Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, boxer and actor. His fight name is The Spider and he is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

Before joining the UFC, Silva was a one-time Shooto Middleweight Champion and a Cage Rage Middleweight Champion. He is 6’2″ tall and he competed in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Silva married his childhood sweetheart Dayane Silva, a former gymnast. They have two daughters namely Kaory Silva and Kauana Silva and three sons namely Kalyl Silva, Joao Vitor Silva and Gabriel Silva.

Anderson is a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, 5th dan black belt in taekwondo, black prajied in Muay Thai and yellow rope in capoeira. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. On June 25, 1997, he made his professional MMA debut at “Brazilian Freestyle Circuit 1” at Campo Grande in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil where he finished two opponents namely Raimundo Pinheiro and Fabricio Camoes.
2. On April 22, 2006, he made his UFC debut. He won all of his first 17 fights in the promotion. He defeated Chris Leben, Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, James Irvin, Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Forrest Griffin, Demian Maia, Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami and Stephan Bonnar from 2006 to 2012. In the same period, both Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen lost to him twice.
3. He was the UFC Middleweight Champion from October 14, 2006 to July 6, 2013, which is the longest title reign in UFC history.
4. In 2009, he moved to Los Angeles, California, USA and made his acting debut by playing Spider in “Never Surrender” and King Anaconda in “Hell’s Chain.“
5. In 2013, he played Andrew Silver in “Till Luck Do Us Part 2.” On July 6, 2013, he was knocked out by Chris Weidman at “UFC 162,” which marked his first loss in the UFC. He was knocked out again by Weidman in their rematch at “UFC 168” on December 28, 2013.
6. In 2014, he played Anderson in “Tapped Out” and Sensei Scott in “NCIS: Los Angeles” Season 6 episode 6 “SEAL Hunter.” He defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision at “UFC 183” in Las Vegas on January 31, 2015 but it was overturned and declared a No Contest after he tested positive for anabolic steroids in a pre-fight drug test for the fight. He was supposed to be one of the coaches in “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4“, which aired on Globo from April 5, 2015 to June 21, 2015, but was replaced Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
7. In 2016, he played Mateus in “Monday Nights at Seven” and lost to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier both via unanimous decision.
8. On February 11, 2017, he defeated Derek Brunson via unanimous decision at “UFC 208” in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was one of the Brazilian hosts of “Ultimate Beastmaster” Season 1, which premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2017.
9. In 2019, he played Alexander Sinclair in “The Invincible Dragon” and lost via unanimous decision to Israel Adesanya and was knocked out by Jared Cannonier. In July 2019, he, Dayane and their five children went through a mass naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles.
10. On October 31, 2020, he was knocked out by Uriah Hall at “UFC Fight Night 181”, which downgraded his professional MMA record to 34 wins, 11 losses and 1 No Contest. On November 19, 2020, it was announced that he had been released from his UFC contract.
11. As a professional boxer, he defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Guadalajara, Mexico on June 19, 2021 and Tito Ortiz in Hollywood, Florida, USA on September 11, 2021.
12. On May 21, 2022, he fought Bruno Machado in an eight-round exhibition boxing bout in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It went the full distance and no winner was declared.
13. He was 47 years old when he lost to Jake Paul, then 25, in a professional boxing bout on October 29, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona, USA, which downgraded his professional boxing record to 3 wins and 2 losses.