Anderson Silva and the Longest Active UFC Winning Streaks

In a previous column, we listed the shortest title reigns in UFC history. Consider this list its younger, smarter, handsomer cousin. Contained herein are the longest active winning streaks in the UFC today.

With UFC 134 looming this weekend, the timing seems right to rank these models of competence and consistency. Why? Well, I don't want to give away any surprises, but a certain headliner in Rio—let's call him A. Silva—occupies a certain position of honor on this little list of ours.

I cut off the list at 15 since there is approximately a 38-way tie for 16th among guys with three-fight win streaks. One final caveat: all wins have to have occurred within the UFC. Hence, no Nick Diaz, Jose Aldo, etc. And with that, let's get right to it.

15. Jacob Volkmann: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Danny Castillo
Antonio McKee
Paul Kelly
Ronnys Torres

All four of these wins from The FBI's Most Wanted Fighter came by decision (two unanimous, two split).

14. Kyle Kingsbury: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Fabio Maldonado
Ricardo Romero
Jared Hamman
Razak al-Hassan

Not the most spine-tingling of win streaks, but hey, four wins in a row in the UFC is impressive no matter the extraneous details.

We'll see if he can add a fifth name to the hit list when he faces Stephan Bonnar at UFC 139 this November.

(Photo credit:  TheUltimateFighter.com)

13. Dennis Siver: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Matt Wiman
George Sotiropoulos
Andre Winner
Spencer Fisher

Siver kept his streak alive by the skin of his teeth when he got a rather charitable judges' decision over Wiman in July.

Nevertheless, it's been an impressive run for the German kickboxer, who now finds himself in contention at 155.

12. Clay Guida: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Anthony Pettis
Takanori Gomi
Rafael dos Anjos
Shannon Gugerty

The tempest in a trailor is on a tear in the UFC. His schooling of WEC upstart Pettis made him a true contender at the lightweight division.

11. Brendan Schaub: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
Gabriel Gonzaga
Chris Tuchscherer
Chase Gormley

This Saturday in Rio, Schaub will try to add another high-profile scalp to his collection when he tangles with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

10. Jake Ellenberger: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Sean Pierson
Carlos Eduardo Rocha
John Howard
Mike Pyle

Ellenberger gets a huge step up in competition and prestige this fall, when he'll serve as one half of the UFC Live main event alongside Jake Shields. Now that should be a good fight.


(Photo credit:  MMABay)

9. Carlos Condit: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Dong Hyun Kim
Dan Hardy
Rory MacDonald
Jake Ellenberger


Wow. Very little fat on that win streak.

No wonder Condit is one of the hottest names in the welterweight division. October's title eliminator with B.J. Penn is well-deserved. I, for one, can't wait to see what he does with the opportunity.

8. Jon Jones: Four Wins

Streak includes:

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Ryan Bader
Vladimir Matyushenko
Brandon Vera

If not for Jones' very controversial DQ loss to Matt Hamill (who he was completely brutalizing when the fight was stopped), he would be riding an eight-fight winning streak. That would have been good enough for third on this list.

7. Matt Mitrione: Five Wins

Streak includes:

Christian Morecraft
Tim Hague
Joey Beltran
Kimbo Slice
Marcus Jones

Mitrione's dominant second-round knockout of Morecraft in June showed in no uncertain terms that he was ready for a bigger name in the heavyweight division. He'll get it in October, when he faces Cheick Kongo in Las Vegas.

6. Phil Davis: Five Wins

Streak includes:

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Tim Boetsch
Rodney Wallace
Alexander Gustafsson
Brian Stann

The undefeated Davis has clearly had a very strong UFC career thus far, as evidenced by some of the talk that he may eventually be the most logical challenger to Jon Jones.

5. Melvin Guillard: Five Wins

Streak includes:

Shane Roller
Evan Dunham
Jeremy Stephens
Waylon Lowe
Ronnys Torres

A great comeback story, Guillard has been on a tear ever since straightening out his career with the help of game-plan guru Greg Jackson. The electrifying lightweight will try to keep his momentum on track against Joe Lauzon this fall.

4. Junior Dos Santos: Seven Wins

Streak includes:

Shane Carwin
Roy Nelson
Gabriel Gonzaga
Gilbert Yvel
Mirko Filipovic
Stefan Struve
Fabricio Werdum

Perhaps angling for a cost-effective product buy, the head honchos from Arby's were hungrily circling the Octagon moments after dos Santos had finished with Carwin at UFC 131. After all, El Cigano did everything except cover Carwin in cheese sauce and lay him on a bun.

Dos Santos' seventh win locked up his title shot against Cain Velasquez this November. It could be the most anticipated fight in the history of the heavyweight division.

3. Cain Velasquez: Seven Wins

Streak includes:

Brock Lesnar
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Ben Rothwell
Cheick Kongo
Dennis Stojnic
Jake O'Brien
Brad Morris

The undefeated heavyweight champion will have been out of action for more than a year by the time he steps in with dos Santos this November.

2. Georges St-Pierre: Nine Wins

Streak includes:

Jake Shields
Josh Koscheck
Dan Hardy
Thiago Alves
B.J. Penn
Jon Fitch
Matt Serra
Matt Hughes
Josh Koscheck

GSP started his winning streak four years ago to the day this slideshow was published, when he defeated Koscheck by unanimous decision on Aug. 25, 2007.

He'll push into double digits if he can take care of business against Nick Diaz this fall. Either way, he still owns the second-longest winning streak in UFC history, behind only...

1. Anderson Silva: 13 Wins

Streak includes:

Vitor Belfort
Chael Sonnen
Demian Maia
Forrest Griffin
Thales Leites
Patrick Cote
James Irvin
Dan Henderson
Rich Franklin
Nate Marquardt
Travis Lutter
Rich Franklin
Chris Leben

If he keeps going this way, there won't be many UFC records The Spider doesn't own.