6 Greatest UFC Champions

#3 Anderson Silva

Silva enters the Octagon

After bursting onto the global stage and capturing the UFC’s middleweight title with a one-sided beatdown of Rich Franklin, Anderson Silva set himself on the path to becoming the most dominant 185lbs champion in the promotion’s history.

His eye-catching style earned him the reputation as the most lethal striker in the business at the time, and with knockout wins over the likes of Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, ‘the Spider’ created one the most impressive highlight-reels in the whole of MMA.

For seven years, Silva held the middleweight strap with a vice-like grip, and not only did he finish all but two of his opponents within that span, but he often did so with reckless abandon, toying with his confused adversaries and at times making them look silly.

Although that bravado would eventually prove to be his downfall - the playful antics resulting in Silva eating a punch from challenger Chris Weidman, with Brazilian being knockout-out cold and losing his belt - the risk-taking that was on display throughout his career was part of his appeal and it was also how he lulled fighters into his game of cat-and-mouse.

Although Silva’s post-title career has been somewhat disappointing – he’s failed drug tests and been defeated a number of times – there’s still no doubt the man from Curitiba will go down as one of the UFC’s greatest champions due to the body of work he put together during his prime.