Anderson Silva: Would a Loss to Chael Sonnen Ruin His Legacy

In a few hours, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will have the biggest fight of his career as he takes on Chael Sonnen for a second time at UFC 148.

No one has made Silva’s blood boil as much as Sonnen has. And for good reason.

Sonnen is one of the best (or worst) trash talkers in sports history. Whenever you think Sonnen can’t take it any further, he does.

Sonnen has not only talked about Silva, but his beloved country of Brazil, his mentors the Nogueira brothers and his family.

The biggest reason Sonnen is Silva’s greatest rival is because he is the only man in the UFC to really put Silva in danger of losing his title.

Sonnen dominated Silva for four and-a-half rounds before Silva slapped on a triangle armbar.

If Sonnen can repeat his performance and finish the job against Silva, he will—without a doubt—go down as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.

But it will not ruin the legacy that Silva has.

Silva has some of the most impressive records in MMA history.

Silva has 14 straight UFC wins, 9 title defenses and wins over some of the biggest names in the history of the sport—including Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin and Vitor Belfort.

And while many people pride themselves on trying to go for undefeated records, Silva has already lost four times in his career. 

Of course, all of them have come outside of the UFC. 

Whether Silva wins or loses, his legacy is already set in stone.

For Silva’s legacy to be ruined, he would have to have a major controversy break out.

Silva has defeated everyone the UFC has thrown at him up to this point, in multiple weight classes, and will be a UFC Hall of Famer in the future.

Whether he keeps the title tonight or not, Silva’s legacy is something he does not have to worry about.