The great man's career is winding down now, but this profile of Anderson Silva reflects on his dominance in UFC for a decade, where he successfully defended his middleweight title belt ten times - along the way picking up seven Knockout of the Night awards, the most in UFC history. In Spring 2012 MMA journalist Nick Peet journeyed to Rio do Janeiro to meet the Brazilian legend...

Listening to the words of those closest to him you could be forgiven in thinking Anderson Silva was a humanitarian or United Nations ambassador rather than the most prolific mixed martial artist ever to step inside the Octagon.

Words like admirable, motivator, humble, listener, advisor, professional, intelligent, dedicated, and calm are the type of descriptors more often applied to great politicians or military generals. Figures that lead nations, conquer adversity, and are respected for driving growth and production… 

And perhaps you could argue that’s exactly what the UFC middleweight champion is doing, for Brazil at least. Just in vale tudo shorts and 4oz gloves, rather than a tailor-made suit and tie.

Other popular words shared by his coaches and teammates, both past and present, are perhaps a little more what you would expect to describe MMA’s pound-for-pound number one. Technique, ability, coordination, endurance, speed, accuracy, versatility, and focus, also rolled off the tongues of his closest allies.

Anderson Silva is not just respected and supported in Brazil; the most successful mixed martial artist on the planet is loved and adored. And yet, in Anderson’s eyes, at least, he’s still just a combatant, an athlete who works hard each day to improve his game and one who is eager to give something back to the sport and the community that has helped to make him rich beyond his dreams.

Yes, he did prove elusive to nail down for an interview. But that wasn’t because he’s a prima-donna sportsman, who’s been caught by the celebrity bug and looks down his nose at fans and media – far from it. It’s simply because all he wants to do is train himself, and those around him, in an unquenchable drive for perfection.

Whether it’s sparring partners preparing for their own fights, novices in a jiu-jitsu class or even street kids down on the beach, Anderson likes nothing more than to pass on advice from his experiences to help others perhaps one day follow in his footsteps.

“Even when he is not training to fight, Anderson makes the point to teach during training. To pass on his experiences to everyone,” says Erick Silva, the UFC welterweight who trains alongside Silva at Team Nogueira. “Even at the recent open training sessions we did at the beach, he went to motivate the youngsters who are just starting out, and who have not yet even debuted in the cage. 

“As a fighter, I can't explain him. I see him as a very serious guy, focused on what he does. When he is in the gym to train he does not like to play around. But as a person, he is playful, he’s fun. He takes joy with him to training, and is always playing and talking with everyone. Outside the tatami, Anderson is too much fun (laughs), while inside the tatami he’s too serious to joke around.”

Group patriarch Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira agrees, and he believes it’s this humble side of the champion that has taken him to the very top of the sport. “One thing he always looks to do is advise the youngsters, showing them the hard path you have to walk to become a champion, and that a fighter’s life is not easy. I am always seeing him with the children out of our social project, and he is always giving them words of incentive, asking them how they are doing at school. This is just the person he is,” offers ‘Big Nog.’ 

However, aside from encouraging others, it's straight-up hard work that remains the hallmark of the 185lb star. Nogueira adds: “Anderson has reached a high technique level that many fighters can also get to. It takes years of training and competition, living with people and different camps. He always looks to listen to the opinions of others, especially his coaches. He never thinks everything is perfect. There is always something to be improved. Joining all these aspects together makes him the best fighter.”

As you might expect, Anderson, too, plays down the notion of anything but hard work being the key to his success. “There’s no secret at all to being the champion. I am just like everybody else. Sure, I am from Brazil, and we are a nation of warriors – this is in the Brazilian soul. We are always fighting for everything because nothing comes easily.

“But I have also worked hard to get where I am today. I train hard every day and I am always learning. Ask me what my favorite submission move is and I will say all of them. Ask me if there is anything that I believe can be improved, and I will say every area. I will never stop working to get better – that is the way of the martial artist.”

That relentless work rate is a trait Anderson’s had his entire career, even back in the early days when he was little more than a sparring partner for the likes of Wanderlei Silva and brothers Mauricio and Murilo Rua. “When I trained with Anderson at Chute Boxe, in Curitiba, I was sure he would be successful in his mixed martial arts career,” says ‘Ninja’ Rua. “He was always a very talented athlete with Muay Thai, at a different level from the other guys, and today you see what he has achieved. I congratulate him for the difference he made in the sport and for being the biggest MMA fighter on the planet. 

“What impresses me most in his game is the way he has managed to adapt his Muay Thai, boxing and ground skills to mixed martial arts. Besides his great talent, he goes into every fight with a slight advantage over the opponent as he knows how to let his game go. He was always an amazing fighter.”

Coach Sergio Cunha also worked with Silva during his Chute Boxe days, and believes that a combination of his body shape, work ethic and willingness to learn new things have been key to his success. He says: “I always looked at him as a normal athlete, but it was clear he was talented with that long body, he really had a very loose game. 

“I could see how far he would go in fight sports even before he entered MMA, when he fought Muay Thai against Jose Pele Landi-Jons in a school we had that was called Thai Gym. It was just the variety and the speed of his strikes that he connected with in each and every attack, without being touched, that really surprised me.”

Indeed Cunha, who also says Anderson’s move away from Chute Boxe in Curitiba to work with the Nogueiras which was instrumental in him realizing his full potential, insists he was the only coach there the night Anderson truly became a mixed martial arts superstar. He recalls: “When Anderson won his first world championship belt, at Shooto in 2001, we were in Tokyo, only he and I, when he battled with Hayato Sakurai.

