Cementing a legacy as one of the best to
ever do it! 🕷️Congratulate @SpiderAnderson
as he becomes the newest addition to the UFC Hall of
Fame 🙌Advertisement
[ B2YB @ToyoTires
] pic.twitter.com/0KyXQBsN0C
— UFC (@ufc)
March 18, 2023
Anderson
Silva, regarded by many as the greatest middleweight in the
history of the sport, will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame
this summer.
“The Spider” will be inducted into the Hall of Fame’s “Pioneer Era
Wing” during a ceremony this July as part of UFC International
Fight Week in Las Vegas. The Pioneer Wing includes fighters who
turned professional before Nov. 17, 2000, are at least 35 years old
and have been retired for a minimum of a year.
“Anderson
Silva is one of the greatest athletes of all time,” UFC
president Dana White said. “Anderson’s 16-fight winning streak in
the UFC, 10 successful title defenses and almost seven years as
middleweight champion were one of the most remarkable things we’ve
ever seen in professional sports. He was an absolute artist inside
the Octagon, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC
Hall of Fame this summer.”
A native of Curitiba, Brazil, Silva compiled a 34-11 mark over the
course of a professional tenure that began in 1997. He was UFC
middleweight champion from 2006 to 20013, a title reign that
spanned 2,457 days. “The Spider” owns promotional records for
longest winning streak (16), most middleweight wins (11) and most
middleweight knockdowns (13). His resume includes notable triumphs
over the likes of Rich
Franklin, Jeremy Horn,
Chris
Leben, Nate
Marquardt, Dan
Henderson, Forrest
Griffin, Chael
Sonnen, Demian Maia,
Vitor
Belfort and Stephan
Bonnar.
Silva last appeared for the promotion at UFC Fight Night 181, where
he suffered a fourth-round technical knockout loss to Uriah Hall in
October 2020. He has since continued to compete in boxing, notably
earning wins over the likes of Julio Cesar
Chavez Jr. and Tito Ortiz
while losing to Jake Paul in
the squared circle.