Anderson Silva on UFC GOAT debate & comparison with GSP, Khabib, Jones: 'I’m not the best'

Anderson Silva is arguably one of the most dominant fighters to ever enter the octagon and is, by all means, a future Hall of Famer. With his longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days, Anderson Silva ruled the GOAT list before he was taken over by Georges St-Pierre. GSP dominated the sport for a decade before retiring at the top, while The Spider lost a string of fights. Demetrious Johnson then entered the list when he broke Anderson Silva’s title defences record and Jon Jones matched his famed longevity as he competed in a record 15 title fights.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov then took the MMA world by storm as he retired from the sport undefeated at 29-0. Considering there are so many names in the race, Anderson Silva recently gave his opinion on how he looks at the GOAT debate. The Spider sat down with ESPN MMA this week. “MMA doesn’t have the best ever, the greatest of all time," Silva stressed. He said he respects fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones for what they did for MMA, but thinks he shouldn’t be included in the GOAT debate.   

“For me, I’m not the best. I just try to do the best I can and martial arts. I just pray, put on my knees in the ground and say thank you, God.”

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Is Anderson “The Spider” Silva the greatest of all time?

The argument for Silva was very strong a few years ago, but ever since he lost to Chris Weidman (twice) and broke his leg, he has won only one fight. He then went on to test positive for banned substances after the Nate Diaz fight which he initially won but UFC was forced to turn the decision to a no-contest.

Despite this, the legacy he created in MMA is there for all to see. No one ever came close to breaking his longest title reign record and it has to be pointed out that he didn’t run from the sport when it caught up to him. The Spider is still fighting and will look to go out on top in his retirement fight against Uriah Hall.

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Image Source: Anderson Silva Twitter