- [Narrator] In 2013, Anderson Silva
sat higher top of the UFC than arguably anyone had before.
The top pound for pound fighter in the sport
and considered by many to be the greatest of all time,
Silva's assent seemed unstoppable.
He earned the middleweight title in 2006,
then defended it over and over and over,
and then, for good measure,
took some fights at light heavyweight along the way.
He won those too.
Every single fighter the UFC threw his way, Silva beat.
Chael Sonnen came the closest to toppling "The Spider,"
but even then Silva's patience and composure paid off.
From there, he knocked out Vitor Belfort,
stopped Yushin Okami, had a much easier time
against Sonnen in their rematch,
then sent a PED-filled Stephan Bonnar home with a loss.
He put together the UFC's longest winning streak ever.
He defended his middleweight championship belt
a record 10 times,
and he did it regularly in remarkable fashion.
At 37-years old, Silva had set himself up
to be remembered as the greatest to ever enter the Octagon.
But about that...
(gentle tense music)
What's most unfortunate is it didn't have to be like this.
In late 2012, following that win over Bonnar
to make it a record 16 straight,
Silva told UFC officials, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta
that he wanted to retire.
Frankly, Silva sounded over it.
He focused on what his success had been keeping him from,
but while Silva thought of his family,
UFC brass thought of the money that would depart
with their star.
Not long after their talk, White gifted Silva a Bentley.
The champ doubted this was a, "Hey, thanks
for all you've done for us," present
and more of a, "Let's chill on that retirement talk,"
sort of Bentley.
Whatever the intention, Silva stuck with the organization
and by March had his next title defense lined up.
Chris Weidman may not have had the name recognition
of other challengers,
but one could easily see how this wouldn't be
a walk in the park for Silva.
Undefeated at 9-and-0,
many expected the former All-American wrestler
to follow the lead of Sonnen and Dan Henderson,
who had exploited Silva's questionable take down defense.
Plus, Weidman really had nothing to lose
going up against the all time great.
But, for Silva, while he'd agreed to the fight,
he still found himself considering life after MMA,
even promising his wife that, if things went well,
retirement could be the next step.
It's worth noting that these quotes came in 2020,
with plenty of hindsight available.
In the moment, some of his actions portrayed
slightly different hopes for the future,
although still with confusion
as to his wants versus those of the UFC.
If nothing else, Silva sounded comfortable
with whatever fate had in store.
Each fight required a winner and a loser,
and one result wouldn't wash away
everything he'd accomplished.
That mindset, though, should not be misconstrued
as Silva lacking confidence.
Once the main event at 162 began, for better or worse,
vintage Silva entered the Octagon.
He did whatever he could to get in Weidman's head.
Looking to throw the challenger off his game,
so Silva could get a chance to counter,
he repeatedly dropped guard,
going so far as to beg for punches
with his hands on his hips,
and that came after Weidman had already taken him down
and done some damage.
Weidman forced Silva to eat some jabs,
but Silva simply laughed and continued goading Weidman.
The first round ended with a kiss from the champ.
To start the second, Silva kept toying with Weidman,
but he eventually took it too far.
Silva pretended to be hurt after a left hook,
then, as Weidman pursued, the Spider dodged all he could
before the challenger landed a heavy shot to Silva's jaw.
No longer feigning, Weidman jumped on Silva
as soon as he hit the mat and finished him there.
The first blemish on one of the greatest UFC careers,
and it came after Silva laughed his way
straight into danger.
Stunned, Silva watched for the first time
as his challenger became the champion.
From the Octagon, he praised Weidman
and made zero excuses for the loss.
Then, after Weidman's immediate offer of a rematch,
let it be known that he had no intention
of reclaiming the title.
He was tired, not retired, just tired.
That didn't stop Dana from immediately putting the idea
of a rematch into the universe though.
And, even with his lack of desire,
Silva opened as the favorite in a hypothetical rematch.
It proved Silva's pre-fight thoughts.
One outcome won't alter a legacy like his.
Contemporaries, similar living legends,
agreed that nothing had changed.
He just got caught.
