Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee 

Clifton Phifer "Cliff" Lee (born August 30, 1978) is a Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee has also played for theCleveland Indians, the Seattle Mariners, and the Texas Rangers.
Lee's repertoire features a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, and cut fastball,slider, as well as a circle changeup and a knuckle curve. Lee won the American League Cy Young Award in 2008.

Cliff Lee

Professional baseball career
Lee was drafted by the Florida Marlins with the 12th pick of the 8th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft out of Benton High School in his hometown of Benton, Arkansas, but instead chose to attend Meridian Community College in Mississippi. Later, Lee was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round of the 1998 amateur draft, but did not sign, opting to attend the University of Arkansas.

In the 2000 amateur draft, he was chosen in the 4th round by the Montreal Expos and signed in July of that year. During 2002, Lee played for Double-A Harrisburg, and compiled a 7–2 record with a 3.23 ERA in Eastern League play by mid-summer.

Cliff Lee

Cleveland Indians (2002–09):
In June 2002, the Expos traded Lee along with Brandon Phillips, Lee Stevens, andGrady Sizemore to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Bartolo Colón and Tim Drew.
Following the trade, Lee pitched seven games with the Akron Aeros before he was promoted to the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple A affiliate within the Cleveland farm system. He compiled a 3–2 record with the Bisons before being called up to the Indians during September of that season. Lee made his major league debut in a start against theMinnesota Twins on September 15, 2002, giving up a lone run in 5.1 innings, resulting in a loss due to lack of run support. He pitched once more that season, giving up one run in five innings against the Kansas City Royals, resulting in a no decision for Lee but a loss for the team.

Lee won at least 14 games in each of his first 3 full seasons and pitched more than 200 innings in both 2005 and 2006. He finished the 2005 season with an 18–5 record and a 3.79ERA, earning him 4th place in the AL Cy Young Award voting that year. In 2006, the Indians rewarded him with a midseason, 3-year, $14 million contract extension through the 2009 season.

2007 season
In 2007, Lee suffered a groin strain during a spring training start, forcing him to begin the regular season on the disabled list. He returned to the Indians rotation in May, but struggled to a 4–9 record and a 5.38 ERA in his first 16 starts. On July 21, Lee hit Texas Rangers' right fielderSammy Sosa in the head with a pitch on a night when the Rangers were honoring Sosa for hitting his 600th home run. The beaning sparked an altercation between Lee and Indians' catcher Víctor Martínez and led to a players-only meeting immediately after the game. Lee encountered even more problems on July 26, 2007, when he gave up 7 runs in 4 innings against the Boston Red Sox. When he left the ballgame, the fans booed him and right before he entered the dugout, he tipped his cap to the fans. The next day, July 27, the struggling left-hander was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. He was called back up on September 1 when rosters expanded, but only appeared in 4 games, all out of the bullpen.

2008 season:

In 2008, Lee had a career year. Despite the Indians playing with a .500 winning percentage for the season, Lee started the 2008 season with much success. Lee was one of only eight pitchers since 1920 to win 19 or more of his first 21 decisions. He was the first Cleveland pitcher to win his first six starts since Greg Swindell in 1988. He also recorded his first career shutout on April 25, 2008, against the Kansas City Royals, allowing just 3 hits and 0 walks. He had the lowest On-base percentage-against at .163 through five starts since 1909. For his efforts and success, he was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for April, when he went 5–0 with a 0.96 ERA. Lee was selected to his first All-Star game in 2008, and was selected to start the game. Lee worked two scoreless innings for the American League team, surrendering only a Chipper Jones base hit and striking out three.

Cliff Lee

On August 26, Lee won his 19th game of the season, yielding only 2 runs to the Detroit Tigers. This victory set a new career high for Lee, besting his previous mark of 18 wins set during the 2005 season. On September 1, Lee won his 20th game of the season, throwing a shutout. He was the first Indian to reach 20 wins since Gaylord Perry in 1974. In August, for the second time in the 2008 season, Lee was named American League Pitcher of the Month. He went 5–0 with a 1.86 ERA in the month. On September 12, Lee won his 22nd game, making his record 22–2 on the season. This marked the first time a pitcher had gone 20 wins over .500 since Bob Welch in 1990. Overall to end the year, Lee went 22–3 with a 2.54 ERAand 170 strikeouts. He started 31 games, completed 4, and had 2 shutouts. He pitched a total of 223⅓innings. Lee ended the season as the American League champion for both wins and ERA.

Lee's 2008 winning percentage of 88% was the twelfth best of all time, and the fourth best by a pitcher starting a minimum of 30 games, Behind only Randy Johnson, Ron Guidry, and Lefty Grove (all also left-handers). Lee's winning percentage is the second best in Indians history, behind Johnny Allen's 93.8% (15 wins, 1 loss, in 24 games) in 1937.

Lee earned several awards following his 2008 season. These included the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award, the Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year, The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award, The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award, and the Warren Spahn Award for best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. On November 13, 2008, Lee was awarded the AL Cy Young Award. This made Lee the second straight Indian (and third overall) to win the award, following former teammate CC Sabathia, who won it in 2007.

2009 season:

On June 14, 2009, Lee took a no-hitter into the 8th inning vs. St. Louis, striking out 6 and walking 2. Lee allowed 3 hits in a complete-game shutout, improving his record to 4–6 and his ERA to 2.88.

Philadelphia Phillies (2009):
On July 29 (just before the July 31 trading deadline), the Indians traded Lee—along with outfielder Ben Francisco—to the Philadelphia Phillies, in exchange for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, andJason Knapp.
In his first career game with the Philadelphia Phillies, Lee pitched a complete game in a 5–1 victory. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and had two hits as a batter, including his first career double and a run scored. Through his first five games with the Phillies, Lee amassed a 5–0 record, 39 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched, and a 0.68 ERA.

