Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion. Silva holds the longest title defense streak in UFC history, which ended in 2013 with 16 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses. He has 12 post-fight bonus awards. UFC president Dana White and several mixed-martial-arts publications have called Silva among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. As of May 2015, he is #4 contender in the official UFC middleweight rankings, and #9 pound-for-pound.

Background

Anderson Silva was born April 14, 1975, a middle child of four. The son of a poverty-stricken family, Silva spent the majority of his childhood with his aunt and uncle, an officer with the Curitiba police force.

Silva first began training jiu-jitsu with neighborhood kids who could afford lessons. He explained his introduction to martial arts in an interview with FIGHT! Magazine: “When I started out, Jiu-Jitsu was really an elite thing in Brazil, and there was some prejudice towards poorer kids, so I had to learn things on my own... Some of my neighbors started doing Jiu-Jitsu, so I started watching it, and then started rolling with them. It wasn’t organized training, but it was better than nothing.” By the age of thirteen his family was able to set aside enough money to start him in Tae Kwon Do lessons, from which he moved on to Capoeira, before finally settling on Muay Thai at the age of sixteen.

Anderson Silva (kickboxer)

Anderson "Braddock" Silva (born in São Paulo) is a Brazilian super heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Superfight Team in Itapira, São Paulo State, Brazil. He has competed in the It's Showtime, SUPERKOMBAT and K-1 promotions and is currently signed to GLORY. As of 2 November 2015, he is ranked the #8 heavyweight in the world by GLORY.

Biography and career

Anderson Silva began started his kickboxing career at Combat Sport gym in São Paulo, Brazil when he was around 12 or 13 years old. His fighters name "Braddock" comes from Col. James Braddock, from the movie Missing In Action. In 2007 Silva was called up by Peter Aerts, as a sparring partner. "Braddock" moved to Netherlands where he joined Thom Harinck's Chakuriki Gym and made his It's Showtime debut.

Following the Badr Hari fight, he returned to Brazil to train at Team Nogueira.

He faced returning legend Remy Bonjasky at Glory 2: Brussels on October 6, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. After a close three rounds, the bout was called a draw and went into an extension round. He faded and allowed Bonjasky to get the better of him, losing a majority decision.