UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Glover Teixeira has hailed Anderson Silva as the Muhammad Ali of Mixed Martial Arts.
Many people in the MMA community, whether fan or media personality, consider Anderson Silva to be the greatest ever. The Sao Paolo native is one the greatest fighters to have ever set foot inside the octagon. He holds the longest title reign in UFC history- holding the title for 2457 days. His reign started in 2006, and ended in 2013. In that period, he won an incredible 16 consecutive fights. In total, he defended the middleweight crown 10 times. That is a record.
It was not just his title reign that made him a fan favorite, but also his fighting style. Silva brought a style that was not seen inside the octagon before. His innovative moves, calmness, fight intelligence- everything set him apart from the crowd. Needless to say that Silva’s style inspired a lot of MMA fighters to pursue a career in martial arts. In an era where the sport was still in it’s infancy, The Spider was key figure to take the sport forward.
It would be hard to find a fighter who does not recognize the brilliance of Anderson Silva. One such admirer is his Brazilian compatriot Glover Teixeira. The current Light Heavyweight champion likened Silva to Muhammad Ali when speaking about him on UFC Icons., ” Anderson was the Muhammad Ali of our sport. A lot of fighters started training, even (Israel) Adesanya said it, because of Anderson Silva. His long career motivated a lot of people.”
Teixeira, who himself has had a long career, will be hoping to channel some of that Silva energy when he defends his title against Jiri Prochazka in UFC 275 next month.
