Pound-for-pound king heads back to the Octagon for another title defence.
When you have achieved as much in any sport as Anderson Silva has in mixed martial arts, it’s only your personal drive that keeps you going.
Because, really, there is little else for him to prove to the MMA world.
Silva will head back to the Octagon on July 7 when he tackles Chris Weidman, a strong wrestler and striker with a skill set some liken to Chael Sonnen, only more athletic.
It is those combination of skills for Weidman that has some questioning if the 29-year-old has what it takes to shock the UFC by dethroning the champion.
Weidman has talked up his chances in pre-fight interviews, and why not when his 9-0 pro record features wins over Mark Munoz, Demian Maia and Uriah Hall.
But those three fighters combined are still not on the same level as Silva, who will earn the title of best ever, if he has not already, if he is able to pull off his 11th title defence.
Silva holds several statistical records in the UFC including most all-time knockdowns in UFC history (17), No. 1 in significant strike accuracy (67.8%), Longest all-time UFC win streak (16).
He also remains undefeated in the UFC and has the most title fight victories (11), the most UFC title defenses (10) and the longest reign by days (2,441).
Those statistics have been earned thanks to his unorthodox but extremely effective striking, which he can use to hit his opponents from angles they cannot prepare for.
Despite some believing he is weaker on the ground, Silva is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and has six submission wins out of his 33 career wins, two of which came against noted wrestlers Dan Henderson and Sonnen.
Hear from both fighters about their thoughts about the bout.
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