UFC 148: Power Ranking Anderson Silva's UFC Fights

Anderson Silva is one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters in MMA history and he's undefeated since coming to the UFC in June of 2006.

Currently he's a part of, without question, the most talked about rivalry in UFC history between himself and Chael Sonnen.

Yesterday, we took a look back at Chael Sonnen's previous fights in the UFC before this Saturday's main event between Sonnen and Silva.

Therefore, today, we will once again put the rematch on hold and revisit the UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's UFC fights.  

14. UFC 112: Demian Maia

UFC 112 was supposed to feature Silva vs. Belfort, but after Belfort went down with injury, Demian Maia stepped up to receive a shot at the UFC middleweight championship.

Silva claimed Maia insulted him before the bout, therefore Silva was upset. He would spend the majority of the fight just taunting Maia.

At first, it seemed like Silva was attempting to bait Maia into engaging so Silva could land strikes, but when Maia would come forward Silva would just dance around. 

Silva would pick up a unanimous decision victory, but the fans were not happy. Neither was UFC President Dana White.

White, who gave Silva's belt to his manager instead of placing it around the champ's waist, would say later that if Silva was to ever fight like that again he would be released.

13. UFC 97: Thales Leites

Silva was defending his UFC Middleweight Championship for the fifth time when he fought Thales Leites at UFC 97.

Silva would appear at times during the fight to be bored and uninterested in pushing the action.

Leites was the first fighter to take the champion all five rounds, but would ultimately lose a unanimous decision.

12. UFC 90: Patrick Cote

UFC 90 would feature Anderson Silva defending his title against Patrick Cote.

In the first two rounds, Silva landed a few nice kicks and knees, but the usually deadly counter-striker seemed to just circle and avoid all contact against Cote, which began to draw some boos from the Illinois crowd.

In the third round, Cote threw a kick and came down awkwardly on his right leg, resulting in a torn right ACL.

The fight would be called a TKO victory for Silva, but was the first time Silva looked average instead of spectacular in the UFC.

11. UFC 67: Travis Lutter

Anderson Silva's first scheduled title defense was set to be against Ultimate Fighter winner Travis Lutter, but Lutter would enter the fight overweight, therefore, the bout was changed to a non-title fight.

Lutter successfully took the fight to the ground, which many thought would be Lutter's greatest chance to defeat "The Spider."

Silva then put his jiu-jitsu on display as he locked in a triangle on Lutter and unleashed some nasty elbows at the same time.

Silva won his first fight as UFC middleweight champion at 2:11 in the second round by submission.

10. UFC 117: Chael Sonnen

The first fight in the rivalry between Silva and Sonnen took place at UFC 117.

Sonnen, who talked trash about Silva in the months leading up to the fight, backed up every word he said as he rocked Silva on the feet and used devastating ground-and-pound to leave the champion bloody and beaten after four rounds of action.

Needing to survive one more round to become the new middleweight champion, Sonnen stuck to his game plan and once again landed a takedown on Silva and began to work his top game.

Silva, in desperation mode, threw up a triangle-armbar combo on Sonnen, resulting in a fifth round submission victory.

In possibly the biggest comeback in MMA history, Silva showed that he wasn't indestructible, but he is very durable. The two will have their much anticipated rematch at UFC 148.

9. UFC Fight Night 14: James Irvin

Following three straight title defenses, Silva would ask to have one fight at light heavyweight, which Dana White would grant him.

In the summer of 2008, on free TV, Silva took on veteran light heavyweight James "The Sandman" Irvin.

Silva looked just as good at 205 as he did at 185, as he would catch an Irvin leg kick and land a straight right that put Irvin away.

Silva won his first appearance at light heavyweight by KO at 1:01 in the first round.

8. UFC 134: Yushin Okami

The last man to defeat Anderson Silva is Yushin Okami, who won by DQ against Silva at Rumble on the Rock in 2006.

Silva would have a chance to avenge the loss at UFC 134 in Brazil—Silva's first fight in his homeland since 2003.

Anderson simply overwhelmed Okami with sharp combinations and finished the Japanese wrestler at 2:04 in the second round.

7. UFC Fight Night 5: Chris Leben

Anderson Silva's UFC debut was against original Ultimate Fighter contestant Chris Leben, who was riding a six-fight winning streak.

Leben said he would knock out the UFC newcomer Silva before the match, but he suffered a first-round knockout himself.

Silva put on an incredibly accurate striking display, as he finished Leben in just 49 seconds with his final striking accuracy at 85 percent (according to FightMetric.com).

6. UFC 73: Nate Marquardt

In Silva's first official title defense, he would take on former King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt.

Anderson Silva would once again finish his opponent in the first round as he outstruck Marquardt and picked up another win at 4:50 in the first round.

5. UFC 64: Rich Franklin

Following Silva's amazing UFC debut against Leben, the UFC would grant Silva a title shot against middleweight champion Rich Franklin.

Silva landed hard knees to the body that badly hurt Franklin, followed by a knee that broke the champion's nose.

Franklin went down soon after and Silva would win the fight by TKO at 2:59 in the first round.

4. UFC 126: Vitor Belfort

After the UFC signed Vitor Belfort, everyone was ready for the Silva-Belfort matchup, but the fight was cancelled twice due to injuries to both men.

Finally, with both Silva and Belfort healthy, the two would fight at UFC 126. 

The two men, both respecting each other's striking ability, would take time to feel each other out. The first significant strike thrown in the fight was a front kick which landed right on the jaw of Vitor Belfort that almost instantly put the challenger away.

Silva finished up with some punches on the ground and the fight was stopped at 3:25 in the first round. Silva's front kick is no doubt his most signature knockout to date, but I feel the two fighters will have a rematch somewhere down the road.

3. UFC 77: Rich Franklin

Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin would receive a rematch against Silva in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Early in the fight, Franklin showed his improvement—using his jab and keeping his distance from Silva.

However, "The Spider" struck once again, and caught Franklin with a knee that rocked him. Silva would then back Franklin up to the cage and deliver more vicious knees.

The fight was stopped at 1:07 in the second round and Silva once again proved that he's one of the best fighters in the world.

2. UFC 82: Dan Henderson

In 2008, Silva would fight Pride welterweight champion Dan Henderson to unify the two belts.

Facing his toughest competition since signing with the UFC, the former Olympic wrestler Henderson would attempt to use his wrestling to neutralize the striking of Silva.

Silva neutralized Henderson's wrestling by using his fantastic jiu-jitsu to take Henderson's back, and locked in a rear-naked choke at 4:52 in the second round.

1. UFC 101: Forrest Griffin

Anderson Silva has dominated middleweight division for nearly six years now, which is super impressive, but when a fighter can jump up in weight and still dominate fighters, that's when he becomes one of the greatest fighters of all-time.

Coming off one of the worst performances of his UFC career against Thales Leites, Silva would again make the jump to light heavyweight—this time to take on former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Griffin, who was known for always bringing the fight to his opponents and having the chin to trade with anyone, was put in the fight to bring out the best in Silva.

It worked.

Silva knocked down Griffin on three separate occasions in the first round and seemingly saw every punch Griffin was about to throw beforehand and sway out of the way. Many compared it to something you would see in the Matrix movies.

Silva finished Griffin with what Joe Rogan called a "pawing jab" at 3:23 in the first round.

Will Anderson Silva continue his dominance and defend his middleweight championship or will Chael Sonnen finally hand Silva his first UFC defeat? Find out this Saturday night at UFC 148!