Anderson Silva Brazilian wrestler Date of Birth: 14.04.1975 Country: Brazil

Biography of Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva, a Brazilian mixed martial artist, is the current champion of the American version of "Ultimate Fighting Championship" (UFC) in the middleweight category. Prior to this, he had also won in the "Cage Rage" and "Shooto" series. Da Silva started his career as a Muay Thai fighter and also practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2006, he earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

At the age of 14, Anderson began practicing Taekwondo and eventually earned a black belt at the age of 18. Surprisingly, that's not all of his achievements as he also holds a black belt in Judo. After completing his training at the Chute Boxe Academy, the talented fighter founded the "Muay Thai Dream Team" and later joined the "Black House" team in November 2006. In May 2008, he, along with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, opened the "Team Nogueira MMA Academy" in Miami.

Da Silva began his professional career in 2000 in the Brazilian series Mecca, where he initially suffered a loss. However, after his loss to Luis Azeredo, Anderson went on a nine-win streak. In August 2001, he fought against the Japanese champion of the "Shooto" series, Hayato Sakurai, who had previously won twenty consecutive fights, and managed to secure victory in the third round. In 2002, da Silva started competing in the "Pride Fighting Championships". He won his first three fights, but in June 2003, during "Pride 26: Bad to the Bone", he was defeated by Japanese fighter Daiju Takase, ending his nine-win streak.

Anderson Silva later competed in "Conquista Fight", "Gladiator Fighting Championships", "Cage Rage", and "Pride Shockwave-2004". In 2005, he won two fights - "Cage Rage 11: Face Off" and "Cage Rage 14: Punishment" - successfully defending his middleweight championship title. In 2006, there were numerous speculations about Silva's future in the press. The Brazilian fighter soon announced that he would continue his career in the "Ultimate Fighting Championship". He made his UFC debut on June 28, 2006, in a fight against Chris Leben. Since then, Anderson da Silva, nicknamed "The Spider", has remained undefeated in nine consecutive fights. In October 2006, he won the UFC Middleweight Championship title in a fight against Rich Franklin and went on to successfully defend it five times.

In an interview with Brazilian television, Anderson da Silva stated that he wanted to retire with the UFC title in his pocket in 2009. However, his manager, Ed Soares, revealed that it was too early for Silva to retire, as he still had six fights left on his contract. Based on this calculation, it means that da Silva can only peacefully end his remarkable career in the world of MMA in 2010. His next fight against Forrest Griffin is set to take place on August 8, 2009, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of "UFC 101: Declaration".