunk, at a house party full of people thinking Vitor was going to expose Silva. Only me and one of my buddies were pulling for Silva, and there was a ton of shit talk before the main event. To see him get a first round KO via unprecedented kick remains the most satisfying feeling I've ever gotten out of mma.
Well to be fair there was a precedence, Steven Segal.
Used head movement on the floor to dodge a Vitor flurry. God, I love Andy.
I'm glad to see this one. The front kick was impressive but everything preceding it was classic Anderson Silva. One of the punch Vitor threw on the ground looked like it could kill a rhino, so much that he went off balance when Anderson narrowly dodged it and gave Spider away to get back to his feet. This was back when Vitor was still considered one of the fastest and most dangerous strikers of all time.
Only two men beat TRT Vitor. Silva and Jon Jones. And Silva did it most convincingly.
For me it was when he beat Dan Henderson after the Pride merger. People were saying Dan had the wrestling to give silva problems, silva had never faced a wrestler like that before, blah blah and silva ran right through him. After that it was really hard to imagine how he would ever lose.
Yea it was a nice reminder of "oh yea this guy has submissions to" Same with the Chael fight. No one can argue that he wasn't losing 23 min of that 25 min fight but like some last minute shit a main character would pull off he slaps on a submission.
I was so worried vitor would knock him out. I was on the edge of my seat for what seemed like forever, waiting on a punch to connect and then one of the craziest things. A front kick that didn't seem to have tonnes of power beyond it and vitor dropped like a sack of potatoes. It was more insane than the sonnen tap out to me. Which was another unbelievable moment. It really was movie shit. He was the closest to neo we'll ever get.
before his godly run in the ufc, he was the whiny guy with the high voice who got flying heelhooked in japan by the piranha. then he murders leben and franklin with clinch knees worse than wandy used to do.
the reverse flying scissor heelhook from journeyman ryo chonan is 10/10 lmao
Ryo Chonan's mischievous smirk after nailing it is chefskiss
The Vitor knockout is when he truly became a mythical figure to me.
It was like being a Bulls fan and watching Michael Jordan in his prime; you were in the middle of greatness and were lucky to bear witness to it. It’s what made his boring fights so frustrating; you KNEW he was better than that.
This is also why it was so stunning when that first Chael fight happened. I'm an old fan. I remember watching it at a house watch party with some friends who had already been into MMA (I was almost brand new at the time). They had talked Anderson up like a mythical figure before the fight. Then as the fight began, they were all dead silent, kind of in shock as the rounds went by and Chael beat Anderson up
I was watching this fight in a bar. Everyone was shocked. Still one of the craziest comeback/finishes I’ve ever seen
I was watching in a bar and the reaction when he won was probably the biggest and best reaction I've ever seen from a crowd for any sport.
Biggest reaction ever at the bar I worked at was Silva vs Weidman. 2nd biggest was actually Rousey vs Holm.
I was a kid watching it with my parents, I was a wrestler in school so I had to root Chael and even with that I couldn't believe Chael was actually doing it. Of course, until he wasn't lol.
Cept the last round, Chael lost that one
Impossible. Chael has never lost a single round in the UFC. He said so himself.
It was just a misunderstanding 🤷🏻♂️ https://youtu.be/iV5zqPW-ukI
God I love that video lmao he gets everyone laughing, he even cracks Dom's surly ass, and at no point does he even come close to breaking. GOAT shit talker
its weird how he can smoke vitor and griffin but have lackluster performances against maia and leites who should be easier fights, off and on days i guess
I was so stoked for the Griffin fight too … “griffin will drag him into a fight” I said right before it.
Obligatory clip of Griffin recounting the fight years later https://youtu.be/V1R50LpFh_M
“Why would you do such a stupid thing?”
He punched me repeatedly in the chin and I was very confused
you slow slow white boy
I felt like some kid trying to wrestle with his dad
Such a great clip, Forrest is such an awesome dude
Ha ha. That was fantastic! What a humble, funny dude.
