This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Anderson Silva Turns 50

Gaze out across the vast expanse of mixed martial history, and not many prizefighters inspire reverence like Anderson Silva. The former Shooto, Cage Rage and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder celebrates his 50th birthday on April 14.

Silva experienced an extraordinary peak after arriving in the UFC. He debuted with a breathtaking 49-second knockout of Chris Leben on June 28, 2006, then captured the undisputed middleweight crown with a torturous stoppage of Rich Franklin at UFC 64 a little less than four months later. Silva held the 185-pound title for 2,457 days, still the longest reign by any champion in UFC history. “The Spider” holds a career record of 34-11 and was granted induction into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame alongside Jens Pulver on July 6, 2023.

Some of the others in MMA celebrating birthdays during the month of April:

APRIL 1

Vitor Belfort, 48
Justin Davis, 42
Jeremy Spoon, 40
Jerod Spoon, 40
Aaron Johnson, 39
Hiromasa Ougikubo, 38
Derek Campos, 37
Ramsey Nijem, 37
Mohammed Usman, 36
Denis Smoldarev, 35
Jin Soo Son, 32
Marcos Brigagao, 29

APRIL 2

Sylvain Potard, 45
Luiz Cane, 44
Adrian Cruz, 43
Claudio Ledesma, 42
Cole Konrad, 41
Yi Sak Kim, 39
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, 35
Stefan Vojcak, 35
Tetsuya Yamada, 35
Sharaf Davlatmurodov, 33
Kevin Natividad, 32
Benedict Ang, 29

APRIL 3

Rhadi Ferguson, 52
Chael Sonnen, 48
Kazunori Yokota, 47
Estevan Payan, 43
Travis Reddinger, 43
Sunoto Peringkat, 40
Gabriel Checco, 39
Perry Filkins, 37
William Knight, 37
Michael Lombardo, 35
Magomed Umalatov, 33
Islam Visaitov, 24

APRIL 4

Stephan Bonnar, 1977-2022
Ray Mercer, 64
Carlos Alexandre Pereira, 46
Rafael Cavalcante, 45
Ran Weathers, 43
Nate Andrews, 41
Brian Foster, 41
Isaac Villanueva, 41
Riku Shibuya, 40
Ruben Esparza, 37
Dustin Jacoby, 37
Erikas Golubovskis, 24

APRIL 5

Benji Radach, 1978-2024
James Wilks, 47
Bobbi Jo Dalziel, 39
Nicholas Musoke, 39
Claudia Zamora, 39
Darren Smith Jr., 38
Cole Smith, 36
Simon Biyong, 34
Said Nurmagomedov, 33
Alton Meeks, 31
Jianbing Yang, 31
Gilbert Urbina, 29

APRIL 6

Charlie Rader, 43
Nate Moore, 42
Marcus Brimage, 40
Alen Amedovski, 37
Geje Eustaquio, 36
Doo Ho Choi, 34
Radu Maxim, 34
Alexander Poppeck, 33
Benito Lopez, 31
John Sweeney, 30
Darragh Kelly, 27
Mario Piazzon, 27

APRIL 7

Paul Creighton, 55
Ryan Schultz, 48
David Baggett, 45
Russ Miura, 44
Batsumberel Dagvadorj, 38
Michael Page, 38
Azamat Gashimov, 35
Andre Fialho, 31
Yaozong Hu, 30
A.J. McKee, 30
Raz Bring, 29
Mariya Agapova, 28

APRIL 8

Bobby Ologun, 52
Kestutis Smirnovas, 49
Isaac Vallie-Flagg, 47
Ovince St. Preux, 42
Daniel Downes, 39
Rocky Lee, 38
Andrew Sanchez, 37
Milana Dudieva, 36
Manny Lozoya, 36
Vitor Resende, 35
Taylor Lapilus, 33
Julija Stoliarenko, 32

APRIL 9

Bernard Ackah, 53
Roman Mitichyan, 47
Kevin Engel, 45
Phil Harris, 42
Kelly Faszholz, 41
Andrew McInnes, 40
Yushi Sakura, 37
Katharina Lehner, 35
Frantz Slioa, 35
Itso Babulaidze, 32
Nate Smith, 30
Mitchell Sipe, 29

APRIL 10

Rony Sefo, 53
Magnus Cedenblad, 43
Luis Alberto Nogueira, 43
Sakae Kasuya, 42
Michal Materla, 41
Shinji Maeguchi, 40
Javier Torres, 40
James Moontasri, 37
Lewis Long, 36
Royce White, 34
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady, 30
Daiqwon Buckley, 29

