Former long-time UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is looking to partake in his next challenge as a long-time martial arts practitioner.
"The Spider" 33-8 and one no contest (with 26 victories by stoppage) held the UFC's 185-pound title for a total of seven consecutive years. Along the way, he faced and defeated some of the sport's toughest fighters, including Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Demian Maia, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, and Nate Marquardt, just to name a few.
However, his aura of invincibility all came to an end, after he was defeated by fellow former champion Chris Weidman twice. The second fight between both men ended with Silva breaking his leg and being sidelined for an entire year.
While he is currently coming off two consecutive losses against Michael Bisping, and most recently against reigning light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 200, the 41-year-old Silva is apparently aiming to try his luck at a new combat sports venture: the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championships.
According to GracieMag.com, renowned grappler and former mixed martial arts fighter Andre Galvao says Silva is aspiring to compete at the sport's grandest stage some time in his future.
"He really likes BJJ. His dream is to one day fight in a world championship. He always mentions it, but his coaches always advise him not to," Galvao said. "He has a very different kind of BJJ, even due to his body type. He can use his body very well. Whenever he can, he accompanies me to championships."
After earning his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the Nogueira brothers, he is now being trained by Ramon Lemos. Lemos co-founded the renowned Atos Jiu-Jitsu gym, alongside Galvao. Their facility is housed in San Diego, California.
Out of his 26 stoppage wins, Silva managed to eke out six victories by submission. His most recent and memorable one was during his 2010 fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117. After being dominated for four and a half rounds, Silva managed to lock in a last-minute triangle choke to armbar submission to win the fight and successfully defend his belt for the eighth straight time.