So that meant three days later,
when Silva decided a rematch actually did sound good.
The thought of him getting caught a second time
seemed unlikely.
Weidman had Silva's respect, but also his attention.
The way the former champion spoke,
he recognized the mistakes that needed to be fixed,
hung the loss on himself,
and viewed the rematch as an opportunity
to overcome all of that.
With the rematch set for just five months later,
Silva had plenty he wanted to prove
and a knockout he planned on returning,
but amidst the usual trash talk leading up to UFC 168,
Silva also opened up more about his future.
The end continued to be on his mind,
and, although he'd fight on,
he admitted that might not be the case for much longer.
In December, Silva returned to the same stage
where he'd lost not long before,
but of all the dramatic outcomes imaginable,
the one that unfolded may have been the most unfortunate.
A competitive round one went in Weidman's favor
with both fighters dealing damage.
Each shot from the champ looked to prove his victory
hadn't been a fluke,
while Silva avoided the mind games that got him
in trouble the last time.
As round two began,
the fighters spent some time feeling each other out,
but when Silva fired a leg kick,
one he's thrown countless times; Weidman checked it.
That check shattered Silva's shin and sent him to the mat
after trying to put weight on it.
It's pretty brutal, so we're not going to show it,
but if you're into that sort of thing,
it's pretty easy to find.
A broken tibia and fibula ended the night
and meant a second shocking result, but for new reasons.
Back-to-back losses plus a horrific injury,
the 38-year old had gone from an opportunity
to retire on top to a long road back,
both to health and the opportunity
to leave the sport on a win.
Thankfully, Silva's successful surgery,
which came immediately after the fight
and involved a titanium rod being inserted into his leg,
had just a three to six month recovery time.
While the last two fights left Silva with uncertainty
as to if he should call it a career,
this result shifted tides.
The Spider viewed it as a sign from God
to continue fighting,
so as soon as Silva returned to nearly 100%,
the UFC booked his return:
a massive showdown with Nick Diaz.
Silva had pretty high expectations
for what this five round main event could become.
His family life still appeared to be top of mind,
but, unfortunately for them, with a reignited passion,
he now planned to keep fighting.
And not only did he plan to keep fighting,
he said that he wouldn't stop until he got his title back.
To make sure he'd have time to return to that point,
the 39-year old Silva signed a new 15-fight contract
with the UFC.
Not that he necessarily needed all those fights.
White said that if Silva beat Diaz,
a shot at the belt would follow.
Silva had to be the one to get the boss to pump the brakes,
but before another title run, UFC 183 loomed,
and with it came a whole new series of ups and downs.
Diaz took a page out of Silva's book
and did whatever he could to get in Anderson's head,
at one point straight up lying down on the mat,
hoping the former champ would make a poor decision early on.
Silva stayed focused though,
and grew more comfortable using his surgically repaired leg.
Both veterans coming off long layoffs,
they somehow managed to grind out the full five rounds.
With Diaz looking a bit worse for wear,
it went to the judge's scorecards.
Unanimously, the decision went Silva's way,
sending him to his knees, overwhelmed with emotion.
The hard fought victory led to familiar questions.
Back to his winning ways, Silva again faced a decision.
This time, though, news a few days later complicated things.
Pre-fight drug screening results returned,
and both fighters got popped.
For Diaz, just weed; for Silva, anabolic steroids.
This kicked off a lengthy process.
A few days later, another failed result,
this time for the post-fight urine test.
The small price, it costs Silva his spot
as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter."
It wouldn't be until August
that the disciplinary hearing finally gathered.
Silva's team accused a tainted sex pill
for the contamination, but the commission didn't buy it.
He received a one-year retroactive suspension
as well as fines related to his pay from the event.
Most importantly, the commission officially
overturned the result.
Anderson's failure came following those similar
to Jon Jones and "Bigfoot" Silva,
but, as Chuck Mindenhall put it, this case felt different.
The Spider represented the athletes
who competed the right way,
having attained a near mythical status within the sport.
But this singular moment had the power
to undo so much of that.
