Should Anderson Silva retire from MMA? A brief look into the career of the Spider.

Quite possibly the best fighter the UFC will have ever signed for their organisation, and arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (33-6) has truly achieved legendary status.

MMA fans and fighters all over the world would agree. Already known to hardcore MMA fans at the time, the Shooto and Cage Rage champion made his UFC debut in 2006 against Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben (22-12). The Spider landed one hundred per cent of his strikes against the Crippler and knocked Leben out in under a minute.

It was after this moment that all watching knew Silva was the real deal. He went on to create a legacy in the UFC that will never be forgotten.

Silva would go on to win the UFC Middleweight Championship in just his second fight in the UFC, defend it a record ten times. The Spider also would win a record sixteen times in a row in different weight classes and is the record holder for the longest UFC title reign (2457 days).

For most of his time as champion, Silva was known as a humble and respectable athlete, however some of his in ring antics, such as show-boating instead of fighting, have brought the sport into disrepute. The most notable case of this would be against Demian Maia (19-6), where Silva fought for the first two rounds then completely coasted the rest of the fight. This severely angered the fans, along with UFC president Dana White who said it was his most embarrassing moment as president of the UFC.

Anderson Silva is feared due to his incredibly dangerous striking ability, usually fighting out of a traditional Muay Thai stance, he has been known to switch stances and move around to try and confuse his opponents. He has also been known to fight with his hands down, and stand right in front of his opponents, a manoeuvre he uses to get his foes to come into his range, and then use his speed to punish them for doing so. He incorporated this in his game plan very effectively in his bouts against Yushin Okami (30-8) and Forrest Griffin (19-7).

Silva’s stand up skill aside, the Spider is also holds black belts in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has also shown his grappling skill against known wrestlers such as Chael Sonnen (29-14) and Dan Henderson (30-12), whom he has both submitted.

In July of 2013 at UFC 162, Anderson’s reign had come to an end after a second-round knock-out loss at the hands of Chris Weidman (12-0). Silva was moving around with his hands down and asking Weidman to come hit him in typical Anderson Silva fashion, however a left hook connected off one of the combinations that Weidman had thrown, and dropped Silva. A few follow up punches later and there was a new UFC Middleweight Champion.

The world of mixed martial arts blew up and just a few weeks after Silva’s loss, a rematch was organised for UFC 168 in December of 2013, and was hyped as the biggest fight in the history of the UFC. Weidman had a lot of success during the first round, but the talking point of the fight came in the second round, when Chris Weidman checked one of Silva’s leg kicks, breaking Anderson’s leg in half in one of the most horrific injuries in mixed martial arts history.

Despite it being against the wishes of his family, Anderson Silva is set to return to the UFC, over a year after his injury to headline UFC 183 against Nick Diaz (26-9) in January next year.

After all the records that he has broken, the money he has made and legacy he has created for himself, does he have anything left to prove? Perhaps he doesn’t want to end his fighting life in such a tragic way, maybe he still he thinks he has what it takes, or maybe he just loves the sport too much to walk away. Whatever the reason for his return may be, this bout with Diaz is one of the most anticipated in UFC history, and we will truly see what Anderson Silva has left.

Do you think the Spider should return or walk away? Does he have anything left to prove?

Championships
Shooto Middleweight Champion
Cage Rage Middleweight Champion
UFC Middleweight Champion
Unified UFC Middleweight and Pride FC Welterweight Champion

UFC Records
Most consecutive title defences (10)
Most successful title defences (10)
Most finishes UFC History (14)
Most consecutive wins in the UFC (16)
Longest win streak in UFC history (16)
Highest significant strike accuracy in UFC (67.8%)
Most knockdowns landed in UFC History (17)
Longest UFC title reign (2457 days)

Awards
Sports Illustrated Fighter of the Year (2008)
World MMA Awards Fighter of the Year (2008)
World MMA Awards Fight of the Year (2010)
Inside MMA Fight of the Year (2010)
World MMA Awards Knockout of the Year (2011)