11 men hailing from six different countries have held the undisputed UFC middleweight belt since its introduction at UFC 33 in 2001. One man, Anderson Silva, held the title for over six years from 2007-2013 and was the first champion to defend a belt 10 times. Look back at all the middleweight champions from Dave Menne to Israel Adesanya.
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#UFC
Silva becomes champion *7 years time skip* Goat shit
Ped shit
@Rainbow Dirt you have to understand that they're bums by TODAY'S standards. At the time, they were the shit, the best fighters in the world.
@Rainbow Dirt let's see you fight them
I wish Silva retired on top. Before the Chris Weidman fights he had a perfect legacy to ride off into the sunset with.
@Rainbow Dirt Your life is so boring that you have to spend so much of your time discrediting Anderson Silva in the comments section. Nobody cares what you think majority of UFC fans know that Silva is one of the goats. You being salty about it won't change anything about it.
This video was only 6 mins 43 seconds thanks to Silva
Exactly
Isn’t he fucking awesome?
@@frosty2.010 he's not that big now that was the biggest GSP cuz it was a MW fight
@Rainbow Dirt he has 11 losses and he beat every number 1 contender for 6 years you ugly a ss
@@thedonofthsht76-58 don't ever reply to that guy.
Was insane to see how Silva lost his title after his dominant championship reign. And how much of punching bags Rockhold and Weidman have become, who once were the most feared middleweights. Crazy sport
Same with Silva he hasn’t won since I think 2017
Losing to Romero and Jan doesn't make you a punching bag.
We waz kangs nigguh
Imagine the days when Izzy becomes like that (I’m a casual so...that’s what it must be like I assume)
Even silva turned into basketball
GSP.... one fight in Middleweight and became CHAMP.....
I'm Impressed By This Comment
@Censored Censored became champion with one eye on short notice beat Anderson silva gave st pierre a hard fight he’s no bum you idiot🤣
@Censored Censored silly comment lol
@@BD-pp7un silva was past his prime and still almost sent bisping to the shadow realm
@@BD-pp7un nah that's the point GSP fought a past prime one eye Bisping knowing it would be an easier win
Bisping went out like a champ, didnt tap even though he knew he was done, fought Kelvin on like no notice, went there for a scrap and Kelvin let him know his time was up. Love yuh Mike
Fr,he's awesome
Babi boi
See u soon boiii
I don't get how GSP rattled his head in the stand up when he could never do that any other time
@a publick Domain pretty sure he would have fought whittikar instead cause whittikar beat Romero
Wow herb dean has been around for a long time
Some say too long
@@AtlasTurner we all do really
@@kingmuizz708 Speak for yourself
@@datswart7573 I will,I'm sure my sentiment is true elsewhere too so shush child
He was the referee in over 3500 fights. Let that sink in
Every time Joe Rogan goes to sleep: *Soft muttering* "....oh..blub blub....he tagged em....he's hurt....mlem mlem... HE TAGGED EM...elk blood...he's hurt."
Hahahaha 😂😂 ....ALIENS...blub blurb...bigfoot...
Cringe.
Blub blub.... 12-6 elbows.... Hmmmgh.... Knees over toes guy.... Mlem mlem... front kick to the face
Leg kicks....mission control...
Doubt it
It's cool to follow a relatively new sport like mma because you can see it evolving so fast. The first champions were ballsy madmen, today they're such refined technical athletes.
Lol so true.
Very accurate. If you look back at some of the old school fights (Tank Abbot for example) they looked like gruesome barfights.
I think that's why spider and mighty mouse had such great success. Both of them were so technical while everyone else was still brawling.
That Izzy/ gastelum fight was the best fight on this list. Take everything aside and just look at the actual fight. That one wins man. Such a war. Like watching 2 countries fight an entire war from start to finish. Just awesome.
Fully agree, one of the best fights in ufc history. You should check out issys breakdown if you haven’t already, good way to relive it with him giving his insight.
@@tyronebiggums3853 I’m good bro no need to dissect an already great thing🤙
Givese chills everytime. Wishing for more fights like that in the UFC
Was gonna give you a like, but you’re at 69. I’ll be back in a couple weeks and see if you’re at 419 or not.
