The 10 Best MMA fighters from the 2000s

9. Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva shattered records in Pride and became one of the most feared athletes in the world during his prime.

Silva’s aggressive style was compared to good old-fashioned street brawling, as he used elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. Vale Tudo was also instrumental in his early development as a fighter.

After a brief stint in the UFC at UFC 20, Silva joined Pride and debuted against Carl Malenko at Pride 7. He entered the promotion as a relatively unknown fighter but quickly gained the respect of fans with four-straight wins.

This would be the start of the longest winning streak in Pride history, as Silva capped it off by winning the Pride middleweight title along with the Pride middleweight Grand Prix. In total, Silva at one point won 20 fights in a row in Pride and also earned the most wins in Pride history with 22.

Silva’s strength of opponents is almost unheard of. On the way to winning multiple middleweight titles in Pride, he defeated the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Dan Henderson while all three were in the prime of their careers.

Silva also tied the record with Mirko Cro Cop, with 16 finishes during his time in Pride.

Silva’s time in the UFC left much to be desired, but he did end up getting highlight wins over Michael Bisping and his brutal knockout of Keith Jardine. He could never quite get to the championship level he was at in Pride but was still an opponent that most didn’t want to deal with.

Silva currently has a 35-14 record and most recently fought in Bellator in 2019. He retired as one of the greatest middleweights in MMA history and at the peak of his skills, was one of the most dangerous opponents in the cage.