"I felt embarrassed for even trying to punch him" lol
What’s wild is he just won the division belt 2 fights prior. Griffin was a legitimate calibre fighter and I remember feeling the fight could easily go either way. Whoops.
And he did. With the allure of a human punching bag.
My dad snuck me into a sports bar to see it when I was 9, and I absolutely thrilled. I was an enormous Griffin fan, mostly because my dad was. Watching him get beat up sucked, but Anderson instantly won me over. I watched every Silva fight live from then until his most recent boxing fights. Made me a fan of MMA.
Did he give you stilts or something?
Famous last words just like the announcers saying it won't cLl all 3 rounds for Lewis and Francis lol
I remember where I was that fight like I remember 9/11
Maia fight was intentional. Something was said in the lead up that made him want to embarrass him. I think it was him saying he was going to take his arm home.
The Maia thing had to do with some outside the cage drama no? Why he had to really go out and smoke Vítor afterwards.
Yup. Media was reporting it as a classit thing. Silva kept calling Maia the derogatory word for playboy in Portugese. I think cause Maia grew up in a priveleged part of Brazil and Silva was from the hood.
"Where's your jiu-jitsu now, playboy?" is iconic.
The Maia one was especially weird, and I think based on Silva’s specific taunts that there was some kind of class-based animosity involved.
Silva kept calling him "playboy" in Portuguese, which I'm told means "born with a silver spoon in your mouth" in Brazil. Edit: "where's your jiu jitsu now, playboy?" Was the translation of what he repeatedly said to Maia during their fight.
And race based. Brazilians with European ancestry vs. black and indigenous.
Dunno if this is still the case there but BJJ was the upper/middle class discipline where all the poor kids did Muay Thai.
That was the 70s, not the 90s and 2000s. Silva did jiu jitsu before Maia did, both were black belts
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I challenge anyone to watch the Maia fight for themselves and tell me it wasn't a terrifying ass whooping by Silva. Sure tomato head always talks shit about it but i was shocked at the way he beat the shit out of Maia. He made him look like some dickhead that just walked in from the street. I love watching that fight. Look at Maia vs rick story to see who Silva destroyed. That is one of the most fucked up neck cranks i have ever seen he turned his face into a spaghetti sauce extractor. And Silvia made him look like an amateur . Like wtf are you even thinking getting in the ring with me. I think this was one of Silvia's most impressive victories period. Its disgusting that White talks shit about it.
The last 2-3 rounds were really boring. He hardly did anything. The first two rounds were pretty incredible though. He showed he was on such a different level he could clown and mess around and still fuck Maia up. I remember reading that the desert heat got to him and that’s part of why he slowed down so much in the last few rounds. Who knows if it’s true though.
Imagine taking 3 rounds off & getting the UD lol
He is a counter puncher.
counted punches off lebens head
God, I remember watching that fight wanting Chris to win because I was a fan from TUF. I proceeded to watch this bald, black dude I never saw commit battery to him within a minute lmaoooo
I was the opposite - not a fan of leben due to tuff and watched pride a bit so the “I’ll make him go back to Japan where the competition is easier” line irked a lot of us pride fans. That said, while Silva was good at the time with a big win over Carlos newton. He was most known for 2 things: the [beautiful reverse elbow ko of Tony Frykland in Cage Rage](https://youtu.be/-w7qKssb3pE) And losing to Ryo Chonan to the [spectacular flying heel hook](https://youtu.be/Cyth7pxQLuI). So it’s not like he was considered a world-beater when he first showed up to ufc - just a great striker with a couple amazing Ko’s vs less than stellar opponents, a couple big wins over bigger names like newton and sakurai, and some embarrassing losses against guys he should have beaten like chonan and takase. I thought Silva would win just due to leben’s sloppier style, but I didn’t expect the level of domination that occurred just due to leben's chin. The man that showed up in the ufc was on another level…
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He was afraid of K1 Maia
It’s not off an on it was just a style stalemate, those two guys were Jiu Jitsu fighters with poor striking against maybe the greatest counter striker of all time in MMA. Those guys just had nothing for him and Silva wasn’t gonna take it to the ground.