Cliff Lee

2009 World Series:
Charlie Manuel named Lee his Game 1 starter for the World Series after he posted a 2–0 record in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Lee would be pitching against his former Indians teammate C.C. Sabathia.
Lee pitched a complete game in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series, winning the game 6–1 over the New York Yankees. He allowed no earned runs during this outing. He was the first pitcher since Deacon Phillippe in Game 1 of the 1903 World Series to pitch a complete game in the World Series with 10 or more strikeouts and no walks. Because Phillippe allowed two earned runs in his start, Lee was the first to do so without allowing an earned run. In his next start (Game 5), Lee earned another victory, allowing five runs and three walks while striking out three in seven innings; the Phillies won, 8–6. The New York Yankees, however, went on to win their 27th World Series title.

Cliff Lee

Super Rugby

Super Rugby:

Super Rugby (rendered in the current competition logo as "SupeRugby", also colloquially referred to as "Super 15") is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Building off various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, Super Rugby officially started in 1996 with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The competition was known as Super 12 through to the end of the 2005 season; the name was changed to Super 14 with the addition of two teams for the 2006 season; with expansion to 15 teams in the three countries for the 2011 season, the competition has been rebranded as Super Rugby (no number included).

By 2006, matches were being broadcast in 41 countries.

Competition format and sponsorship

Format

Rugby field

Prior to 2011, Super Rugby was a round-robin competition where each team plays with every other team once; a team has six or seven home games, and six or seven away games each. The winner gets four competition points, and if it is a draw two points are awarded to each team. Super Rugby uses the Rugby union bonus points system, where scoring four or more tries or losing by less than seven points results in an extra competition point. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then play semifinals – the first placed team hosts the fourth placed team, and the second placed team hosts the third placed team. The two winners then play the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed. There were 91 regular season games in total. Games are held over 14 weekends with each team receiving one bye.

From 2011 the format changed, with each country forming their own conferences. Each team within a conference plays each other home and away. They then play four out of five teams from the other pools once. The Super Rugby finals also changed featuring six teams, the top teams in each conference plus the three next teams with the highest total number of points. The top two ranked teams will receive a bye at the start of the finals.

SANZAR

SANZAR is a joint union between the South African, New Zealand and Australian rugby Unions, that oversees the Super Rugby competitions and Tri Nations. There have been rumours that South Africa may one day leave Super Rugby and the Tri Nations to join the Six Nations in theNorthern Hemisphere because South Africa's time zone would suit the move. The Tri Nations takes place after the Super Rugby season and involves the South Africa, Australia and New Zealand national teams.

Logo

During the last season of the Super 12, Coast Design of Sydney was commissioned to design a new logo for the Super 14. The Super 14 logo broke away from the traditional shield formats, common to many sporting codes, and used Roman numerals (XIV), which is unique for sport in the region. The game's dynamism and speed are suggested by the orbiting football which has three distinct stitches, a subtle reference to the three countries of the tournament.

The new Super Rugby logo dispenses with numbers, featuring a large blue "S" with a white rugby ball in the centre and "SupeRugbY" below the "S". The three stitches of the previous ball are retained.

Before the expansion to the Super 14, the Super 12 used a logo in the shape of a shield, which had the sponsors name at the top, and then the words "Rugby" and "Super 12". The lower half of the logo used three different coloured stripes, green, black and gold, the respective colours of the national teams of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Naming rights:
The naming rights for the competition are different in the three countries:
In New Zealand, Investec Bank has naming rights starting with the 2011 season, and the competition is referred to as Investec Super Rugby. During the Super 14 era, sporting goods retailer Rebel Sport had naming rights and the Super 14 competition was referred to as the Rebel Sport Super 14. Previously Ubix and then Telecom New Zealand (TNZ). Telecom used its ISP brand Xtra as the label in their last year of holding naming rights.
In Australia, global forex broker FxPro has naming rights for four years starting from the 2012 season, and the competition is referred to as FxPro Super Rugby.  In the first season of Super Rugby, Australia had no naming rights partner. Previous to that, Investec acquired naming rights in the middle of the Super 14 era from Lion Nathan, who had named the competition the Tooheys New Super 14, after its Tooheys New beer brand. Vodafone has also held naming rights in Australia.
In South Africa, telecommunications carrier Vodacom has naming rights, and the expanded competition is referred to as Vodacom Super Rugby.

History

Pre SANZAR
Super 6
Super 10 Champions 1993 - 1995SeasonChampionsCity/Area
1993 Lions Johannesburg
1994 Reds Brisbane
1995 Reds Brisbane

Before 1996, regular competitive rugby union had taken shape in a number of southern hemisphere competitions, the earliest of which was the South Pacific Championship, which was launched in 1986. The original competition consisted of three teams from New Zealand; Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington along with two Australian teams; Queensland and New South Wales, and Fiji. The competition was relaunched as the Super Six in 1992.
Super 10
Main article: Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition)

In 1993, the Super 10 replaced the South Pacific Championship and Super Six tournaments. With South Africa being readmitted into international sport following the dismantling of apartheid, there was an opportunity to launch an expanded competition which would also feature South Africa's top provincial teams. The inaugural competition featured the following teams: Waikato, Auckland, Otago and North Harbour (New Zealand); Natal, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal (South Africa); Queensland and New South Wales (Australia), Western Samoa (Pacific Nations representative). The Super 10 was won by Transvaal (South Africa) in 1993, and by Queensland (Australia) in 1994 and 1995.

SANZAR era

Super 12

The official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition. Following the success of the 1995 World Cup Australia, New Zealand and South Africa rugby boards formed SANZAR (South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) to administer an annual 12-team provincial/franchise based competition pitting regional teams from the three nations against each other. In addition it was decided to hold an annual Tri-Nations Test Series between the three countries. A significant reason for the development of the Super 12 was the threat to rugby union from rival rugby code rugby league: part of the business model for the Foxtel pay TV network in Australia was to attract subscribers by offering an exclusive product (such as rugby union) which could not be seen on free-to-air broadcast television. By setting up the Super 12, the Unions had a product that was in demand from viewers, enabling them to sell a 10 year contract for exclusive television rights to News Corp for US$ 555 million, giving them both coverage and financial support to kickstart the new competition.

