In recent years, Anderson “The Spider” Silva has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the history of MMA. Long recognized as one of the elite Muay Thai and standup fighters in the game, Silva increasingly complemented his early striking dominance with a sophisticated and dangerous submission and guard game, which freed up his pinpoint attacks on the feet and vaulted him into the game’s elite levels. Though Silva has peppered his entire MMA career with notable knockout victories, his signature moments did not come until his 2006 entrance into the UFC’s middleweight division, where his standup decimated the likes of Chris Leben, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt and others and began a multi-year championship reign of terror that effectively (and in Franklin’s case, literally) cleaned out his division. Silva's clear superiority over the rest of the division also led to increasing calls for “superfights” between him and other MMA pound-for-pound greats. Silva's hero's and idols include Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, and Roy Jones Jr.

Anderson Silva got the nickname "Spider" after wearing a spider-man walk in t-shirt early on his MMA career. Spider-Man is also Silva's favorite hero, having a collection of comic books since 1984. Anderson Silva also says that Spider-man is the only hero that has bills to pay.

Though Silva fights comfortably at 185 and carries his weight well at 205, some fans believe his technical superiority is so great on the feet that he could even contend for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, which would require him to beat fighters more than fifty pounds heavier than him. Whether Silva could in fact do so remains speculation.

Hailing from Curitiba, Brazil, “The Spider” began training in Tae kwon Do at the age of 14 and went on to earn black belts in that discipline as well as in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, it has always been his Muay Thai and kickboxing prowess, once honed at Brazil’s legendarily brutal Chute Boxe Academy, that has continued to define the Black House team fighter. Silva has victories over a number of the world’s greatest fighters, including his two standout wins over Franklin, a rear naked choke victory over Dan Henderson, and a lopsided, mismatch victory over Forest Griffin at light heavyweight, which ended via first round knockout.

Silva has also garnered his share of criticism for a series of disinterested and careless Octagon performances against obviously overmatched foes, such as Thales Leites and, in particular, Demian Maia, whom Silva elected to taunt more than engage as the fights progressed into the championship rounds. Despite such lackluster performances, which have incensed UFC point man Dana White on more than one occasion, Silva is universally recognized as one of the game’s greatest fighters.

From mid 2010 to mid 2012, Silva engaged in one of the sport's greatest rivalries with perennial contender Chael Sonnen. Their first bout at UFC 117 ended in spectacular fashion as Sonnen had dominated the fight for 4 and a half rounds only to be submitted via triangle choke with 1:50 left in the 5th. Following two dominant title defenses against Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort, Silva once again faced off against his arch nemesis Sonnen at UFC 148. Following a 1st round reminiscent of their first bout, Silva was able to catch Sonnen with a knee to the body after a failed spinning back fist attempt from the challenger.  The fight ended via TKO at 1:55 of the 2nd round. Since then, Silva has expressed interest in a possible move down to welterweight or a catch-weight for a chance to fight long time champion Georges St. Pierre. However his next fight would be at light heavyweight against Stephan Bonnar. Silva would once again toy with his opponent standing back against the cage and dropping his hands allowing Bonnar to punch him. Silva would end up dropping Bonnar with a knee to the body and then punches to win by TKO in the 1st round. This would be his third fight at light heavyweight and his third first round finish at that weight.

Silva's next challenge would come when he faced Chris Weidman at UFC 162. In the second round Silva began taunting Weidman and faking like he was hurt. Silva's showboating would be his demise when Weidman landed a big left hand and brought Anderson's title reign to an end. He was finished by strikes for the first time in his career.

Silva would then rematch Chris Weidman at UFC 168. Weidman would stun Silva with a shot in the first and dominate the round. Silva would throw a leg kick in the second round that Weidman checked and it would be the end of the fight. Silva's leg broke on contact and he instantly dropped to the ground in obvious pain. Weidman would be declared the winner again by 2nd round TKO. It seems like it would be a devastating injury this late in his career but it sounds like Anderson will continue to fight once he is healed up

Silva would then make his return in January on Super Bowl weekend when he took on Nick Diaz in a much anticipated "superfight". He would pick up the unanimous decision victory. However along with Diaz failing for marijuana metabolites post fight it was revealed that Silva failed a pre fight test for Drostanolone metabolites.