The 10 most popular fighters in UFC history

#6: Anderson Silva

The fans gravitated to Anderson Silva's virtuoso style

It took a while for former UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva to truly rise in popularity – during his first few years with the promotion, despite his virtuoso performances in the Octagon, fans found it hard to really care about ‘The Spider’. But then came his legendary rivalry with Chael Sonnen – and more highlight reel moments like his front kick knockout of Vitor Belfort – and Silva quickly rose in the popularity stakes.

Already an absolute legend in his home country of Brazil – Silva headlined the UFC’s return to the South American country in 2011 and was given a hero’s welcome prior to his victory over title challenger Yushin Okami – by the time he lost his title to Chris Weidman in 2013, Silva was equally admired and loved all across the world.

A martial artist in the truest sense of the word, Silva was a rare fighter in that he always showed the utmost respect to his opponents – even heavy trash-talkers like Sonnen – and would regularly innovate wild offense inside the cage, as if he were playing a video game rather than fighting at the top level of the sport.

Compared at times to a modern Bruce Lee, it was hardly surprising that even the popular Daniel Cormier was booed when he took on an ageing Silva in 2016 – the Brazilian is probably the most popular non-American UFC fighter of all time.