UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva may not regularly watch MMA these days, but his head turns when his records are being approached.
Silva’s 16-fight UFC winning streak was matched by Islam Makhachev in November when he moved up to welterweight to capture a second title by defeating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. Makhachev will have the opportunity to stand alone if victorious in his next outing, which would be his first welterweight title defense. Silva hopes he gets it done.
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“Everything is possible,” Silva told MMA Junkie. “I’m happy because somebody broke this record, and the new generation in the future, the people will break this record again, again, again – this is good challenge for everybody when it comes.
“But I don’t think the people think about, ‘Oh, I go break this record, I go break this record.’ I think the people doing their job and when you see, ‘Oh, my God! Really? Yes, you broke the record! Oh, OK. Great.'”
Silva set the record during his run that began with a first-round finish of Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 5 in 2006 and stretched through a first-round finish of Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153 in 2012. “The Spider” racked up an incredible 14 finishes during that historic streak.
Makhachev’s streak started with a unanimous decision nod over Chris Wade at UFC Fight Night 94 in 2016. He tied Silva with a title-winning decision over Della Maddalena at UFC 322 in November. Makhachev has fewer finishes (10), yet his fighting style is different from Silva, who was a sniper on the feet. Makhachev’s approach is to smother opponents with elite ground control and submission skills.
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Aside from when his records are approached, Silva, who exited the UFC in 2020, doesn’t pay attention to MMA as much now. Instead, he keeps an eye on jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and boxing, the latter in which he has regularly competed in since leaving the octagon.
“I spent my entire life watching MMA,” Silva said. “A student, my opponent, and watching MMA to see the movement I can make better, and for myself, I don’t watch anymore. … When I finished my career in MMA, I stopped watching because I don’t have to study anymore because I don’t fight MMA anymore. When I started my career in MMA years ago, I just looking every single day, study every single day, MMA fight, MMA fight, MMA fight – I’m done.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Anderson Silva hopes Islam Makhachev breaks UFC winning streak record