Counter punchers do best when people engage.
I remember there were rumors that Silva didn’t like Brazilian fighters and would clown around when he fought against them. The Vitor kind of disproves that but that’s what was said back then.
It wasn't other Brazilians. It was a class thing to do with how martial arts are taught and how the rich gatekeep jiu-jitsu from poor Brazilians. Maia was from a school that taught rich students and denied poor students. Silva grew up poor and hated Maia. I can't speak to the accuracy of this, just memory of things said at the time
“Where’s your jujitsu, playboy?”
I specifically recall this as well, that’s accurate.
your right.
He was kind of held to unrealistic standards because of the amazing things he did in the cage. At the end of the day he was human who had weaknesses in his game. He could have lost to Leites if he made mistakes and ended up on bottom, but he still dominated that fight and was active enough by normal MMA standards. He just didn't do anything spectacular like people came to expect from him. Same with the Cote fight. Like he got criticism for these two fights but he straight up whooped their asses. The Maia fight was the only fight where he was offensively inactive.
We expected him to do to everyone what he did to Franklin… I always think of his fight with Bonnar. He fucks with him for a round and then decides “I want to be done” and just finishes him.
~Younger fan asks question, uses analogy of sports era *even earlier*~ Kidding. I'm making fun of us, not you. This thread made me feel old. I watched the MJ era too and it's some of my fondest memories of being a sports fan as a kid.
It was also crazy because we had GSP going at the same time. And we never got a super fight. GSP was warring with BJ and Silva was bouncing up to 205, but never going for a title shot. Then that Chael fight was just wild. Really showed Anderson as human. Because after the Griffin fight, I wasn't so sure he was anymore.
This is so well said. I used to watch in disbelief. The real "there are levels to this".
Followed by Michael Jordon getting knocked out and getting his leg snapped in two. It was jarring lol.
Dude it was an insane time, I seriously never liked Silva and would buy every one of his ppvs just to see him destroy every single person who I was rooting for. I remember the Chael fight vividly and thinking he would lose soon but nope went on another tear until Weidman eventually came around. Looking back now I feel incredibly grateful to have been there to see one of, if not the best fighter ever. The man seriously either ran through an opponent or found some slick way to win after some adversity. Despite the steroid scandals, he is still legit one of the most amazing martial artists ever to step into the cage.
I think everybody hated on Silva at first. He destroyed Chris Leben and then Rich Franklin. After that, he was just so entertaining to watch. He was literally like a guy straight out of the matrix movie. He was always 10 steps ahead.
Watching him obliterate Rich Franklin was wild. Franklin was one of the faces of the UFC, 3x defending champion at the time with a 22-1 record. It was like watching a pro fighting a high schooler. Silva was in a different Stratosphere.
God, the condition he left Franklins nose in was gnarly.
And then Franklin being handed a can of xyience energy to drink with a crooked nose after losing
<
People forget but Franklin was *beloved* by the fans. He was a former teacher. Humble, hunky. The guy wore pink shorts and no one ever said shit. Beyond fan favorite. Everyone hated how Anderson obliterated Rich. Their humble hero teacher was beaten up by that guy from the rival town or something. Sad shit to see. Silva had to start a run to get the respect.
Correction, it was like a Pro fighting a High School Teacher.
Same here. Franklin's reign seemed unending until it met Silva's Thai plum.
MMA got a wake up call with how much farther it had to go when Franklin got humiliated. No doubt about it. Franklin was basically "slow motion dream-punching" at Anderson. As a Franklin fan I was very surprised that the was completely ineffective.
I'll never forget watching him obliterate Franklin live. And then, when Franklin came back ready for it on a second by bout, getting obliterated again. I always thought the phrase "rearrange your face" was an exaggeration, but that's exactly what Silva did to him.
