Despite back-to-back underwhelming performances by reigning UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, his legacy in the UFC is now cemented. The question isn't whether or not he is one of the greatest, but if he alone is the greatest. No fighter had ever won nine straight fights in the UFC. The old record was eight, held by the original UFC Champion Royce Gracie and by former welterweight top contender Jon Fitch. With his victory over Thales Leites in Montreal on Saturday, Silva broke the record for consecutive wins with his ninth (and counting). Silva's fifth straight title defense ties him with Matt Hughes, who defended five times before being defeated by BJ Penn in 2004, and with Tito Ortiz, who also had five defenses between 2000-02. Hughes would reclaim the title and defend it twice more later in his career while Ortiz would challenge and lose two times. Chuck Liddell had four successive title defenses between 2005-06 before losing to Quinton Jackson. Right now the short list for greatest UFC fighter ever, in my estimation, reads like this (in no order): Hughes, Liddell, Gracie, Couture, Ortiz, and Silva. That's the top tier, anyways. Couture is the only one in that group to be champion in two different weight classes. A few current UFC stars are building resumes but at the moment aren't in that group, who have more longevity at the top. Silva's record (9-0) is the best of the group but the argument could be made others faced better competition (at the time, not at their current ranking). Silva's last three fights have come against one top-10 fighter (Leites), one top-20 fighter (Cote), and one unranked fighter (Irvin). Compared to Hughes (Alves #3 [catch-weight], St. Pierre #1, Lytle unranked), Liddell (Shogun top-15, Evans top-10, Silva top-10), Ortiz (Machida top-5, Evans top-15, Liddell #1) and Couture (Lesnar top-15, Gonzaga top-10, Sylvia top-10), his record looks less impressive. But that is very much a "what have you done for me lately" kind of statistic. One thing that is outstanding about Silva's tenure in the UFC is his finishing rate: Silva = 8/9 (89%) Hughes = 11/20 (55%) Liddell = 11/22 (50%) Gracie = 11/14 (79%) Ortiz = 9/21 (43%) Couture = 9/19 (47%) Few UFC fighters are able to consistently finish their opponents, especially in title fights. Again, quality of competition comes up, but three of Silva's finishes are against top-3 fighters in the division. Maybe its debatable if Henderson was top-3 considering he bounced between middleweight and light heavyweight, but his win over Rich Franklin should probably suggest he was near the top in both divisions. Only Gracie comes close to finishing as many fights as Silva, yet some of those submissions came against guys who didn't even understand what Jiu-Jitsu was, let alone train in it daily. Its also important to note that Silva entered the UFC as a seasoned fighter and as a two-time champion from other organizations (Shooto & Cage Rage). Hughes (26) was the only other fighter in the group to enter the UFC with any professional experience. Hughes had nine fights prior to his fight with Valeri Ignatov at UFC 22. Liddell (29), Gracie (27), Ortiz (22), and Couture (34) debuted in the UFC. Very little pro MMA was going on before UFC 1, so Gracie gets a pass on this qualifier. What do you think?
Its really tough to say. Hughes, Liddell, and Gracie has all had points in their careers where they looked as unstoppable as Silva but I think what sets Silva apart from them all, and makes him the greatest is his skills. I don't think any of those other guys on the list come even close to matching Silva's skills. The guy has great takedown defense, basically nullifies all but the greatest of wrestlers, he has great jits, as shown last night, Leites had him down and could do nothing againist him, and Silva's striking is top notch. So yeah, I would have to say Anderson Silva is probably the greatest UFC fighter in the sport's history.
