This Week’s MMA Birthdays: Anderson Silva Turns 39

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Regarded by some as the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time, former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva will celebrate his 39th birthday on April 14.

Silva captured the 185-pound championship from Rich Franklin at UFC 64 and held it for a record 2,457 days, successfully defending it on 10 different occasions. The Brazilian finally relinquished his hold on the middleweight throne at UFC 162 in July, when he was knocked out in shocking fashion by the unbeaten Chris Weidman. The two met again a little more than five months later, as Weidman retained his title when Silva broke his leg on a checked kick at UFC 168. The Brazilian underwent emergency surgery to repair the damage, and though he has recovered enough to return to training, he will not fight again until at least 2015.

“The Spider” had won 17 consecutive fights prior to his two encounters with Weidman, 16 of them inside the Octagon. He has delivered 26 of his 33 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Silva’s long and storied list of victims includes Rich Franklin (twice), Chael Sonnen (twice), Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, Forrest Griffin and Vitor Belfort.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the week covering April 13-April 19:

APRIL 13

Emi Tomimatsu (32)
Ben Saunders (31)
Yuko Oya (27)

APRIL 14

Ebenezer Fontes Braga (45)
Anderson Silva (39)
Jussier da Silva (29)

APRIL 15

Enson Inoue (47)
Kenichi Hattori (36)
Magomed Saadulaev (30)

APRIL 16

Jason Norwood (30)
Nate Diaz (29)
Pat Audinwood (28)

APRIL 17

Martin Kampmann (32)
Siyar Bahadurzada (30)

APRIL 18

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (30)

APRIL 19

Farkhad Sharipov (30)
Kelli Gottardo (27)
Pascal Krauss (27)

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