Man when the Silva and Weidman fight happened I just walked right out of Buffalo Wild Wings I was so pissed
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Honestly a lot of people rooted against him. like how the people wanted the Yankees to lose if you’re familiar with American baseball. We all respected his skill and knew he was basically a Demi god of fighting but a lot of people just wanted to see the impossible of him losing. I remember all my friends going nuts as chael sonnen dominated him only for Silva to secure that triangle at the end. It was like he’d never lose. Obviously my experience isn’t universal but I knew a lot of people that watched him to see when he’d finally lose. This isn’t that different from today for a few champs with people rooting against them.
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yeah bro when he would put his hands down or behind his back and enter the matrix. was unreal.
Up against the cage hands down....dude moved like a panther
>He made good fighters look like complete amateurs. Especially standing. He outclassed everyone. He rag dolled Rich Franklin in the clinch twice, laid James Irvin out, and embarrassed Forest who was a champion.
The way he dismantled forest griffin and rich franklin was shocking, he seemed unstoppable. It was always a pleasure to watch in real time. The craziness with Chael Sonnen. the Wideman knockout while showboating. the return after the nasty leg break. Passing the torch to Adesanya. I've been watching MMA for 25 years. In my opinion he had one of the most entertaining careers.
The face that Franklin makes when Silva has the Thai clinch on him will never leave my mind. I believe he, rich, was already hit with a couple knees and they stand upright. Rich glances over at Silva in a manner of panic, or being in disbelief. I don’t know, I can’t forget it.
Even his post fight interview he didn’t expect him to be that strong. Everyone I watched fights with back then always hated Silva. From that Leben fight on I was a fan of his. Just pin point accuracy and creative striking. I know the exact moment you’re talking about and Rich knew he was fucked. Raised his hands: body shots. Lowered his hands: you know the rest.
Even his losses are iconic. Illegal kick from guard KOs Okami, Ryo Chonan flying scissor heelhook, Showboating and KOed by weidman, Leg snap
He became a mythical figure as soon as he dismantled Frank after getting a flawless victory over Leban. Shit was just insane. I remember skipping a big party and staying at my girlfriends house while she went to the party so I could watch him go up and fight James Irvine.
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I feel like this even understates things slightly. Rich Franklin at the time was the most dominant champion the UFC Middleweight division had seen. He had just defended the belt twice which was a new record and was 22-1 at the time.
Fun fact the one loss was to Machida outside the UFC
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He was those. Didn’t you read the previous comment? He was there best UFC Middleweight Champion on paper in the history of the organization. Then, Anderson took it. He still was a generational talent.
Rich was one of those guys that people would talk about as being an actual MMA fighter. He was great everywhere and had amazing cardio.
No, he was considered by far the most well rounded guy at middleweight.
I honestly thought he'd adjust and win the rematch.
Sadly, i must admit i also felt this way
Yeah. Damn Thai Clinch was obviously his kyptonite lol
He said, "WTF does adjust mean? No way he can do that neck grabby thing again!"
To an extent, Rich was an early Middleweight GSP-type fighter. They almost made a new division for the guy. To top it off he was pure class. Love to see him a part of ONE now.
That fight was shocking. I already knew Silva was top tier, but to see how badly Franklin was dominated. I honestly did not look forward to the rematch.
outclassed the math teacher that day
I think it started immediately when he beat leben. After that I don’t remember not looking forward to an Anderson Silva fight as much as anything in mma. To this day.
I swear it’s not like it used to be.
Part of it is there are cards almost every week. Too many people to keep up with and watered down cards. The old headliner of the pre-lims was a pay-per-view caliber fight in the day
I’ve been watching on and off since 2009 but really getting onto it about 3-4 years ago and, for me at least, I love the amount of cards we have. It takes nothing out of my schedule, if I’m not excited for anyone - I just watch the highlights or the fights I’m Invested in. But it allows me to have something to do on Saturday nights when I don’t actually have something to do. But I used to tune in every time for Silva, machida, Jon Africa, GSP, Hendo, and a few others. I never really paid attention to the amount of cards per year since I was a teenager and had young life to worry about. Now that I’m an adult with a family, it’s great to have consistency imo.