With significant sponsorship, and rugby turning a professional sport in 1995, the Super 12 competition successfully kicked off in 1996 with five New Zealand franchises, four South African provinces and three domestic Australian teams competing. New Zealand's dominance of the competition began in the first year when the Auckland Blues won the inaugural competition defeating South African side the Natal Sharks 45 – 21 in a home final. The Blues would repeat the success of 1996 beating Australian side the ACT Brumbies 23 – 7 in the 1997 final.

The Blues then reached their third successive final in 1998 but went down to fellow countrymen the Canterbury Crusaders 13 – 20. This would mark the beginning of the Crusaders' three-year dominance as they went on to win the 1999 and 2000 finals over the Otago Highlanders andACT Brumbies respectively. The 2001 season was the first in which no New Zealand franchise reached the final, being contested between theACT Brumbies and Natal Sharks with the Brumbies convincing winners, with a 36 – 6 scoreline.

The Crusaders won their 4th final in 2002 winning all 11 matches and missed out on their 5th in 2003 with a four-point loss to fellow countrymen the Blues. In 2004 the Brumbies took revenge on their 2000 final loss to the Crusaders defeating them 47 – 38 in front of a home crowd. The Crusaders would bounce back to win the 2005 final 35 – 25 against the Australian side the New South Wales Waratahs who reached their first ever final. This was the last year of the 12 team format.

From the early 2000s Australia had started to push for the inclusion of a fourth Australian team, and South Africa for another team from its country. There was also speculation of including a team from the South Pacific Island nations, such as Fiji; or a combined Pacific Islandersteam from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Argentina was also pushing for inclusion in the Super 12. In the early 2000s the provincial names from the New Zealand franchises were dropped. So the Canterbury Crusaders become the simply The Crusaders. Also South Africa followed the New Zealand franchise model, where previously South African participation was decided by the previous year's Currie Cup placings.

Rugby Field

Super 14
In September 2004, SANZAR began negotiations for a new television deal to take effect in 2006. That December, SANZAR announced that a new TV deal had been signed, with News Corporation winning the rights for the UK, Australia and New Zealand and Supersport winning rights for South Africa. The contract is worth USD 323 million over five years, which is a 16% annual increase compared to the previous deal. It covers international fixtures as well as the Super 14. SANZAR remained free to negotiate separate deals for other markets, such as France,Japan and the Americas.

The TriNations is the "cash cow" for the SANZAR partners as it provides nearly 60 per cent of the money from News Ltd. The Super 14 made up about 30 per cent of the deal.

Under the new deal, Australia and South Africa each got one extra team in the competition, and a third round of fixtures was added to the Tri Nations Series. The proposal also included the possibility of splitting the updated Super 14 into two seven-team divisions, but it was decided to keep the competition in its traditional single-table format. However, Argentina and the Pacific Islands remain shut out of the competition under this proposal.

Derek Jeter

It was confirmed in 2005 that the new Australian team in the competition would be based in Perth and was named the Western Force. The addition of the new South African team led to considerable controversy, including government involvement. Finally, the five teams for 2006 were confirmed to be the country's existing four teams, plus the Central Cheetahs, which draws its players from the Free State and Northern Cape Provinces.

The two new teams didn't perform all that well, the South African franchise the Cheetahs did the better of the two teams finishing 10th on the ladder notching up 5 season wins. The Australian franchise the Western Force only managed one victory and ended winning the wooden spoon as last placed 14th. The highlight for the Force was a 23-all draw against eventual champions the Crusaders, who defeated first-time finalists the Hurricanes 19 – 12.

Super Rugby

For the 2007 season, 22 All Blacks missed the competition's first seven rounds as part of an All Black "conditioning programme". The conditioning programme was a part of the All Blacks' 2007 Rugby World Cup preparations, and every New Zealand franchise was without players for the first seven rounds.At the end of the regular season, for the first time since 1998, no Australian franchise had made the semi-finals. Although the Brumbies were strong and the Western Force experienced vast improvement it was a poor season for theQueensland Reds and Waratahs who finished last and second last respectively. Also, it was known before the final that the competition would be won for the first time ever by a South African team, as the Sharks and Bulls, who finished 1–2 on the season ladder, both won their respective semifinals. The final, held in Durban, saw the visiting Bulls win 20–19.

Super Rugby

Super Rugby:
Expansion to 15 teams
On May 19, 2009, following prolonged negotiations, SANZAR unveiled its model for an expanded season to start in 2011. This model was due to be presented to current broadcast rights holder News Corporation for approval before the end of June 2009. The new structure is based around the original ARU proposal for three national conferences, whereby each side would have played the other four teams from their own country twice and all of the other teams once, before a six team finals series. However, there were two major compromises that – while somewhat complicating the model – were designed to accommodate the wishes of all three countries. Firstly, each team would only play four of the five teams in each of the other two national conferences, meaning sixteen regular season games for each team. This 'trimming' of the model would allow for a late February start (somewhat placating the ARU and NZRU who wanted a March start), a three week gap for the June test matches (favoured by the SARU) and an early August finish so as not to overlap new streamlined versions of New Zealand and South Africa's domestic competitions. Secondly, the three conference winners and the three best performed of the remaining teams would qualify for a three week finals series, with seedings deciding the match-ups. This system would be a hybrid of the conference-based qualification system favoured by the SARU and the 'top six' model favoured by the ARU and NZRU.

Rugby field

On 11 November 2009, SANZAR announced Melbourne will play in the expanded "Super 15" competition in 2011 after the Australian start-up franchise was given the nod ahead of South Africa's Southern Kings. The licence was awarded to Victoria, Australia, and the team is named the Melbourne Rebels. Brian Waldron, former CEO of the NRL club the Melbourne Storm, was confirmed as the new CEO of the Rebels on 11 January 2010, but resigned on 23 April after a salary cap breach was uncovered at the Storm.

