Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion. Anderson holds a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira whom follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, ergo Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He currently trains With UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida through Black House.

Silva is currently ranked as the number one middleweight in the world by multiple MMA publications,

and Sherdog ranks Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Silva has announced his intentions to retire as soon as his current contract with the UFC is complete.

Since 2006 he has been the UFC Middleweight Champion, and he is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion. He currently holds the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC after getting his ninth win defeating Thales Leites in a five round unanimous decision. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Estimated in 2008 to be worth $1 billion while controlling 90% of the mixed martial arts industry, it is the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world.

Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, owns and operates the UFC. The UFC focuses on the heavier weight classes in MMA, whereas its sister promotion, the WEC, focuses on the lighter weights.

The UFC began as a single-event tournament to find the world's best fighters, irrespective of their style (including boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, karate, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, among many others). Although there were a limited number of rules, promoters marketed fighting in the UFC as no holds barred, and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights were less sport than spectacle, which led to accusations of brutality and "human cock fighting" by Senator John McCain and others. Political pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public visibility.

As political pressure mounted, the UFC reformed itself, slowly embracing stricter rules, becoming sanctioned by state athletic commissions, and marketing itself as a legitimate sporting event. Dropping the no holds barred label and carrying the banner of mixed martial arts, the UFC has emerged from its political isolation to become more socially acceptable, regaining its position in pay-per-view television.

With a cable television deal and expansion into Canada, Europe and new markets within the United States, the UFC has experienced a remarkable surge in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. UFC programming can now be seen on Spike in the United States and Canada, as well as in 34 other countries worldwide.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete.

Modern mixed martial arts competition emerged in American popular culture in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Originally organized with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors of various arts were pitted against one another with minimal rules for safety. In the following decade, MMA promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The name mixed martial arts was coined by one of the developers of these rules, Jeff Blatnick, a former Greco-Roman wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with pay per view reach rivaling boxing and professional wrestling.