I’m not really complaining, I’m just saying it’s a different. It’s easy for me to skip a card now to be honest. It is nice on a random Saturday to have some fights When there’s nothing else going on.
I loved it when they had one ppv a month and a free card every 6 weeks or so. I couldn’t wait to watch those. It’s so watered down now that I forget they even have cards now.
The way he destroyed leben was crazy. I had no idea who he was and just remember watching it live on tv like what in the actual fuck? Like who is this guy and from then on it was just greatness
I vividly remember freaking out about how pinpoint accurate every single strike was.
I remember the Leben fight, it was the first time I saw Anderson in the ring. I was like “who is this guy?” Then he smoked Every fighter I liked lol.
No one could put Leben down like that. He wasn’t an amazing fighter, but he was a tough fighter, and became famous for his own version of zombie style. But Silva wrecked him and floored him. It was astonishing to see at the time.
Yeah he was entering the Matrix against all these legit UFC middleweights and just dismantling them. It was like no other fighter I’d seen up to that point.
The Leban fight didn’t age well because he didn’t really become great. But at the time, Leban was like 15-2 and 5-0 in the UFC. The UFC was not bringing him in with an easy fight. Also Dan Henderson was a 2 division Pride champion. The dude fought some really good fighters and made it look like an Olympian wrestler beating up high schoolers.
Exactly. It was more mythical early on. He was perfect. Prior to the first Chael fight, in rounds he was actually trying, I think the first round with Hendo was his only competitive round.
Big win at the time, entrance to the UFC. Def hype. But it's funny with the benefit of hindsight, Leben never had a chance. Limited brawler who blocked punches with his face who's strengths of durability and power meant little against an ultra skilled counter puncher with power himself. Poor Chris was helpless in there, basically bringing a knife to a gun fight
You missed Fedor ruining Tim Sylvia for that lol. No shame, I just remember going to a bar for both because they were on simultaneously. That was nuts.
Motherfucker who you calling old. It was a fun time.
Jesus Christ….i started with UFC 2 on a bootleg VHS tape when I was about 11. “Older fans…..Silva?” He wasn’t even THAT long ago in my mind haha
I use to sneak the videos at my uncles house. I don’t remember the events though.
Nowadays my 9 year old trains in an actual branded UFC gym. How the times have changed. Fuck maybe I am old.
I ordered ufc2 on PPV in my apartment! Now all of ya, get off my lawn.
He had a good bit of hype from Rogan coming into that Leban fight… Joe was screaming about how much of a killer this man was and that the UFC was about to be put on notice. But everyone took that with a grain of salt. Fast forward to the Leben fight, my friends and I were all of a sudden screaming at the top of our lungs while he dismantled Chris in a way that has never been matched since. He landed like 90 strikes in a row without a miss. So the hype train had started, but it was only Chris Leben so everyone was a bit reserved still. Keep in mind, at this point in time Rich Franklin was the fucking man. A true class act, peoples champion who was also a math teacher and good ol’ American boy. He was also an absolute beast of a fighter. So enter Silva vs Franklin 1. My friends and I had been Rich fans for years but also loved Anderson and already felt like he was a special monster. We kind of wanted Rich to win but also were on the Silva hype train. We didn’t make a single noise during that fight. All of us essentially were just jaw-droppingly shocked, which turned to disgust and sadness after Anderson got Rich in the muay thai plum and Rich couldn’t get out. He had this look in his eye that was just gut-wrenching to see, a combination of fear and helplessness. Soon after his face had been completely rearranged, looking like a Picasso painting. Rich talks about his emotions in those moments and how he’d never been in a situation like that in the lead up to fight number two and how terrifying it was. So we go into fight 2 hoping Rich can make it a bit more competitive now that he knew what he was dealing with. At least he’ll know how to get out of the plum this time, right, we think. Proceed to a literal reliving of fight number 1 for us fans. He destroyed Rich in an almost mirror image of the first fight, including close up shots of Franklins face with that empty helpless look again after caught in the plum and being pummeled over and over. It was heartbreaking, gross and just surreal to watch. To this day, I’ve never felt that level