20 years ago today Anderson Silva made his UFC debut

Sean Strickland wouldn't even lay a glove on Anderson in his prime

@ConsensusScore Such a crazy time in UFC history. I remember watching this in a sketchy bar.

Fighters were soooo bad back then... what was he thinking charging like that lol

What a massacre... Leben has the fight IQ of a squirrel. But, Big John let him take 16 uncontested shots to the head - including 1 head kick + 1 knee. I think he was the hired to be a coroner rather than a referee.

Spider Silva was so dominant for a long time. Record 16 consecutive UFC wins. Then probably the only reason he lost, is because he started dancing and taunting opponents. Think he was just bored.

Peak Silva was the greatest fighter I have ever seen with my two eyes. Not even close.

Still the best MMA fighter i've ever seen. No one destroyed his opponents the way he did. You knew you were gonna see something special when he was in the cage

“Yeah Anderson Silva did not fight bums”

He reminds me of Seal

I was in high school watching this on Spike TV, insane finish and this was my introduction to Anderson the Spider Silva.

My fucking Goat for ever Anderson the spider Silva I watch him in Prime is just Amazing nobody fight like Him

“He may want to go back to Japan where the competition is a little easier” 😂😂😂😂😂😭

Definitely the scariest debut of any fighter. It was over after the first two punches landed. Leben took a lot of shit after the loss for his trash talk, but a couple years out from this fight and he took those clean shots better than anybody.

Old School UFC has such a better look and feel than today idk maybe I'm just old

@EricScottTaber The GOAT

I remember my family (who watched Pride FC with me and had seen Anderson previously) thought Leben would make easy work of Andy. 🤦‍♂️

If you’re unfamiliar with Leben. Tough jaw. Tough fists. But not tough enough for the Spider.

Don’t care about his career post leg break. This the goat. The most skilled fighter ever

Made Leben look like a complete random🥶

To this day the funniest fight ever 😂

Yall musta forgot. He was rhe GOAT back then

Early stoppage

Against someone who just fixed some heater 4 hours ago

I remember watching this live with a few friends and telling them that Chris Leben was a good fighter and it should be a good fight and he got absolutely smoked 😂

Didn't miss once

Two decades later and I'm still waiting for my debut, but at least my couch has never been more legendary.

He was the first of his kind for sure

I was such a huge Chris Lieban fan at the time. Hated Silva every day after this one. Made the Wideman win absolute bliss for me.

🕷️

The goat 🐐

Chris Lehman was a walking crash dummy I can't believe he's on the officiating board unbelievable😅

Big John letting Chris Leben about die in there

those brazilian fighters were basically steroided at the time.

@SpiderAnderson THE SPIDER 🕷️