Even the man himself, ahead of his fight with Diaz,
made it pretty clear how he viewed cheaters,
but now Silva remained adamant that that wasn't him.
He'd never disrespect himself or the sport
by taking a banned substance.
Those missed chances to retire now compounded
a new low for Silva.
While support from his peers varied,
the UFC stood behind their fighter.
And, for Silva, the best way to prove innocence
was to keep fighting, just cleanly.
His first chance came against Michael Bisping,
who made no attempt to hide
his now conflicted feelings for Silva.
Bisping expressed a likely common sentiment
among both fighters and fans alike:
what to make of a tarnished idol.
Even without the failed tests,
over three years had passed since Silva's last victory,
but facing Bisping, for a moment,
Silva thought he'd gotten that now elusive win.
He landed a jumping knee as Bisping said something
to Herb Dean.
The shot sent Bisping to the floor,
but the horn sounded to end the round.
Silva's celebration proved premature
as this Bisping managed to take in the distance.
And once the judges had their say,
Silva added another loss to his record.
A few months later, the same result,
albeit very different circumstances.
Silva agreed to face Daniel Cormier.
Not only did that mean going up to 205,
but he did it on just two days notice.
The somewhat dull fight unanimously went DC's way,
but the fact Silva battled the full three rounds
without a camp,
the fact his opponent admitted to being awestruck
by the sight of Anderson in the Octagon,
there still remained glimpses of the fighter he used to be.
This modern Silva just couldn't shake controversy, though,
even in his next fight against Derek Brunson,
when his winless streak finally snapped after four years.
While the judges called it unanimous,
according to MMAdecisions.com,
only four of 23 media outlets scored it in Silva's favor.
Brunson called bullshit after out-striking his opponent
118 to 54 and notching the only two takedowns of the fight.
Even Dana White thought Brunson had earned the win.
Silva wouldn't let those opinions get to him, though.
In a long Facebook post following his win,
he proclaimed himself to be the best in the world,
"To the joy of many and the sorrow of others."
But from there, it would be two years
before the "best in the world" fought again.
Two weeks before an on again-off again
date with Kelvin Gastelum,
word broke that, once again, Silva failed a drug test.
And, once again, it left the sport unsure of what to think.
Anderson made a meandering post on Instagram
that referenced nothing specifically,
but said he needed to learn.
He felt sadness and uncertainty of what would come.
Silva and his team went to work to prove
if something had been in Anderson's system,
it hadn't been taken knowingly.
For those who fought him more recently, like Cormier,
there were now much stronger doubts that Silva
had been as clean as he'd claimed throughout his career.
Fellow Brazilian, Jose Aldo, summed it up well:
innocent or guilty, the second failed test
would be a red mark on Silva's career.
There are precautions a fighter can take
if they want to avoid these situations.
Like the first time, a drawn out process ensued
as Silva's camp tried to clear his name.
In the end, they provided enough proof
that the failed test resulted from a tainted supplement.
While this still came with a one-year suspension,
it left Silva feeling born again,
going so far as to say his legacy was restored.
At that point, Silva was 43-years old.
He had achieved more than most are capable
of dreaming about, but had watched it nearly come undone.
He'd worked hard to build an incredible career,
becoming one of the UFC's greatest fighters ever,
but the fight to clear his name seemed like the victory
that satisfied him the most.
There would be other losses that followed
and a future that no one could comfortably predict.
They were late bumps on a road
that had stopped being kind to Silva long ago.
He had avoided the chance to end things
at an incomparable height,
battled with tough decisions in and out of the Octagon,
and reminded everyone how unbelievable
his championship reign had been.
But when he fell, it only proved that Anderson Silva,
after all, was human.
(dramatic music)
Hey, quick update.
We're changing our name.
At the end of August, you'll see this channel
show up as "Secret Base."
Nothing else is changing on YouTube.
We're still making the same shows with the same people
and all that, but we'll start doing merge.
We'll have a new website you can go to.
Really, just a way for us to give you more stuff.
Speaking of more stuff,
here's some more videos you'll enjoy.
I definitely recommend the Jon Jones-D.C. beef history
if you want something a little more fun
but also involving sex pills.