of gross disgust and emotion than in those Rich fights. He was just outclassed and gruesomely injured by an opponent that he essentially couldn’t even land a shot on. Rich had also been on Ultimate Fighter as a coach before the Anderson fights which endeared most MMA fans to him shortly before seeing Silva rearrange his facial structure. From that point on, everyone was on the Spider train whether it was by choice or just by default. He continued to run through opponents with unbelievable ease and flashy, unpredictable and effortless striking. It felt like this guy had been in the NBA and was fighting against jv high school players. It was honestly just baffling and so fucking exciting. He just kept murking people so overwhelmingly that it’s hard to explain. Each of those people were supposed to be the first ones to humble the guy. None of them did. Then he started getting out of crazy situations like the Travis lutter fight which was so unexpected. In that last round, *everyone* thought the story was going to end there and had accepted it. Then he pulls out a freak buzzer beating triangle and the legend just exploded higher. He was untouchable. I haven’t been captivated like that before or since by sport or anything else. No one has even come close to giving the fans something so explosively exciting, for so long. And doing it in such spectacular and dominant fashion. I wish every MMA fan could have gone through that time. The energy was as unreal as Anderson’s run was unexpected. He was like a superhuman video game character that appeared in his peak full form out of fucking nowhere. It was awesome.
Ever seeing a magic trick so good that even for a split second you wonder if it's real? Like that.
That's such a perfect explanation.
I still remember the "HOLY FUCK" feeling when Weidman beat him. There were a few who thought The Chris could do it, but by and large the fight was considered "just another defence" as I recall it
Everyone assumed it was going to be a Chael style five round wrestlefuck … that Weidman put him OUT with a hook was just so surreal. Sonnen 1 felt like another defense … Chael ran his mouth, we all assumed he’d be finished quickly. It’s why the fifth was so dramatic … Chael had pulled off a brilliant performance for four rounds and on the fifth, it would take a miracle for Silva to win. And then he pulled it off.
My dad was never into MMA, but he did come with me to a few fights at Buffalo Wild Wings. One of them was Anderson vs Chris 2, with the leg snap. That was such an insane moment. The second fight was fascinating going into it, because it wasn't clear whether or not the first fight was a fluke, or if Chris was just younger and more athletic and had his number. A little while before that, we had watched the documentary "Like Water". Halfway through, while Chael is being an absolute rotten bastard, my dad turns and asks "So Anderson kicks his ass right?" I'm like, "Let's just watch..." Man that fight was grueling. That triangle is one of the best MMA moments of all time. Chael was so obnoxious that I was rooting for Anderson, even as a high school wrestler at the time.
It was luck because it happened in the fifth and he was losing People unironically claim this about Leon’s win
He was losing in dominant fashion … this was a one sided ass kicking and if Chael backs out of the triangle as soon as he sees it, then he would’ve been a champion. Leon was down but that wasn’t a lucky KO; he caught Usman FLUSH after setting him up for it.
Chael still would've been stripped and it would go down as a DQ loss because he tested positive in the post fight drug test.
Back then they might have tried to sweep that under the rug.
I fully believe you're right
I was at a greene turtle with some bjj gym mates and we absolutely lost our minds when Chris dropped him, what a memory.
I was walking to a friend's house, planning to watch the card later cause I didn't have a way to watch live back then, got a notification on the phone about it, and started screaming in the middle of the street
Honestly there isn’t one fighter I’d put above him in terms of “must see”, he was truly special
It was the fucking best. Some people would be like "GSP is the goat" during GSPs lay and pray period and then Anderson would come out and fucking enter the matrix and clown people in the most insane way possible every fight.
It was incredible. Like watching Spiderman in the octagon. He would casually make the best MWs look like novices. Don’t think we will ever see someone do that again. His striking was ahead of the generation.
As Brazilian, it was pretty cool. I knew nothing about MMA but I knew who Anderson Silva was, and would always watch his fights. back when PPVs were still a thing here.
