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Fifteen years ago today, Anderson Silva began his ascent to greatness in the UFC with a vicious win over Chris Leben.
In front of just over 900 fans in Las Vegas, Anderson Silva beat Chris Leben with ruthless efficiency to kick start what would eventually become a 16-fight winning streak.
The first spark from Anderson Silva
While we all know how his tenure with the UFC eventually ended, nobody can take away what Anderson Silva has been able to accomplish throughout his mixed martial arts career - and this was the beginning of his big moment in the spotlight.
Anderson Silva is a phenom at the best of times but he really did look unbelievably good on his debut.
The Brazilian was just on an entirely different level to Leben and while 'The Crippler' was a top level fighter in his own right, Silva made it seem as if this was a professional going up against an amateur.
It seems harsh to say but going back and watching the footage for yourself will show that it’s pretty accurate.
Even now, we’re seeing Anderson Silva do things that many would’ve considered to be impossible. In his mid-40s, he recently beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a fascinating boxing showdown that proved why he was always one of the most elite strikers in MMA.
Whether or not he’s able to keep that run going is another matter, largely because it depends on what kind of opponent he decides to fight next.
Still, we aren’t here to pretend like Anderson Silva is going to become one of the greatest boxers of all time - because instead, we just want to marvel at his brilliance.
Chris Weidman was the man who brought an end to Anderson’s reign of invincibility and, for many reasons, he was never quite able to recover from that.
Nobody is acting as if his many defeats towards the end of his UFC run simply didn’t happen, but we want to praise the man for what he achieved before that.
When you talk about the greatest of all time, Anderson Silva needs to be in that conversation.
