Counting down to the best MMA fighter of all time

#7 Wanderlei Silva (1996 to present)

Wanderlei Silva: The world's best Middleweight in the

mid 2000's

Wanderlei Silva is widely considered the greatest Middleweight fighter of all time.

It is recognition that is well deserved.

Silva began his MMA career in his native Brazil before debuting for UFC in December 1997. It was an inauspicious start for him as he was memorably pummeled in under a minute by a dominant Vitor Belfort.

He won just one of three UFC fights in his initial run with the company before he joined PRIDE in Japan.

Silva competed at five consecutive PRIDE events between PRIDE 10 and PRIDE 14, winning four times and drawing once. That was a run that earned him a shot at the Middleweight belt versus Japanese legend, Kazushi Sakuraba. Silva knocked out Sakuraba to lift the title. Silva would hold onto the strap for a staggering six years, when he finally dropped it to Dan Henderson.

Silva's list of victims in PRIDE was staggering; Sakuraba (three times), Henderson, Quinton Jackson (twice), Guy Mezger and Ricardo Arona.

When PRIDE was bought out, Silva was signed up by UFC once more.

His UFC return career, in truth never lived up to the billing. The problem was that Silva had fought so frequently in PRIDE, that he had little left in the tank.

His performance opposite Chuck Liddell in the co-headliner of UFC 79 was the fight of the year in 2007 and proved he was still an incredible fighter. However, gone was the dominant aura he once held.

Silva won a few bouts in his second UFC career, most notably versus Keith Jardine and Michael Bisping before he ventured to Bellator in which he dropped his final two MMA bouts.

However, despite flattering to deceive during his final years as an MMA star, one cannot question Silva's achievements during his prime years.