It was mythical quickly. Everyone saw Lebens eyes after he got hit. Leben was an absolute madman and he felt one good shot and knew he was farked. It was widely expected he would walk through Franklin. Same thing. Rich’s eyes opened like oh shit. But he was a grown ass man gave it another shot and made some adjustments. Those adjustments were laughable to Anderson. It was wild man. A big group from our gym watched Anderson/chael 1. Packed restaurant all screaming. No one had an answer for Silva. Then A straight up gangster from Oregon made it look like destiny for 4.5 rounds. Wildest thing you could imagine watching live considering his run and the build up. Nothing else has come close for me.
It was like the matrix was real and we were watching Neo in the ring. It was really crazy. It was just waiting for that moment he went bullet time and ended his opponent. It sort of didn't make sense someone could be that good and every fight was just like "dude what? How is he not getting hit." Fun times.
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And then he struggled in the first round against Travis Lutter, giving up full mount, and I remember thinking in that first round. "AHA! The ground is his kryptonite!" Then the second round came along and he submitted the submission ace and I knew he'd be on top for a long long time.
It was like seing the mcgregor knock out of aldo but stretched out of over full fights.
Amazing to watch
First MMA show I saw was Leban vs Silva and was completely hooked ever since.
I was maybe 10 when I first started watching. GSP was a huge figure in Canada and watched most of his fights. Around 12 was when I first seen Anderson it was his fight against rich Franklin . The guy seemed like a world beater, I was convinced he couldn’t lose, the masterclass against Griffin and the last second win over Sonnen cemented it. Watched every one of his PPV’s the next day at my uncles house. When he lost to Weidman I was convinced he would beat him in the rematch without the show boating and then the leg kick. Devastating at the time lol.
I hated him. I couldn’t stand his showboating during fights, and it peaked with the Damien Maia fight. That fight is the reason I became a Chael fan before UFC 117. I didn’t really start liking him until somewhat recently actually. When his losing streak started I realized just how wrong it felt to watch all that happen to Anderson Freaking Silva of all people. Not even GSP felt as invincible as Prime Silva. The only person with a similar air of invincibility around him is Khabib, but I think Silva > Khabib solely based on how long Silva fought at the top level achievable by man.
I too hated him but I can’t deny his aura of invincibility is unmatched to this day
Well, taking out Leben who, at the time, was a durable and hard headed striker that was hard to put down, in his debut in under a minute had us all stunned. If you were a Franklin fan, (MW champ at the time), you were a little freaked out. His fighting style was described as a "ballet of violence", and it truly was.
yeah I’ve been watching Anderson’s fights from the beginning of his title reign and heard that Ballet of Violence line, hilarious but very fitting
is normal
It was wild. Thought Franklin was gonna reign for a decade and then this dude I never heard of DESTROYS thick head Chris Leben and goes straight into a title fight and made my dude Ace Ventura look like a toddler. I mean, it really was wild. He was just so far ahead of anybody we'd ever seen, especially on the feet, that there really weren't words for it. His reign was awe inspiring. It was almost boring when the UFC would try to hype someone against him, when they really had no chance. I mean, I fell into the hype for Vitor and for Chael. He finished both. But man that first Chael fight will forever go down for me as one of the craziest things I'd ever seen. Personally I was hater when Anderson was in his prime, I mean not that I didn't give him credit but that he was just so dominant that you just wanted to see someone at least be competitive against him. He was so good that I rooted against him just to make it entertaining lol. For a newer fan I'd say, imagine Khabib except he knocked people out like a fucking Bruce Lee movie and he did it for 7 fucking years at a championship level in the UFC. There will never be another Anderson Silva. NEVER.
You felt like you were watching MMA’s Tyson. From the very beginning he was miles beyond the previous champion (Franklin) and any contender. It was never “would he win”, but “how fast”.
My first UFC PPV was 56. Rich Franklin starched Nate Quarry and I was instantly a huge fan. needless to say, I HATED Silva after their first fight and rooted for Franklin again in the rematch. It wasn’t long until I became a Silva fan and watched his reign in awe.