Romero Whittaker was better
1:01 - Herb Dean "I'ma waive my hands above the fighters so the top fighter knows it's over. ... Oh, right."
I think the signal is more for the audience, herb is talking to the fighters telling them to stop since he is standing right next to them
@@gabedavis714 Yes, but comedy, so no.
@@gabedavis714 when a fighter smells bad, they ain’t stopping until you physically pull them off. Just waving above them and saying to stop ain’t gonna work
Silva got tired of the belt that's why he joked around 🤣
That's why he was yelling at him. Was taking too long to get the belt off him lol
@Rainbow Dirt He beat juiced up Vitor Belfort who was KOing everyone
@Rainbow Dirt Bro you still around? You've been slacking since Charles won the belt
@Rainbow Dirt you repeat the same shit everytime lol
@Rainbow Dirt is a known racist that hates black people and jews. He hates black people so much he even created this fake account just to try to make black people look bad. Pay this racist no mind.
This video does a weird job of commemorating and showing respect to all the champs. It's like, one second your showing this great champ winning the belt and the next second your showing him getting fucked up and going unconscious, rinse and repeat :)
That's how the game goes. Eventually, everyone gets replaced.
@@TroubleOnTheWaters yeah, true. i'm more joking about their choice of footage to include. It kind of undermines the champ you were just bigging up when the next shot you show has them getting knocked out lol
Thats fighting, you see???
@@tenzinchagzoetsang4318 Understand completely...but if you say it does a "weird job" its becz you've come into watching this video with an expectation. It obviously it wasn't their purpose to do a "big-up-and-sail-into-the-sunset" for anyone. It just wants to show exactly how the change of champions came about, so the title of the video is fine. Does it make you sad to see not only the rise of each champion, but also their fall? If so, I can sympathize 😢 all good things must come an end right? The only way to have a good ending is to retire as champion, in which only GSP and Israel Adesanya can be candidates for that category 💪
😂😂😂
Thinking to myself, "Wow there are only a handful of middleweight champions." Realizing the reason that Silva held that belt for more than half a decade.
RIP Evan Tanner, a true martial artist.
Tanner was awesome
Unfortunately, many people forget about Rich Franklin. He's a legend
@Rainbow Dirt Weidman sucks
i just found out that rick franklin was a champ lmao
@Rainbow Dirt weidman got killed by a 43y old guy and by souza stfu dude
I only remember because of the Anderson Silvas highlights.
@Rainbow Dirt imagine actually engaging with a troll like this
Bisping was so easy to hate back in the day, but so happy to see him win a belt after so many years of grinding.
@@frosty2.010 you are a bit late. They are both retired for good already.
@@frosty2.010 he was considering it afterwards tho
@@frosty2.010 ikr why is khabib scared to go 2 165 gsp already tried telling dana white to make the fight like a week ago
I still don't really like him for his championship reign as it ruined the division. Plus he had some questionable decision wins in his home country that he acts like he won fair and square. Bisping also seems the type to like to dish out smack-talk but can't take it in return. www.mmafighting.com/2020/7/12/21321803/michael-bisping-rips-true-piece-of-sh-t-dan-henderson-in-volatile-war-of-words-during-ufc-251 Imagine flying off the handle over something as petty as this.
Crazy how fighters have evolved over the years. Anyone that had was a badass no doubt though
nahh except Rockhold
@@kugli5476 anyone who becomes a ufc champ is a bad dude and that includes rockhold no matter how cringy he is
@@Cloudskiprr I know it is a big accomplishment but in that time Middleweight category had lowest competency in history of that category.
@@kugli5476 nah don’t get it twisted luke may be a joke now but at his best his skills were all around extremely good and his top game may have been the best in the whole ufc
@@Cloudskiprr Luke's losses have aged extremely well too. Bisping is an elite fighter and is only considered a 'bad' loss because of the betting odds, which doesn't tell the whole story. Vitor Belfort was on copious amounts of TRT and many other PED's turning him into an MMA fighter straight out of a laboratory. Yoel Romero is a genetic freak of nature who will give any man on earth a tough fight (just ask Robert Whittaker). Jan Blachowicz was a 'bad' loss at the time, but we had no idea just how good Blachowicz actually was, ultimately being the first man to defeat Izzy as well as the man who many argue beat Jon Jones (Reyes).
