tendance
How Anderson Silva tarnished his once-perfect legacy
In 2013, Anderson Silva sat higher top of the UFC
than arguably anyone had before.
The top pound for pound fighter in the sport and
considered by many to be and the greatest of all time,
Silva’s assent seemed unstoppable. He earned
the middleweight title in 2006, and then defended it over
and then and over, and then, for good measure, took
some fights at heavyweight and light along the way He
won those too Every single fighter the UFC threw his
way, Silva beat Chael Sonnen came the closest to
toppling “The Spider, but even then Silva’s patience
and composure paid off From there, he knocked out
Vitor Belfort, stopped Yushin Okami, had a much
easier time against Sonnen in their rematch, then
sent a PED-filled Stephan Bonnar home with a loss.
He put together the UFC’s longest winning streak
ever He defended his middleweight championship
belt a record 10 times, he did it regularly in
remarkable fashion At 37-years old, Silva had set
himself up to be remembered as the greatest to
ever enter the Octagon But about that
is it didn’t have to be like this In late 2012, following
that win over Bonnar to make it a record 16 straight,
Silva told UFC officials, Dana White and Lorenzo
Fertitta that he wanted to retire Frankly, Silva sounded
over it He focused on what his success had been
keeping him from, but while Silva thought of his family,
UFC brass thought of the money that would depart
with their star Not long after their talk, White gifted
What’s most unfortunate
Silva a Bentley The champ doubted this was a,
Hey, thanks for all you’ve done for us,” present
and more of a, Let’s chill on that and retirement talk,
sort of Bentley Whatever the intention, Silva stuck
with the organization and by March had his next title
defense lined up Chris Weidman may not have had
the name recognition of other challengers, but one
could easily see how this wouldn’t be a walk in
the park for Silva Undefeated at 9-and-0, many
expected the former All-American wrestler to follow
the lead of Sonnen and Dan Henderson, who had
exploited Silva’s questionable take down defense.
Plus, Weidman really had nothing to lose going up
against the all time great But, for Silva, while he’d
agreed to the fight, he still found himself considering
life after MMA, even promising his wife that, if things
went well, retirement could be the next step.
It’s worth noting that these quotes came in 2020,
with plenty of hindsight available In the moment,
some of his actions portrayed slightly different hopes
for the future, although still with confusion as to his
wants versus those of the UFC If nothing else, Silva
sounded comfortable with whatever fate had in store.
Each fight required a winner and a loser, and one
result wouldn’t wash away everything he’d accomplished.
That mindset, though, should not be misconstrued as
Silva lacking confidence Once the main event at 162
began, for better or worse, vintage Silva entered
the Octagon He did whatever he could to get in
Weidman’s head Looking to throw the challenger
the greatest UFC
off his game, so Silva could get a chance to counter,
he repeatedly dropped guard, going so far as to beg
for punches with his hands on his hips, and that
came after Weidman had already taken him down
and done some damage Weidman forced Silva to
eat some jabs, but Silva simply laughed and
continued goading Weidman The first round
ended with a kiss from the champ To start the
second, Silva kept toying with Weidman, but he
eventually took it too far Silva pretended to be
hurt after a left hook, then, as Weidman pursued,
the Spider dodged all he could before the challenger
landed a heavy shot to Silva’s jaw No longer feigning,
Weidman jumped on Silva as soon as he hit the mat
and finished him there The first blemish on one of
the greatest UFC careers, and it came after Silva
laughed his way straight into danger Stunned, Silva
watched for the first time as his challenger became
the champion From the Octagon, he praised Weidman
and made zero excuses for the loss Then, after
Weidman’s immediate offer of a rematch, let it be
known that he had no intention of reclaiming the title.
He was tired, not retired, just tired That didn’t stop
Dana from immediately putting the idea of a rematch
into the universe though And, even with his lack of
desire, Silva opened as the favorite in a hypothetical
rematch It proved Silva’s pre-fight thoughts one
outcome won’t alter a legacy like his Contemporaries,
similar living legends, agreed that nothing had changed.