Possible expansion to 16

According to a Sport24 report, SANZAR has cleared the path for the Southern Kings team to join Super Rugby in an expanded 16-team format beginning in 2013. Final details of the plan are still being worked out, but the team will join the South African conference and represent the Eastern Cape province. Due to the additional side and increase in fixtures, the South African conference may begin play a few weeks ahead of its Australian and New Zealand counterparts.

Super 14- Rugby

Ricky Hatton

Ricky Hatton

Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, (born 6 October 1978, in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England), is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter.

He is the former WBA (Super), IBF, The Ring, & British light welterweight champion, and WBAwelterweight champion.

After losing his last fight to Manny Pacquiao, Ricky had put his career on a long hiatus, with rumours of a comeback circulating the media since. However, on 7 July 2011, Hatton announced his retirement from boxing.

Ricky Hatton

Biography





Born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, Hatton was raised on the Hattersley council estate inHyde, Greater Manchester and trained at the Sale West ABC on the Racecourse Estate. He was educated at Hattersley High School.


Both his grandfather and father played for Rochdale, and Ricky had a trial for the youth team. But Hatton found a local boxing club in Hyde, which he still trains at, and found he enjoyed the sport.


Hatton's entrance music is the Manchester City club song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra." Aged 14, Hatton was taken by his uncles Ged and Paul to Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to watch the second fight between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.

Ricky Hatton

Hatton joined the family carpet business on leaving school, but after he cut four of his fingers with a Stanley knife, his father made him a salesman to prevent him from losing his fingers.

Boxing career:

Hatton's debut fight was on 10 September 1997 against Colin McAuley in Widnes at Kingsway Leisure Centre (he won by a TKO in first round), while in his second fight Hatton boxed atMadison Square Garden in New York.

Ricky Hatton boxing

Fight against Kostya Tszyu:

On 5 June 2005, Hatton defeated Kostya Tszyu, then widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world by a technical knockout after the Australian failed to answer the bell for the 12th round. Hatton was a heavy underdog for this fight, and the victory announced his entry to the upper echelons of the world boxing scene. Prior to the fight the majority of boxing critics had given Hatton little or no chance and this victory was regarded as one of the best victories by an English boxer in the last 20 years. On 26 November 2005, Hatton won the WBA title when he defeated Carlos Maussa in the ninth round of a unification bout. In December, Hatton was named the 2005 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year.

Hatton relinquished his IBF belt on 29 March 2006 after refusing to fulfil a mandatory defence against number one contender Naoufel Ben Rabah, because he intended to move up to the welterweight class. Hatton signed a three fight contract with Dennis Hobson's fight academy after splitting from long time promoter Frank Warren. The three fights would take place in the United States.
Moving to Welterweight

Hatton moved up a division to meet American Luis Collazo for the WBA Welterweight crown which took place on 13 May 2006. Hatton won the WBA crown from Collazo but struggled with Collazo's slick south-paw style and the extra weight. Hatton started well, knocking Collazo down in the very first few seconds of the first round, but it turned out to be one of the toughest fights of his career, with some boxing analysts believing Collazo won the fight, although many also thought Hatton had done enough early on in the fight to secure victory, with the knock down a pivotal point in the fight.

Ricky Hatton

Back to Light WelterweightHatton's first fight back at Light Welterweight was against the current IBF Light Welterweight Champion Juan Urango on 20 January 2007 inLas Vegas, Nevada. Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson stated that the impetus for moving back down was to set up a fight with José Luis Castillo, a fighter who nearly beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. at Lightweight in 2002.
Hatton ended up winning a 12 round unanimous decision against Urango, to re-capture the IBF light welterweight titles. He won all but one round on all three judges' scorecards. Castillo, who was on the undercard, also won (via split decision), setting up their long-awaited fight.

Hatton was forced to relinquish his IBF title again on 10 February, to be able to fight Castillo. The fight was held on 23 June 2007, at theThomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. In round four, Hatton landed a "perfect" left hook to the liver, which put Castillo to the canvas. Ricky later claimed that 4 of Castillo's ribs were broken with this one punch. Unable to stand up, Castillo was counted out for the first time in his career.
Hatton vs. Mayweather Jr.


Hatton agreed to terms on 27 July for a 8 December 2007 welterweight fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr which was considered to be the biggest welterweight fight since the 1999 clash between Oscar De La Hoya and Puerto Rican legend Felix 'Tito' Trinidad. The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was announced as the venue on 17 August 2007. The fight was agreed to less than three months after Mayweather had said he planned to retire following a victory over Oscar De La Hoya.

Hatton was able to bring the fight to Mayweather in the early rounds. In the 1st round Hatton caught Mayweather with a left jab which knocked Mayweather off balance. His constant pressure appeared to make Mayweather uncomfortable at first. In the third round, Mayweather landed a right that cut Hatton above the right eye. In round six, referee Joe Cortez took a point away from Hatton after he appeared to hit Mayweather on the back of the head while Mayweather was rested between the ropes. However, the punch was revealed to have hit the rope rather than Mayweather's head but Hatton was warned for punching behind the head on numerous occasions before the deduction. Hatton became angry at the referee's decision to deduct a point from him and turned his back on him in frustration. Hatton would later claim that he had become angry by the referee and that had caused him to lose his calm and contributed to his downfall. Hatton was able to hold his own, until round eight, when Mayweather began to adapt to Hatton and started counterattacking. Mayweather knocked Hatton to the mat in Round 10. Hatton got up, but Mayweather quickly resumed his attack, resulting in Joe Cortez putting a stop to the fight, and Hatton's corner threw in the towel. Mayweather commented post-match that "Ricky Hatton is one tough fighter. He is still a champion in my eyes and I'd love to see him fight again. "Ricky Hatton is probably one of toughest competitors I've faced. I hit him with some big ones but he kept coming and I can see why they call him the 'Hitman'." The fight received large amounts of publicity, with both fighters promoting the fight heavily.