Izzy's celebration after beating rob is the best one ive seen yet.
that shit was cringe bro 😂
@Samo Damir Green eyed, jealous, insecure, toxic trash upset that he has the confidence and fineses to do something you'll never be able to. Probably beat up your favorite fighter and increased your cancerous nature because of it. Izzy looked like a swag badass and I'm not too envious or bitter to say it
@@smgyro1476 what was that celebration tho??..
His one against Brunson was awesome too
To those reacting claiming “what was that?”. It’s from Rise where Tight Eyez does the same.
Izzy's win over Whittaker was one of the most dominating performances in MW title fight history
The fight with Silva was a ninja fight
@Censored Censored Wtf are you even talking about? It's definitely ONE OF the most dominating title fight performances in MW history. And arguably the best one coz Whittaker is the 3rd best MW ever
@@AsherKjhad First Silva vs Franklin fight was more dominating I feel
Middleweight is one of the most exciting divisions in the UFC
Historically not so much.
@@frosty2.010 that’s why he should have been calling out Adesanya or Usman
Compared to all the others not rly but definitely come up in the past couple years
@@sothis1448 the only reason you aren’t wrong is a compliment to Anderson Silva from 2006 to 2013.
@@dma67111 it has nothing to do with Silva. Can you name any Middleweight before Anderson Silva? Doubt it.
Paulo Costa on this list: "aa jizzaprovve wan handered percent"
Paulo “De uman tresh” Costa
@@TheChexMix "A keeel youu" Paulo Costa
I have seen majority of these fights live, Bisping went out like a champ, & what good times I had watching this sport evolve. RIP Evan Tanner!
RIP Evan 🙏🏽 Nothing but love and respect for these legends
Silva, Izzy and Whittaker are the 3 greatest Middleweight of all time and in that order.
Izzy will probably be number 1 by the end of his career
Silva because of the title reign and dominance. Izzy because of his win over Robert. And Whittaker, I mean look at the names on his record
@@insanebullets3768 He has all the potential to be. Let's wait and see
@@harrisonjewell6510 The craziest thing about Whitaker is how good he’s looked lately. He’s never looked better. We need that rematch. I think Rob can win.
@@harrisonjewell6510 Izzy not just because of his win over Whittaker but also other ranked wins like Brunson, Tavares, Yoel, Vettori, Gastelum and Costa. Just that one head to head win wouldn't put him over Rob imo but it's the difference maker when comparing their resumes.
This is a great concept for a video. You could do a whole series of these. It’s a shame you didn’t include the years, the amount of title defenses, the reasons why the belt didn’t always transfer from the previous champion to the next (retirement, etc.) and any other pertinent information.
Bisping winning the title is one of the greatest ever moments. A true underdog story
Silva’s 7 year title reign is more impressive to me than Khabib’s 3 title defenses🥱
For sure
Khabib could've been the GOAT, but he retired too soon. GOATs clean out their division of the old guard, the current guard and the new guard, like GSP and Jon Jones did.
@@twiggsherman3641 Khabib still is the GOAT at Lightweight though, beating out the likes of anyone else for that honour. Watching his fights especially his most recent ones you can't help but acknowledge that there is *nobody* in the division who can beat him, as he's so dominant in the cage its ridiculous and everyone knows what he's going to do... but they can't stop him. When you take into account how stacked and competitive 155 is and how hard it is successfully defend the belt more than once and how hard it is not have a loss on your record in the UFC, its quite astonishing what he's accomplished. Khabib would have gotten that juicy 30-0 record and record breaking fourth consecutive title defence at LW if his father hadn't passed away. Regardless, his legacy is still set in stone which probably won't ever surpassed at 155.
