The Alexander Report

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (AHN Sports) – It’s an exclusive club: The men who have beaten Anderson Silva.

There’s Luiz Azeredo, who took a unanimous decision in the 25-year old Silva’s third pro fight in Brazil.

Since that crowning moment, Azeredo has gone 12-9 in his pro MMA career. He notched a win over Paul Daley and most recently lost his second Bellator fight, back in April.

Daiju Takase is one of two men to submit Anderson Silva. He finished Silva with a triangle choke at 8:33 of their June, 2003 Pride 26 bout.

The win was the high point of Takase’s career, and came at the dead center of it. He was 4-7-1 when he faced Silva, and he’s been 4-6-1 since. He last fought in April, 2010.

The list of fighters who have knocked Takase out—Hector Lombard, Nate Marquardt, Jeremy Horn—is far more impressive than the list of other men he’s beaten—Carlos Newston, someone named Mr. X.

Ryo Chonnan also submitted Silva, using a heel hook in the third round of their Pride Shockwave bout on the last night of 2004.

He’s gone 11-8 since, suffering first-round knockouts at the hands of Phl Baroni and Dan Henderson.

Anderson Silva has redefined the term “undisputed” with his recent run through the UFC. He holds the record for most consecutive UFC wins, with 13. The previous record was eight, which Silva passed 28 months ago.

Silva’s also recorded eight straight title defenses. Not only has no UFC fighter done that before, no UFC champion has successfully defended a belt eight times, even counting multiple title reigns.

A kid born the night Silva won the UFC Middleweight title would be starting kindergarten in the next few weeks. When he steps into the cage Saturday night in the main event of UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he will have reigned as champion for 1,777 days. Only 16 U.S. presidents had longer terms.

When a fighter has defeated all comers and cleaned out his division, promoters often look to an opponent who has beaten him in the past to create a compelling matchup.

Neither Takase, Chonnan, nor Azeredo have done enough to fit the bill.

Enter the fourth man to have beaten Anderson Silva.

Yushin Okama was the last man to leave a fight with Silva as the winner, and he did so in controversial fashion.

Silva controlled most of the two minutes, 33 seconds of their January, 2006 bout in Hawaii. He landed at least a dozen leg kicks, a head kick, and an upkick to the chest. He also had a three punch combination that sent Okami sprawling back into the cage.

Silva stuffed four Okami takedown attempts, twice leaving Okami on his back.

The only offense Okami could muster was a three-punch flurry that didn’t come close to landing and a successful takedown on his fifth attempt. That left him on top of Silva, then flat on his back, as Silva knocked him cold with an upkick.

Okami was declared the winner, however, because he was on his knees when the kick was delivered, causing Silva to be disqualified.

“The first fight with Okami, I didn’t have the experience in the cage,” Silva said, explaining his costly error.

The last man to beat the champion now gets his chance to break his stranglehold on the division. The champion gets the chance to avenge his last loss. The storylines are as old as combat sports, but make no mistake, Okami has earned his shot.

He’s gone 12-3 since beating Silva. His losses were to Jake Shields, Rich Franklin, and Chael Sonnen—two champions and the man who nearly took Okami’s place as the last man to beat Silva.

A six-fight win streak put him on the brink of a title shot in 2007, but he lost a one-point decision to Franklin in an eliminator. He’s won six of seven since to work his way back up the ladder.

“Yushin Okami is the best fighter to come out of Japan,” said UFC president Dana White. “He didn’t get here by coming up fighting cans or putting together a mythical record.”

Yushin Okami is also the best fighter of the quartet of men holding wins over Anderson Silva. He was the last to beat him.

More importantly, he’s the next to get the chance.

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