Ricky Hatton

Hatton vs. Lazcano:
On 24 May 2008, Hatton beat Mexican Juan Lazcano by unanimous decision with scores of 120-110, 120-108 and 118-110, in front of his home crowd of 55,000 (a post-World War II record for a boxing match in Britain), at City of Manchester Stadium to retain The Ring Magazine and IBO light welterweight titles. Hatton did well when he boxed and controlled the range, utilizing his jab and dominating a lot of the early exchanges. In round eight, Hatton absorbed a left hook to the chin that wobbled him, and in round ten, Hatton was hurt again by a left hook. Despite that, Hatton outworked Lazcano to win at least ten of the rounds.

Ricky Hatton

Hatton vs. Malignaggi:
Ricky Hatton fought Paulie Malignaggi of the United States at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas on 22 November for Hatton's The Ring light welterweight title. He was trained for the fight by Floyd Mayweather Sr. Hatton dominated for all of the fight and defeated Malignaggi by 11th-round TKO when Malignaggi's trainer, Buddy McGirt, threw in the towel 48 seconds into the round.
Hatton vs. Pacquiao
Hatton fought Manny Pacquiao on 2 May 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was at light welterweight which was the sixth weight category Pacquiao has fought at, and is the weight at which Hatton was previously undefeated. Pacquiao defeated Hatton in the second round by a KO victory, after knocking Hatton down twice in the first round.

Following the loss to Pacquiao, Hatton has put his career on a long hiatus. After more than a year out of action, in a June 2010 interview withGulfnews.com, the British boxer seemed uninterested in coming to the ring again. He stated: "Boxing started off as a habit and it ended up giving me some money and making me a little bit of a better person. But I don't think I will have a fight again. But you can never say never as I have not announced officially that I won't be boxing. At the moment I don't have any fire in the belly for a fight or to get myself to a gym." However, Hatton also added: "But it has been only 13 months and I am only 31, so never count me out."

Ricky Hatton

Hatton has also voiced suspicion that Manny Pacquiao may be using performance enhancing drugs (PED's). The British boxer said he should have made the same blood testing demand as Floyd Mayweather, whose fight against the Filipino fighter fell through in early 2010.
Hatton vs. Morales talks

It was confirmed on 20 April 2011 that there has been some early stage talks between Hatton and Erik Morales. Although the fight would be subject to Hatton regaining his boxing licence after it was revoked in September 2010.

Outside the ring:

Hatton is a passionate supporter of Manchester City, with strong links to the club via his father and grandfather, who are both former players. Ricky also once had a trial at City for the youth team. His entrance music is the club's song "Blue Moon" as performed by the band "Supra". Good friend Wayne Rooney, who plays for arch rivals Manchester United, has been with Hatton in his dressing room before a bout and carried one of his belts to the ring. Ricky's best friend is Lee Rawsthorne, who regularly carries Ricky's belt into the ring. Hatton is also good friends with another footballer, Joey Barton, a former Manchester City player. Ricky also follows the non-league football club Hyde Unitedand often attends home matches.[citation needed] In an appearance on Al Murray's Happy Hour he admitted that if he could hit one celebrity, it would be Cristiano Ronaldo who at the time played for Manchester United.

Regarding his nickname, Ricky said, "I've always been a fan of Tommy Hearns, and everybody associates that that's where I got it from, but everybody's a Tommy Hearns fan. I got the nickname the first day I walked in the gym. I was 10 years old and put a pair of gloves on and started walloping the bag, and my amateur coach said, "Look at him, look how evil he is. He's a little Hitman."

Hatton is sometimes referred to by boxing fans as "Ricky Fatton" because he's been known to allow himself to weigh as much as 175 to 180 pounds (35 to 40 pounds over his fight weight) when he's not in training for a fight. Ever since Hatton turned professional, he has always opted to eat a full English breakfast before fights - his favourite place in Hyde is The Butty Box in Mottram Road, where he was interviewed by Gaby Logan for Inside Sport; and he is known to drink Guinness on Thursday night when he plays darts for the New Inn. Hatton defends his diet, citing that he plans to retire within the next four major bouts - experts have used his ill-balanced diet, akin to Jake LaMotta's ballooning up between fights, to explain his poor performances in recent fights, and nature to tire towards the end of fights. Hatton also appeared on ITV1's daytime show Loose Women in August 2007, stating that the reason why he puts on weight between fights is because "I have a lot on my plate at the moment".

Hatton appeared on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show in March 2007. When the host, Ross, placed some pads on his hands and gave Hatton gloves to hit them with, he knocked a pad clean off Ross's hand with a powerful left hook. Interviewed on ITV1's Parkinson on 13 October 2007, at the beginning of the interview, Hatton handed Michael Parkinson a custom made pair of boxing shorts with 'Mike' and 'Parky' written on them, the shorts had the Barnsley emblem on them and were coloured red and blue, Barnsley Football Club's colours, because Parkinson supports Barnsley. While talking about Floyd Mayweather's arrogance, Hatton said "if there was such a thing as re-incarnation, Floyd would come back as himself".

Hatton received the award of MBE for services to sport in the 2007 New Year's Honours List.

In 2008 Hatton started hosting his own live chat show called Ricky Speaks, on Nuts TV.

His father, Ray Hatton said, "We had a conversation with a third party asking whether, if we were approached by the Mayweather team, would a possible rematch be on the cards." Ray also said, "Really at the moment we're looking at Manny Pacquiao. It's very nice for Ricky to still be in such a big league."

Although negotiations stalled at some points, Hatton fought the number one pound-for-pound fighter Manny Pacquiao on 2 May 2009. Hatton hosted the 9 November edition of WWE Raw defeating Chavo Guerrero in a match.

