Early career

Prior to signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Silva fought almost solely in his
native country of Brazil. During his first 9 professional bouts, he attained a perfect 9–0
record, winning 7 of these bouts by KO or TKO.

[edit] UFC career

Silva made his UFC debut against James Irvin at UFC 71. During the first round, Irvin
injured his knee and was unable to continue the fight. Silva was awarded the win by TKO.
Silva's next fight was against fellow UFC newcomer Tomasz Drwal at UFC 75. Silva won
the fight by TKO due to strikes in the second round.

Following his first two wins, Silva made his televised debut as part of the main card of UFC
78 against Houston Alexander. During the bout, he quickly exposed Alexander's ground
game, which had been untested in Alexander's first two knockout victories. After reversing
position and securing the mount, Silva rained down punches until his opponent was knocked
out in the opening round.

Silva was next slated to face future UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans at UFC
84, but Evans was forced to pull out after being asked to fill in for a fight against Chuck
Liddell at UFC 88. Instead, Silva squared off against fellow countryman Antonio Mendes.
After being surprised by a head kick moments into the bout, Silva was able to take down his
opponent and secure mount position. From the dominant position, Silva pounded away with
punches and elbows until Mendes tapped out in the opening round.

Originally scheduled to face future light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 89,
Silva was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injured back suffered while training.
The fight was later rescheduled and took place at UFC 94. Machida won via KO at the end of
the opening round, ending Silva's undefeated streak.

Silva was slated to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, but Dana
White instead chose to match Griffin against Anderson Silva. He instead fought Keith Jardine
at UFC 102. Silva dropped Jardine with a short left hook then followed up with four punches
on the ground, rendering Jardine unconscious, stopping the fight at 1:35 seconds of the first
round at UFC 102.

He next fought Keith Jardine's friend and training partner Rashad Evans in the main event at
UFC 108, and lost in a unanimous decision. Evans was able to keep octagon control through
aggressive wrestling and takedowns throughout the majority of the fight. Though Silva had
great resiliency in quickly getting back to his feet, he showed visible amounts of frustration.
After being taken down numerous times through the fight, Silva attempted to entice Evans
into a stand-up brawl with taunts. Later in the round, Silva would connect with two hooks
that would drop Evans momentarily. Instead of going in to finish off the dazed Evans, Thiago
continued to taunt Rashad. This enabled Evans to recover and clinch. The judges would go on
to score the bout 29-28 in favour of Evans, resulting in Silva's second professional MMA
loss. It was confirmed, after the bout with Evans, that Silva had three herniated disks prior to
the match.

Silva was scheduled to face Tim Boetsch at UFC 117, but was forced off