@@madgavin7568 yeah I agree he is the greatest ufc lightweight of all time, he dominated every opponent, tbf alot of them were bums but even against elite competition khabib dominated, his body count includes dangerous guys like barboza and iaquinta, former champs like rda and mcgregor and two interim champs in poirier and gaethje
@@ubereem1027 The fact he fought some guys with mediocre to bad records early in his career can be excused by the fact virtually every fighter starts off their MMA careers by fighting guys of their same calibre aka 'bums'. The only exception I can think of to that is maybe Brock Lesnar.
If Rob doesn´t beat Izzy in the rematch, I see him holding the belt for at least 10 total defences.
Lol why 10
I think Rob wins their next fight or at least will be very close
@@kak8895 Because he weigh 37x5 which translates to 8 in guru. That´s how many legs a spider has. Nickname for Andersson Silva who had 10. Izzy might not live up to the Silva legacy because of his ability of getting taken down so 8x2 - 6 = 10.
@Rainbow Dirt damn, i see you every comment section. Are you that invested on hating izzy? Truly rent free inside izzy's head. Go outside or something.
@Rainbow Dirt Izzy and Prochazka are not even same weight dummy
6:06 oh my god that combo was nasty
Bisping tough as nails👌
I miss the early days when sometimes you literally didn't know who they champ would be that week and it could be someone you have never seen before
Good ole days without internet
Especially the size difference is crazy. All the middle weights got so much bigger.
A 7 year Reign 🔥 Anderson Silva the GOAT!!!!
Jones is the goat
@@goatmansasquatch1485 Up to 6 years though
@@CReala what
@@goatmansasquatch1485 He defended his belt for 6 years before he lost it to Comier by drug use. Silva held his belt the longest which is 7 years.
@@CReala he whooped Cormier twice
Respect to each and every single one of these men! The crowd definitely brings life to the octagon
I absolutely love these videos.
I love this series of videos. Can we appreciate how great the UFC KZhead channel is?! Sometimes I take it for granted
Yoel is the best fighter who never won the belt
cries in Alexander Gustaffson
Adesanya is literally a young silva 👏
Cant believe both wideman and silvas legs went out like that
Finally was waiting for this
*kzhead.info/sun/gdyfhpSur6OfqIU/bejne.html* ...
Israel Adesanya - Robert Whittaker - - - The rest of the current MW division
*kzhead.info/sun/gdyfhpSur6OfqIU/bejne.html* . .
Costa’s getting that belt by the end of the year!!
@@pablochavez8539 The guy who got picked apart and dismantled?
Facts
@@pablochavez8539 who from. Izzy. Destroyed before. Vettori? Maybe but still tough fight. Whittaker? Uriah hall pieced him up with a jab, think Robert couldn’t?
Dana's face when putting the belt on GSP is GOLD!
Now I understand why bisping didn't see the left hook coming from gsp..big salute to bisping..for becoming a champion with one eye..
Was waiting for this video!!
Striking: ✅ TDD:✅ I’m sure Izzy is working hard on his wrestling since that’s his only weak point
It's a huge weak point and Izzy now knows it. He will be working hard.
@@dirkdiggler5821 it’s not a weak point. He has great takedown defense and his height gives him an advantage on sprawls. He fights 5 round fights so, a takedown and control is much difficult to do so over a 5 round period when compared to 3 rounds. It means less to lose a round in a 5 round fight due to wrestling. Izzy’s fight style also makes it hard to shoot for a takedown given his height in combination of his back peddling counter shots. He lost to Jan because Jan doesn’t fear izzy’s power shots as Jan is similar in height but much wider and stronger which will not be a possibility in izzy’s weight class.
@@michaelm4411 I am not really sure why you felt the need to give me that breakdown Michael. There is nothing there I would argue with and I am not sure why my agreeing with Izzys wrestling being a weak point that he will be working hard on would inspire that kind of a reply. I am not doubting any of that. It was a specific point on his wrestling. It rarely gets tested and when it did it, it did not look like a strong point, which kind of makes it a "weak point". It wasn't a diss. It is interesting that you chose to reply to me for agreeing with a post but not to the original poster? Why was that?
Hope we get to see Izzy and Whittaker run it back again, the 2 best MW's atm
Silva's definitely the goat, no question.