On 13 September 2010, Hatton was admitted to a rehabilitation facility, The Priory in Roehampton, London, UK, for substance abuse to tackle a drink and depression problem. He was caught on camera apparently snorting class A drugs, lines of cocaine in a Manchester hotel room. Doctors said they were more worried about his depression and alcohol abuse than drug use. Hatton sought medical help two weeks prior, after news emerged about a night out where he drank 11 pints of Guinness, Vodka and Sambucca during the night out with Emma Bowe, 29, the Irish national senior women’s boxing champion. It is now uncertain if he will return to the ring in the future, or will retire as he has already hinted.
Family

Hatton's mother, Carol, still works on the carpet stall on Glossop Market in the Peak District. His father Ray is his manager, and also manages his brother and fellow boxer Matthew Hatton. Ricky and his girlfriend Jennifer Dooley live in his house, the "Heartbreak Hotel" named after his favourite artist Elvis, in Hyde.

Hatton has a son, Campbell, conceived after a short reconciliation with ex-girlfriend, Claire. Long before he was a big-money earner, Hatton set up a trust fund to make sure his son was always provided for, and sees him every day.

On 12 September 2010, the Sunday tabloid News of the World published a front-page story alleging Hatton has been a regular cocaine user with accompanying pictures showing the boxer apparently using the drug. Hatton is said to be "devastated" following the story.
Charity

Hatton is a supporter of The Village News, Haughton Green's local children's newspaper made by children in aid of charity. Hatton supported them at a charity auction by appearing and signing boxing gloves, with the evening raising £1,600. Ricky was also recently a special guest-speaker for The Toby Henderson Trust at a sportsmans' dinner at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel. Thanks to Ricky's help via donations and a highly successful auction, a lot of money was raised for the Centre for First Inistuitives in Crosby Liverpool.

Ricky Hatton

Fans:
Hatton has attracted many fans who are very vocal in their support during fights. The main chant is a modified version of the popularChristmas song "Winter Wonderland", with the lyrics changed to promote Hatton.

There's only one Ricky Hatton,
One Ricky Hatton,
Walking along,
Singing this song,
Walking in a Hatton wonderland.

Hatton fans also like to taunt the opponent by singing "Who are ya?", a popular English football chant.

Along with Floyd Mayweather, Hatton is referenced by New York rapper GZA on the track "Paper Plates" from his 2008 album Pro Tools.

Ricky Hatton

Anderson silva

Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation; born April 14, 1975) is aBrazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history. UFC president Dana White has proclaimed Silva as the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.[undue weight?]

Silva is ranked as the number one Middleweight in the world by multiple publications, and is the consensus #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com and other publications. Silva is also the last Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and a former Shooto Middleweight Champion. Besides the UFC and Cage Rage, Silva has fought for a number of other MMA promotions including the Pride Fighting Championships, Shooto and Rumble on the Rock.

Anderson Silva

Biography

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, likewise Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 14, training Tae kwon do and earning a black belt by the age of 18. He is also a black belt in Judo and a yellow rope inCapoeira.

Once a member of the Chute Boxe Academy, Silva left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined new team Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers.
Mixed martial arts career

Anderson Silva

Early career

Silva initially fought in his native Brazil in the welterweight category. According to Sherdog.com, Silva made his professional debut in 1997 with a pair of wins. Silva recorded his first loss in 2000 to Luiz Azeredo by decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO. After winning his first match in Japan he was put up against Shooto champion Hayato Sakuraion August 26, 2001. Silva beat Sakurai by unanimous decision after three rounds and became the new Shooto Middleweight Champion (at 167 lb) and the first man to defeat Sakurai who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.
Pride Fighting Championships

In 2002, Silva began fighting in Pride. In his first fight with the promotion, he stopped Alex Stiebling with a cut resulting from a high kick. In his next match, he won via decision against the "Diet Butcher" Alexander Otsuka. At Pride 25, Silva faced former UFCwelterweight champion Carlos Newton. Newton tried to shoot in on Silva, but was hit with a flying knee. Newton collapsed and Silva finished the fight with strikes, winning by technical knockout.

Anderson Silva

 At Pride 26, Silva faced Daiju Takase. Considering his record at the time – with only four wins to seven losses – Takase was a big underdog. Surprisingly, after dominating most of the fight with takedowns, top position, and effective ground and pound, Takase submitted Silva with a triangle choke late in the first round. After his loss to Takase, Silva fought in other promotions around the world. On June 27, 2004, Silva fought Jeremy Horn and earned a decision victory.

Cage Rage
Three months later, Silva made his debut in the Cage Rage promotion in England. At Cage Rage 8 Silva fought and defeated noted striker Lee Murray by decision. That year, Silva returned to Pride on December 31 to face Ryo Chonan. Silva was in control with a take down and body triangle in the first round. Chonan was able to counter Silva's knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns. Chonan was perceived by some to be winning up until the finish, as during the third round, Bas Rutten, who was commentating alongside Mauro Ranallo, stated that he believed Anderson must obtain a knockout or strong finish or he would lose the fight. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit. After the loss to Chonan, Silva continued fighting in the Cage Rage promotion, as well as other promotions around the world. Silva defended his Cage Rage title against Curtis Stout.

Anderson Silva

Although he was slated to fight Matt Lindland at Cage Rage 16, Lindland's decision to fight Mike Van Arsdale at Raze Fight Night put an end to the highly-anticipated match up. Instead, Silva defended his championship against Tony Fryklund, winning the fight with a reverse elbow, knocking out Fryklund early in the first round.