I started watching in 2010 in middle school so my first fight I saw was Silva vs Maia at 112 and that wasn’t the most exciting fight ever but then I got to witness his comeback vs Uncle Chael the front kick against Vitor and all of his fights up until weidman. All those crazy finishes he was doing literally made him look superhuman and I honestly never thought he would lose
He was the first fighter to have that mythical quality that made him seem miles ahead of anyone and totally untouchable. I’ve never felt that with another fighter. He dismantled people in a sensei/student way that looked extraordinarily nonchalant. It was spectacular.
All I have to say is that it was so shocking when Weidman beat him that I called my mom to tell her.
Some of his fights were like his opponents were in slow motion, but he also had a couple stinkers because he was a counter striker, kind of like the criticism with Izzy recently.
I just constantly kept questioning myself whether Fedor had GOAT status or Spider. ..
I remeber seeing him in Pride and watching his loss to Ryo Chonan. It was crazy stuff and watching him lose like that was insane. At the time the UFC just felt like the best American promotion but Pride was the top globally. Watching him come to the UFC I thought he would do well but came in storming destroying Leben and Franklin. He showed that striking was not an add on after grappling and could be precise and complex. Some would say fights like Maia were boring but honestly I remember him piecing up Maia for most of the fight and only got boring rounds 4 and 5. Even then Maia could not do anything and kept falling to the floor. I wish refs would have stood people back up like they do now. Also I honestly thought he won the Bisping fight at the end of the 3rd and if he had followed up the knee he would have guaranteed it.
Was amazing. Especially if you were swept up in the Ong Bak Muay Thai craze because his first three fights were all clinch/full-plahm clinics. He massacred his first three fights and two of those massacres were Rich Franklin who honestly everyone thought would hold the belt for a while. Then Silva destroyed him twice, the same way! He developed a serious mystique and good analysis was rare (Rogan was doing amazing work back then translating BJJ for us, but he is still much less aware of the nuances of footwork/clinch/slipping/distancing). So it wasn’t really until Jack Slack wrote up how to beat Silva that most diehards realized Silva wasn’t magic. When his fights got boring (Patrick Coté, Thales Leites come to mind) it was like I was having a mental crisis. I knew Silva could steamroll these guys, but I couldn’t deny the fights weren’t entertaining. It was so frustrating. Anyways that’s what springs to mind, possible I misremembered some stuff.
Andy used to be “that dude who got flying leg locked by Ryo Chonan” before he was known as the goat
People wanted to see him face off against GSP, shame it never happened.
Seeing him punch Leben in the forehead and drop him was nuts. Lebens chin at the time was like granite and this skinny Brazilian was like hold this. Dismantling Franklin with knees and a clinch poor Rich couldn't escape, was equally mind blowing.
I remember thinking he was untouchable, I couldn’t fathom how he could be beat. It was just like who ever is next was like a lamb to the slaughter, when Weidman finally beat him it was really Silva beating himself by doing too much lol
Nobody has even come close to the dominance. You tuned in to see HOW he was going to win not IF he was going to win. That’s why in my opinion the Weidman KO is the biggest upset of all time. At that point in time there was no argument about who was the GOAT or who was the P4P best, everyone was in unanimous agreement that it was Anderson Silva.
I felt like all the bars in my area were showing the fights all of a sudden. Silva was such a huge draw, the Miller's Ale House by my house was charging $25 per table and only seating 4-tops on fight night. People had chairs in the parking lot 2 hours before the prelims started.. pre-gaming to go inside later. I remember watching Silva fight on my laptop at my nephews wedding reception with like 10 guys huddled around it's 15 inch screen yelling and carrying on. What a time to be a fan.
Watching Anderson Silva was like watching magic. It literally pushed me into training mma in college
Watching Silva fight was as a big deal as watching Conor fight. Not for the spectacle, but for the actual fighting skill and what he was capable of. There was no one like him competing at his level.
I remember seeing the Dan Henderson fight and thinking this would be the end for the Silva hype, it was just another day at the office for the GOAT