Who even said he isn't? He is the GOAT
@@st-pierre7157 You have no idea how many uneducated fans joined the community after McGregor made UFC mainstream lol.
hes a cheat
@@nagm1745 At 40 years old, he couldn’t beat Father Time. He got caught one time
@@brusli1732 haha modern UFC fans summed up
Adesanya king 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Been waiting for this one 🍿
Adesanya is going to defend the middleweight belt for over 10 years. overtaking Anderson Silva, Mark my words
Sure
It's cool you think that.
Lol dude is like thirty , tho his been fighting for longer than most of this other guys but not just in the ufc
You can thank Anderson Silva for this short list. Growing up watching the spider, you could tell his skill set was at levels the other competitors didn't even know existed.
I’m more surprised this only got uploaded now! I watched most of these “every champ” videos back last year at the beginning of the pandemic
Izzys ko on whittaker was flawless
A blind winging left hook is now considered flawless? Im an Izzy fan too but jesus it was sloppy.
@@amorgan5844 damn you’re reaching. That was pure technique my friend
AND NOW SEAN STRICKLAND HAS OFFICIALLY MADE THE LIST
Each performance you can see the progression of the sport
It was great seeing Bisping finally get the belt after years of fighting and before he retired, a very tough guy not very technical but he could take some punishment, I felt a bit bad when he lost to GSP but that was a great fight, both gave it there all and Bisping went out on his shield by not tapping!
please do more of these
Bro Silva really held that belt for 6 years 😂😂😂
Adesanya saw stiffness in this division
Evan Tanner had heart. I can relate to his struggles he had in his personal life.
4:53 Love how all the Heads in the back popped up when Izzy threw spinning elbow.
Murilo " Novak Djokovic on steroids" Bustamante
Lol what
Dude looks like Djokovic's long lost twin
Looks kinda like a slimmer Luke Rockhold to me.
Fucking Bustamante fought in an 8 man tournament where his final opponent was an undefeated wrestler named Tom Erikson who was 6'3 and 285 lbs, while Bustamante was like 6'0 and 190 lbs. Shit went on for like 30 minutes and I don't even remember the finish. I think it was called "Martial Arts Reality Superfighting" (this was before anyone really knew about mma and promotion was always stupid).
4:20 lmao look at that cheeky smile in the background
More videos like this one please
The force was strong with these boys back in the day lol. Something in that sauce
The celebration by Izzy still is the coolest thing I ever seen
Really.
na its cringe
RIP Evan Tanner. I remember Mask being so heartbroken
Should do a video of every middle weight title fight in history to show the timeline of the division in detail. That would be CRAZYYYY!!!
RIP Evan Tanner . He was such a tough fighter and good guy. He will always be one of my favorite fighters of all time
That bisping fight was one of the saddest fights Ive seen. Bisping was old and had one eye but STILL fought like a savage.
Not impressed by your comment.
Luke Outcold
This kind of segment,good for new fans for ufc
Silva is definitely a 🐐 in this division 👏👏
bisping winning the title is still the greatest thing in UFC history for me, especially as a brit.
Israel’s performance was so dominant! Congrats champ!
Izzy and Kevin is such an amazing fight. It has the best of every aspect of fighting, it might as well of been a music album with the way it played out and was put together. That Rockhold fight had the most underwhelming win... I'd have to watch the entire fight but that end was not that intense.... Dude Bisping- his belt win was amazing, then went out in glorious fashion to GSP and you almost can't even be mad about it if your Bisping, like that success that Bisping did have still was so well earned and will forever go down in history. Bisping is the man and i love that he is so active in commentary now.
Silva will forever be a household name
3:10 *Everybody Liked That*
..it's the only reason I clicked the vid...
My 3 top middleweight champs are: 1- Anderson Silva. 2- Israel Adesanya. 3- Michael (one eye) Bisping.
Lmfao love Bisping as much as the next dude but he was the worst Middleweight champion in history it's Whittaker or Weidman instead
Rich Franklin>Michael Bisping
@@kingkaywicked6698 But he became a champ with one eye, That's bada SS
@@AngryMetallic badass yeah but he was an absolute shite champion lmfao. I respect him for fighting his whole life and recovering from his losses but as a champ he ran from ever legit challenger/contender ever lmfao
One eye jaja👍
Wow man I remember watching Evan tanner win the belt live....time flys! And then being in London for bisping, so many good memories.