Anderson and belfort

Silva vs. Okami

Silva competed in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he fought Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Although he was labeled as the favorite to win the tournament, Silva lost his fight when he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position. Okami's knees were on the ground at the time, making the attack an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent. Silva later said that the rule had not been properly explained to him before the bout. "When I fought Okami the rules really weren't explained to me properly in the event I was fighting in," said Silva. "You could kick a downed opponent to the groin or to the head when your back's on the ground. So the rules weren’t explained to me properly." While Okami was given the opportunity to recover and continue fighting, Okami opted for the disqualification win. Silva responded by saying he "felt it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning," and that "people that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn't."
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Although speculation ran rampant about where Silva would sign next, the UFC announced in late April 2006 that they had signed him to a multi-fight contract. It was not long before the UFC started promoting Silva, releasing an interview segment almost immediately after announcing his arrival.
Silva made his debut at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006. His opponent was The Ultimate Fighter 1 contestant Chris Leben who had gone undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive victories. Leben, confident of victory, had predicted he would KO Silva in a pre-fight interview. A relatively unknown fighter in the United States, Silva made an emphatic debut when he knocked out Leben with a flurry of pinpoint strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. Silva's striking accuracy was 100%.

Winning the title:

Anderson Silva

In response to the victory, the UFC quickly tallied a poll on their main page, asking viewers to select Silva's next opponent; the majority of voters selected the UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich Franklin.

Silva fought Franklin at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006, and defeated him by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 in the first round. Silva hit Franklin with knees to the body from the Muay Thai-clinch, then badly broke Franklin's nose with a knee to the face. Unable to strike back, Franklin dodged the last of Silva's strikes before falling to the ground, where referee "Big" John McCarthy ended the fight. Silva was then crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida.
Title defenses and light heavyweight bouts

On February 3, 2007 at UFC 67, Silva was scheduled to fight The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Travis Lutter in what would be his first title defense since defeating Rich Franklin in October 2006. However, Lutter failed to make the 185 pounds (84 kg) weight limit and the match was changed to a non-title bout. Many felt that Lutter's best chance to win was to take the fight to the ground, with Lutter being an accomplished Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt. Silva won via submission with combination of a triangle choke and elbow strikes in the second round.
In his next fight at UFC 73 on July 7, 2007, Silva successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt, winning by TKO at 4:50 in the first round.
Three months later, on October 20, 2007 at UFC 77, Silva fought a title defense rematch against Rich Franklin, in Franklin's hometown ofCincinnati, Ohio at the U.S. Bank Arena. Silva defended his belt by defeating Franklin via TKO in the 2nd round.

On March 1, 2008 at UFC 82 Silva fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, in a title unification bout (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Again, many thought that Henderson had the edge on the ground, having competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Silva defended his title by defeating Henderson via rear naked choke in the 2nd round.

At UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008, Silva made his debut at Light Heavyweight (205 lb (93 kg)) in a bout against James Irvin. Silva won via KO due to strikes in 1:01 of the first round after catching Irvin's attempted leg kick with his left arm and delivering a straight right that dropped Irvin to the mat, Silva then finished a prone Irvin with a blitz of punches to the head.
Silva's next fight was on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90 in Rosemont, Illinois, Silva defended his Middleweight title against Patrick Côté. In the third round, Côté landed awkwardly on his right leg while throwing a kick and fell to the mat grasping his right knee in pain. Referee Herb Dean declared the fight over when Côté could not continue, ruling the bout a TKO victory for Silva. Côté, however, became the first of Silva's UFC opponents to make it past the 2nd round.
After his fight with Côté, Silva was criticized for seemingly avoiding contact during the bout. Dana White criticized Silva, saying: "I didn't understand Silva's tactics... It wasn't the Anderson Silva I've been watching the last two years." Silva said in the post-fight news conference:
"There are many people saying I was disrespecting Cote, but this is absolutely not true. My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn’t waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault."

On April 18, 2009 at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada, Anderson Silva defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Thales Leites by Unanimous Decision, and recorded his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. Thales Leites is credited with being the first man in UFC history to take Silva through 5 rounds to a judges' decision. The crowd repeatedly booed his lackluster performance, bored expression, and frustrated attempts to goad his opponent into fighting, and in the 4th and 5th rounds took to dancing, lowering his guard and slapping his opponent without retaliation. Following the fight, Dana White has stated that he was "embarrassed" by Silva's performance, but still said that he believes him to be "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world".

At UFC 101 which took place on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Silva again fought at 205 pounds against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was knocked down three times in the first round. The bout earned Silva Beatdown of the Year honors from Sherdog. The bout shared those honors with the second bout between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Both fighters were awarded $60,000 as Fight of the Night bonuses and Silva received $60,000 in bonus money for Knockout of the Night.

After defeating Griffin, a Yahoo! Sports reporter allegedly claimed that Silva's manager, Ed Soares, had confirmed that Silva would abandon his Middleweight belt to fight at Light Heavyweight. However, Soares and a UFC spokesperson confirmed that a conversation agreeing Silva would permanently move up to Light Heavyweight never took place. Silva did not relinquish his title to fight exclusively at Light Heavyweight. Soares stated his attorney plans to speak to Yahoo! Sports about the matter.
Silva was expected to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship against Vitor Belfort on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108. However, Ed Soares announced that the bout would not take place as Silva would not be fully recovered from surgery. Silva was then set to face Belfort on February 6, 2010 at UFC 109. The fight, however, was dependent on Silva's healing, which he described as "not going as planned." The fight was canceled because of Silva's slow recovery. Silva was once again scheduled to face Belfort on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112. The fight was later canceled again due to an injury to Belfort. Demian Maia was selected to fill the spot and take on Silva for the belt.

In the first two rounds fighting Maia, Silva appeared to mock his opponent while employing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change. He looked to Maia to be the aggressor while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva for his conduct. The crowd began to side with Maia, who was the only fighter attempting to engage. After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Silva was widely criticized for his performance. Dana White said it was the most embarrassed he had ever been since becoming UFC president. Midway through the fourth round, White walked away from the fight and gave the championship belt to Silva's manager, Ed Soares. White was so annoyed that he declined to personally place the belt around Silva's waist, claiming it was the first time he had done so after a title match. It was also claimed that Silva verbally taunted Maia saying "Come on, hit me in the face playboy."