Before the fight begins, everybody was against us and we were told we couldn’t go here or there. Everybody at the event was against Anderson Silva, but we stuck together. He beat Sakurai up for three rounds, took the belt and lifted his soul in what was a very special moment in his life. That was an unforgettable night and that was the night Anderson Silva was truly born into the MMA world.”

It would be another five years until Anderson took over his current role of UFC middleweight champion, around the same time he made the switch over to the Black House team in Rio. Big Nog admits that he encouraged Anderson to join the camp as he knew the potential he had to offer. “There was rivalry at that time, but he was very warmly welcomed,” Nogueira recalls. “Everyone knew he could add to the team, so there were no problems.”

Asked to pinpoint the characteristics that drew the two of them together, Nogueira says: “I can tell you the one thing that differs him from all the others is his name, nothing else. Anderson is a humble person and he trains with the team normally, without regal rights.”

What Anderson has done during his time at Black House, however, is hugely improved his ground game. And it was the Nogueira brothers who presented Anderson with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. “He has evolved so much as a fighter, especially on the ground. Anderson evolved as much as he got the black belt and finished that fight against Chael Sonnen in a typical attack of the sweet art.

“That submission was so good. After all the suffering during the fight, finishing the fight with a triangle could not be better. I remember before the fight, Sonnen underestimated us, our jiu-jitsu and his black belt. But the answer was given in the cage, with a 100% jiu-jitsu win.”

So does Nogueira believe Silva has the game to compete in jiu-jitsu, no-gi perhaps? “Of course, his black belt was not bought on the corner,” he states, “it was earned after a lot of training. He is at the right level, the problem would be facing adversaries who only train and live for jiu-jitsu. It is different.”

After turning 37 in April, the ‘R’ word is never too far away from Silva whenever he speaks to the press. And despite wavering about how long he will remain inside the cage on occasions in the past, this time around he speaks only of continuing to fight for the foreseeable future. “No, I only see myself training even harder. My focus is only to fight,” Anderson says. “Winning my next challenge, continuing to look for opportunities for my future inside and outside the Octagon. Those are my only goals moving forwards.”

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has started his own run of successful title defenses against a plethora of former champions, and there is already talk of one day in the future the two possibly meeting – but is Anderson even open to the idea of moving up a division? “I already did it but I don’t intend to do it again,” he says. “Jon Jones’ fighting style is very good. He still is young, and he has so much energy and talent. He will go far in his career. But I don’t envisage a day when we would fight one another.

“I believe he will one day move to heavyweight, and maybe fight Junior Dos Santos, then I will be helping Junior to try to beat Jon Jones. But Anderson Silva against Jon Jones, that will not happen.”

Out of fight camp the champion – who has a penchant for fresh pasta – says he usually walks around weighing around 202lbs, and requires three months to prepare for a UFC title defense. His style is original because, he says: “I look for novelties with my masters and even with my students. I like to try out new ideas.”

Listening to the advice of his sparring partners is perhaps something one wouldn’t expect to hear about a champion with the longest run of title defenses in the history of the UFC. Yet training partner Thiago ‘Jambo’ Goncalves reveals Anderson is always receptive to feedback, regardless of stature or status on the mats.

“Anderson is always wanting information,” he says. “He is a guy open to opinions from teammates and coaches. It’s not by chance he is where he is now. He observes a lot, and knows how to see holes in your opponent’s game as nobody else does. He knows how to spring a surprise, either in training, or in the fight.

“His versatility allows him to do amazing things. Who doesn’t remember that elbow he landed on Tony Fryklund at Cage Rage in the United Kingdom? He’s the most fantastic fighter, in my opinion.”

Despite all of the accolades and testimonials, however, Anderson shuns any talk of perfection, and has never set any achievable goals on himself relating to reaching his full potential. “I have never asked myself about if and when I am reaching my maximum,” he says. “I just train and prepare for the fights.”

Anderson refused to answer questions relating specifically to his training regime for the return with Sonnen, the amount of wrestling he’s done during preparations or even disclose whether he was planning on a completely new game plan after the amount of punishment he took in their first meeting.

However, Big Nog revealed that the camp was looking to make a statement, in the aftermath of the first fight in which they insist Anderson fought with a rib injury. Nogueira will undoubtedly be one of the champion’s cornermen in Las Vegas and revealed a simple team talk he’s prepared for those final few moments in the locker rooms before the head to the cage.

“I know what I will say to him in the moments before he goes to fight Sonnen,” adds the former UFC heavyweight champion. “I will say, ‘Anderson, go in there, get into the Octagon and do what you know best. Don’t let his provocation get to you, and beat him up… Show him who is the real champion!’”

Postscript

Silva defeated Sonnen again with a TKO in the second round. In UFC 153 he dispatched Stephan Bonner by TKO inside one round. However, in UFC 162 Chris Weidman created a massive upset by defeating Silva by KO to take his title.

Silva never got it back. However, his legacy is secure. 34 wins, 23 of them by knockout. His 16 wins on the bounce remains the longest win streak in UFC history. UFC President Dana White and a host of MMA analysts have called Silva the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Typically of Silva, he considers his friend and double former UFC champion B.J. Penn to be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport. Silva is a family man now, with five children to take care of. But he'll always be a legend.