UFC Vegas 12: A timeline in the career of Anderson Silva
Reflecting on Anderson Silva’s career before UFC Vegas 12 retirement fight
One of the most legendary fighters to step foot inside the UFC Octagon, Anderson Silva will finally call it a career in the main event of UFC Vegas 12 when he takes on Uriah Hall.
Making his professional MMA debut back in 1997, Silva made a name for himself in promotions like PRIDE and Cage Rage before arriving in the UFC in 2006.
In just his second Octagon bout, he’d win the UFC middleweight championship and went on to set numerous promotional records — including most middleweight title fights (and wins in such), most successful UFC middleweight title defenses (overall and consecutive), most finishes in UFC middleweight history, most finishes in UFC title fight history, most knockdowns in UFC title fights and UFC history and most knockouts in UFC title fights.
Let’s take a look back at Silva’s run in MMA — the highs and the lows.
A look back at the career of Anderson Silva before UFC Vegas 12
June 25, 1997
Anderson Silva makes his professional MMA debut at BFC 1 in Campo Grande, Brazil, defeating Raimundo Pinheiro by submission with a rear-naked choke in just under two minutes.
Aug. 26, 2001
Silva captures his first championship in MMA when he scores a unanimous decision win over Hayato Sakurai to become Shooto middleweight champion at Shooto 7 in Osaka, Japan.
June 23, 2002
Sporting an 8-1 record, Silva makes his PRIDE debut at PRIDE 21 in Saitama, Japan, needing less than 90 seconds to score a doctor’s stoppage TKO win over Alex Stiebling.
March 16, 2003
Silva scores arguably his biggest win to this point, knocking out former UFC middleweight champion Carlos Newton at PRIDE 25 in Yokohama, Japan.
June 8, 2003
Silva is finished for the first time in his career, as he’s submitted in eight-and-a-half minutes by Daiju Takase at PRIDE 26 in Yokohama, Japan.
Sept. 11, 2004
Silva scores a unanimous decision over the infamous Lee Murray at Cage Rage 8 in London to capture the Cage Rage middleweight championship. He’d defend the championship successfully three times before going on to the UFC.
Jan. 20, 2006
In a welterweight tournament bout at Rumble on the Rock 8 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Silva is infamously disqualified after landing an up-kick from his back to knock out a grounded Yushin Okami. This would be the last time for over seven years that Silva loses a fight.
June 28, 2006
Silva makes his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 5 in Las Vegas, making an impact right away with a 49-second knockout of Chris Leben in a UFC middleweight title eliminator.
Oct. 14, 2006
Silva knocks out Rich Franklin in just under three minutes to capture the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 64, beginning his long reign over the UFC’s 185-pound division.
July 7, 2007
In his first official title defense, Silva finishes Nate Marquardt with just 10 seconds left in the first round at UFC 73 in Sacramento, California.
Oct. 20, 2007
Silva rematches Franklin and retains the middleweight title with a second-round finish at UFC 77 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
March 1, 2008
In a highly memorable contest, Silva unified the UFC middleweight championship with the PRIDE welterweight championship when he submits Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio.
July 19, 2008
Silva competes at light heavyweight for the first time inside the Octagon, knocking out James Irvin in just 61 seconds in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card.
Oct. 25, 2008
Silva retains his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 90 in Chicago when Patrick Cote injures his knee early in the third round.
April 18, 2009
Silva scores a unanimous decision win over Thales Leites to retain his title in the main event of UFC 97 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Aug. 8, 2009
In a battle of fan favorites, Silva scores a first-round knockout of Forrest Griffin in a light heavyweight bout in the main event of UFC 101 in Philadelphia.
April 10, 2010
In an infamous main event contest at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, Anderson Silva scores a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia to retain his middleweight crown.
Aug. 7, 2010
After their fight at UFC 117 in Oakland, California, was built up with plenty of trash talk and threats from challenger Chael Sonnen, Sonnen dominates the first four rounds of the fight and inches towards the middleweight championship — only for Silva to throw up a hail-mary triangle choke and submit Sonnen with less than two minutes left in the fight.
Feb. 5, 2011
With one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, Silva front kicks Vitor Belfort in the face and finishes him in just over three minutes to retain the middleweight title at UFC 126 in Las Vegas.
Aug. 27, 2011
Silva gets revenge from Rumble on the Rock and finishes Yushin Okami in two rounds to retain the middleweight gold at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
July 7, 2012
Silva rematches Sonnen and makes it look easy this time, finishing him just under two minutes into the second round to retain the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 148 in Las Vegas. It would end up being Silva’s last successful title defense.
Oct. 13, 2012
Silva competes at light heavyweight against an alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter season 1 again, this time finishing Stephan Bonnar late into the first round at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro. It was the last win in Silva’s historic streak.
July 6, 2013
In arguably the biggest upset in UFC history, Silva met the then-undefeated Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162 in Las Vegas. After taunting Weidman, Silva was knocked out in the second round, losing the championship and ending his legendary unbeaten run.
Dec. 28, 2013
In the rematch with Weidman at UFC 168 in Las Vegas, Silva breaks his fibula and tibia in the second round. He is stretchered out of the Octagon and many wonder what is to come of Silva’s fighting future.
Jan. 31, 2015
Silva returns to the Octagon at UFC 183 in Las Vegas, scoring a unanimous decision win over Nick Diaz. The win, however, is overturned to a no-contest when Silva ends up testing positive for drostanolone and androsterone. Silva is suspended for a year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and his legacy comes under heavy questioning.
Feb. 27, 2016
In the main event of UFC London, Silva drops a controversial decision to Michael Bisping.
July 9, 2016
Filling for Jon Jones on just days notice in an attempt to save UFC 200 in Las Vegas, Silva competes in a non-title light heavyweight contest against then-champion Daniel Cormier, losing by decision.
Feb. 11, 2017
In what is to this date the most recent win of Silva’s career, “The Spider” controversially defeats Derek Brunson by decision at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, New York.
Nov. 10, 2017
Approximately two weeks before a scheduled UFC Shanghai main event bout with Kelvin Gastelum, Silva is flagged by USADA for a potential anti-doping violation. He was exonerated in June 2018 and was given a retroactive one-year suspension.
Feb. 10, 2019
Stepping up last minute, along with Israel Adesanya, from co-headliner to serve as the emergency three-round main event of UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia, Silva puts up a competitive fight but loses a unanimous decision in a battle of past vs. present striking greats.
May 11, 2019
Silva re-injures his leg when he is finished by Jared Cannonier at UFC 237 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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