In the immediate post-fight interview, Silva apologized and said that he wasn't himself and that he would need to go back and reevaluate the humility that got him to where he is. In the post-fight interview, Silva made multiple references about how Demian insulted him before the bout.

On August 7, 2010, Silva faced Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 117. In the first round, Sonnen stunned Silva with a punch before taking him down and dominating from the top position, landing multiple blows. The following three rounds played out in a similar fashion, going to the ground early with Sonnen dominating from inside Silva's guard. In the fifth round, Silva slipped while ducking under Sonnen's left hook and the challenger took advantage by once again establishing a top position and delivering strikes to Silva. With about two minutes left in the round, Silva was able to lock up a triangle armbar on Sonnen, forcing Sonnen to submit at 3:10 of Round 5.

Silva was hit more in the fight than in his entire career. According to CompuStrike, in his first 11 UFC fights, Silva was hit 208 times. Sonnen hit him a total of 289 times.After the bout it was revealed that Sonnen would have won a judges' decision. All three judges had Sonnen marked as the winner of all four rounds, judges Nelson Hamilton and Dan Stell had Sonnen taking Round 1 10–8, as well as Hamilton awarding the challenger another 10–8 total in Round 3.

Silva allegedly went into the fight with injured ribs and his doctor advised him not to fight. During the first round, he cracked his rib and was out until 2011 because of the injury. Following the fight the California State Athletic Commission confirmed that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PED's). Doping tests revealed Sonnen had an elevated testosterone level which fell outside of the normal range prior to his fight with Silva. Dana White announced that Sonnen would get a rematch when Silva returns. This was revoked after the issue with PEDs came to light, but Dana White had a change of heart and scheduled the rematch.

Silva faced Vitor Belfort on February 5, 2011 Belfort was expected to face Yushin Okami on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122, but was replaced by Nate Marquardt.After a "feeling out" period of about two and a half minutes in the first round, Silva and Belfort started to trade strikes. Silva landed a brutal front kick to Belfort's jaw and followed up with punches to the grounded challenger. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight at 3:25 minutes into the first round. Silva extended his record streak of title defenses to eight and his overall record to 30–4.

Anderson Silva

2011 at UFC 134. He defeated the Japanese middleweight by TKO at 2:04 of round 2, displaying fantastic head movement and pinpoint striking, comparable to his destruction over Forrest Griffin. His record then went to 31-4, avenging his DQ loss to Okami back in 2006.
Personal life

In an interview with MMA Weekly, Anderson Silva's manager stated: "Anderson would love to fight Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match up under boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are technical, too." UFC president, Dana White, later expressed that he would use his veto power to stop such a match from taking place because he does not need his fighters getting themselves injured while fighting outside of the octagon. Silva, however, has commented: "After my contract with the UFC is finished, I will set up the fight with Jones Jr. The fight has already been permitted by Jones himself." In April 2009, Jones himself confirmed he is still interested in fighting Silva: "I'm going to try and make it happen. He's saying he wants to fight me, so, OK, I'm ready. Let's brawl." Roy Jones Jr. was in attendance at UFC 101.

In an interview with Brazilian TV station SporTV in September 2008, Silva stated that he was interested in retiring within the next year. However, Anderson's manager, Ed Soares and co-manager Nicholas Gansen, responded to the talk of retirement by saying that Anderson was contractually obligated to fight six more fights (his sixth was against Vitor Belfort) and would do so before retiring. Soares further stated that Silva desires to retire when he is 35 which he turned on April 14, 2010. According to Anderson Silva's manager, Ed Soares, he is not retiring after his contract is over in 2010 and what he supposedly wants is to stay in the 185 division.

Silva has three sons and two daughters with his wife, Dayane. Silva appeared in Never Surrender in 2009.
Fighting style
Silva is an extremely well rounded fighter whose striking ability is considered to be one of the best in MMA. Silva's striking accuracy, knockout power, technically vicious Muay Thai and ability to counterstrike makes him a danger to his opponents. Silva's striking uses three major strengths: technical precision, the jab and transitions and movement. Silva switches from southpaw to orthodox with little drop-off in effectiveness. Although it has been claimed that his ground game is not as good as his stand-up, Silva has submitted notable grapplers, including Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Travis Lutter and Olympic alternate Chael Sonnen.
Silva holds several statistical records in the UFC including: Most all-time knockdowns in UFC history (15), No. 1 in significant strike accuracy (68.5%), Longest all-time UFC win streak (14), Best all-time UFC win percentage (1.000), Most title fight victories (10), Most UFC title defenses (9) and Longest reign by days (1,890).
Sponsors

Anderson Silva is marketed by 9INE, a sports marketing company co-owned by former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo. Since August 2011, Anderson has been sponsored by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, his favorite soccer team. He is also sponsored by fast food chainBurger King and sportswear and equipment supplier Nike.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Shooto
Shooto Middleweight Championship (One time)
Cage Rage Championships
Cage Rage Middleweight Championship (One time, final)
Three successful title defenses
Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC Middleweight Championship (One time, current)
Unified UFC Middleweight and Pride FC Welterweight Championship
Fight of the Night (Three times)
Knockout of the Night (Three times)
Submission of the Night (Two times)
Most consecutive title defenses (Nine)
Most successful title defenses (Nine)
Most consecutive wins in the UFC (Fourteen)
Longest UFC title reign
Cover Athlete for UFC Undisputed 3
ESPY Award
Best Fighter nomination (2009)
Sherdog
Sherdog Beatdown of the Year for 2009 win over Forrest Griffin
MMA Live
MMA Live Fight of the Year for 2010 win over Chael Sonnen
World MMA Awards
World MMA Awards Fight of the Year for 2010 win over Chael Sonnen
World MMA Awards Knockout of the Year for 2011 win over Vitor Belfort
Silva then faced Yushin Okami on August 27,