Izzy vs Whittaker is an incredible fight! One of the best i' ve ever seen
Izzy will knockout Whittaker again.
Ngl I don't hope so. Whittiker was headhunting the first time so he should be more reserved now
@@kingmuizz708 Headhunting and clipping Izzy is his best chance. He’s not beating Izzy on the outside and he’s not out grappling/wrestling Izzy.
@@daze-telltaleshtposts5488 headhunting got him murked dude,so that's not what he wants. If we've seen anything Izzy is too afraid to engage and so relies solely on counterfighting. Rob using wrestling would mean Izzy is down for the count (we've seen how he struggled with Jan)
@@kingmuizz708 u keep forgetting that Jan was the bigger man in weight going into that fight, he had like 15 lbs on him, ofc he was gonna use that to his advantage
@@kingmuizz708 That’s my point. Headhunting is Rob’s only hope, and EVEN THAT won’t work. Izzy is literally his worst matchup in the division. Rob doesn’t have the size advantage Jan had. If there is anyone to employ that gameplan it’s Vettori or Hermanson, not Rob.
La Candela
WEH AH YU?
@@terrapin4930 SEEE YOOO SOOOON,,, BOIIIII
RIP Evan Tanner. Guy had a heart of gold, taken too soon.
This spoke to me. Very beautiful and the sportsmanship of every guy. No way !!!!
Been a huge fan of Anderson Silva since I was 8 years old😭😭
Izzy will be champ for a long time
I remember the decimation of Franklin v Silva like it was yesterday. Silva broke his nose with those brutal knees.
This is what the UFC is all about straight action.
Silva has been untouched for 6 years. GOAT 🐐🐐🐐
@Rainbow Dirt Bruh, you can’t talk about beating cans and bring up Khabib as a counter example lol
@Rainbow Dirt I can’t tell if this is satire or not
@Rainbow Dirt Half of Khabib’s resume are cans and he’s only ever fought 3 elite opponents in the UFC.
@Rainbow Dirt Why are you mentioning Silva? The topic of my reply was Khabib’s level of competition.
@Rainbow Dirt Conor is 3-3 against opponents his own size, and Justin is 5-3 in the UFC. They literally have NO business being in the P4P rankings, any non-casual would know that lmao. Khabib isn’t the goat and has an embarrassing resume for any goat candidate. You probably see that he’s undefeated and think he’s the best ever.
Izzy is too much 🔥🥊
Anderson Silva’s reign is something else 🏆🇧🇷
Seeing how many champions there are/were makes me realize how young the ufc is
Dont get it twisted, middleweight division has less champions because silva held the belt for almost a decade
Adesanya
Is only champ because the Greatest of all time gifted it to him.
@@MrRorySteel Not really watch the vidéo it's probably the highest technical fighter from this catégorie in the history of UFC.
@@kizanoshisui9640 GSP would wrestle fuck him to oblivion.
@@MrRorySteel Probably, but don't forget wrestling counter striker fighter.
Got exposed by jan. Prepare for him to lose the belt and go on a losing streak.
The middleweight division has had so many stars.
@Rainbow Dirt get a life dude
@@jsmith839 I seen him hating on Silva in the other comments
@@dukez5568 yeah normally I wouldn't say anything but this is like the 7th time I've seen him say the exact same thing
Silva, Bisping and Rob are my favorites mw champions.
This division has always been on fire.
I came here just to watch rockhold get knocked out by bisping
If Vettori somehow catches Adesanya & wins I cant see him defending it even one time.
You know you old when you actually watched all these fights when they actually happened 😅. I was working that day at Mandalay when Dave was crowned. Almost 20yrs later I'd have never imagined UFC would be what it is now. Love this sport!
Haha you've witnessed a lotta great stuff man. Be proud of that 🙏
Casual.
That isreal v Robert exchange at the end!! Insane speed