Anderson Silva is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, however, former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier believes fans need to put more respect on his name and knock off the talk of Israel Adesanya being the new middleweight GOAT.
It seems like more than ever before, MMA fans and media are debating who are the best fighters of all time. Be it in a given division, or pound-for-pound. A fighter who has seen his stock rise in those conversations is current UFC middleweight king Adesanya (21-1). The 32-year-old is set to defend his title for the fourth straight time against former champion Robert Whittaker this month at UFC 271.
Having never lost over 20 fights in the 185-pound division, many are wondering if he should be considered the best fighter in weight class history. During a recent edition of “>DC & RC — an ESPN show co-hosted by Cormier — a fan asked specifically asked about if “The Last Stylebender” should be called the middleweight GOAT if victorious next Saturday.
Although another W would certainly give Adesanya a strong case in the debate, Cormier believes fans need to pump their breaks on the current champion being called the best 185-pounder of all time. In his mind, Silva (34-11) is the owner of that spot until further notice, and Adesanya needs to do a lot more before he surpasses the man he calls the Muhammad Ali of the sport.
Daniel Cormier says Anderson Silva is to MMA what Muhammad Ali was to boxing
No, Cormier said in his response to the fan question. Anderson Silva existed, like, I don’t get this recency bias that fans have. Guys, you can’t just; honestly, I think the word GOAT gets thrown around way too easy in fight sports. You’ve got to really; the only person that doesn’t get passed is Muhammad Ali. There have been really impressive fighters, but people recognize what Muhammad Ali was.
Anderson Silva was to MMA what Muhammad Ali was to boxing. No, Izzy has some work to do to catch Anderson, he added.
Without a doubt, Silva’s final nine MMA bouts had a major effect on his career native. From 2013 to 2020, he went 1-7-1, was finished on four occasions, and had terrible fight-ending injuries in two of those matchups. That difficult run at the end of his UFC career likely made fans forget the dominance that came before.
Prior to his back-to-back title fight losses to Chris Weidman, Silva won 16 straight fights, set a record for most consecutive UFC defenses, and dominated in a way the sport had never seen as he sat on the throne as the best striker in the world. It also must be noted that the Brazilian’s decline began well past his prime at 37. Meaning fans may also look at Adesanya differently if he started to rack up losses as he closed in on 40 too.
Cormier explains the awe of fighting Silva at UFC 200
Cormier also has a history with Silva. “The Spider” jumped in on less than a week’s notice to fight “DC” as a replacement opponent after Jon Jones failed a pre-UFC 200 drug test. Cormier looks back on that night fondly because he was in awe of Silva. Even as he looked across the Octagon at him on fight night.
We did the staredowns for the weigh-ins and I was like, ‘Wow, I’m fighting Anderson Silva,’” he recalled. “Then when we got in the Octagon I was like ‘Holy sh*t, that’s Anderson Silva.’ It was like, the levels just kept going up in terms of appreciation for who he was to the sport of MMA. … Anderson Silva is the MMA goat at 185. It’ll be a long time before someone passes him.
Cormier won via unanimous decision on that night in July 2016. Adesanya also owns a decision win over Silva when the pair faced off three years ago when the legend was 43-years-old. Of his 17 wins in the UFC, Silva scored finishes in 14, with 12 by knockout.
Do you agree with Cormier and fans need to put more respect on Silva’s name as the middleweight GOAT?