APRIL 11

Gary Quan, 54
Shungo Oyama, 51
Jan Nortje, 50
Eddie Sanchez, 43
Czar Sklavos, 43
Arlene Blencowe, 42
Krasimir Mladenov, 39
Kailin Curran, 34
Sidney Outlaw, 33
Tom Aspinall, 32
Evan Elder, 28
Sanzhar Zakirov, 22

APRIL 12

Nobuhiko Takada, 63
Mikey Burnett, 51
Alida Gray, 48
Roman Savochka, 47
Gilbert Melendez, 43
Joe Wilk, 43
Robert Whiteford, 42
Brent Primus, 40
Tiago dos Santos e Silva, 38
Ricky Glenn, 36
Michal Andryszak, 33
Fernie Garcia, 33

APRIL 13

Emi Tomimatsu, 43
Ben Saunders, 42
Bilal Williams, 42
Mehdi Baghdad, 40
Yuko Oya, 38
Luke Barnatt, 37
Justine Kish, 37
Miranda Granger, 33
Kamuela Kirk, 31
Rafael Costa, 28
Long Xiao, 27
Kanata Nagai, 20

APRIL 14

Amaury Bitetti, 56
Ebenezer Fontes Braga, 56
Anderson Silva, 50
Jessica Rakoczy, 48
Anthony Hamilton, 45
Jack May, 44
Bobby Brents, 43
Jussier Formiga, 40
Sarah Frota, 38
Nad Narimani, 38
Marina Shafir, 37
Vladimir Tokov, 29

APRIL 15

Keith Hackney, 67
Enson Inoue, 58
Crafton Wallace, 53
Mike Dolce, 49
Kenichi Hattori, 47
Ricardo Romero, 47
Leonardo Guimaraes, 43
Tae Hyun Bang, 42
Magomed Saadulaev, 41
Gabrielle Holloway, 35
Carlos Mota, 30
Bibert Tumenov, 28

APRIL 16

Eldari Kurtanidze, 53
Phil Baroni, 49
Ralph Acosta, 44
Gina Carano, 43
Adam Khaliev, 41
Jason Norwood, 41
Nate Diaz, 40
Pat Audinwood, 39
Alexandre Pantoja, 35
April Osenio, 31
Islam Konchiev, 25
Luana Santos, 25

APRIL 17

Cheri Muraski, 46
Ron Keslar, 45
Benjamin Smith, 45
Kana Hyatt, 44
Martin Kampmann, 43
Tyron Woodley, 43
Siyar Bahadurzada, 41
Jumabieke Tuerxun, 39
Nick Pace, 38
Zayundin Suleymanov, 29
Usman Nurmagomedov, 27
Rashi Shinde, 25

APRIL 18

Jan Finney, 45
Ion Pascu, 43
Garrett Scott, 42
Grigory Popov, 41
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, 41
Corey Jackson, 37
Alexandr Shabliy, 32
Chibwikem Onyenegecha, 31
Artur Soloviev, 31
Yanan Wu, 29
Ivan Podrugin, 24
Eduard Bagratunyan, 22

APRIL 19

Thomas Denny, 54
Dokonjonosuke Mishima, 53
Antonio Mendes, 44
Zach Makovsky, 42
Farkhad Sharipov, 41
Bryson Hansen, 39
Kelli Gottardo, 38
Pascal Krauss, 38
Dan Ring, 37
Michal Martinek, 35
Kaleio Romero, 29
Yuki Ito, 28

APRIL 20

Dean Storey, 57
Allan Goes, 54
Sheila Bird, 49
Moise Rimbon, 48
Daiju Takase, 48
Nate Marquardt, 46
Tyson Griffin, 41
Errol Zimmerman, 39
Kyle Nelson, 34
Cory Sandhagen, 33
Jonathan Martinez, 31
Muslim Khazhmuratov, 22

APRIL 21

Kajan Johnson, 41
Eryk Anders, 38
Ronny Markes, 37
Alex Oliveira, 37
Adriano Moraes, 36
Paulo Costa, 34
Saimon Oliveira, 34
Brett Martin, 31
Meng Bo, 29
Justin Montalvo, 29
Claudio Puelles, 29
Igor da Silva, 22

APRIL 22

Mont McMullens, 52
Frank Tate, 49
Eric Schambari, 47
Travis Clark, 46
Ben Moa, 44
Andy Nguyen, 43
Alonzo Martinez, 41
Parker Porter, 40
Lena Ovchynnikova, 38
Chris Gutierrez, 34
Logan Urban, 31
Jerome Rivera, 30

APRIL 23

Josh Bryant, 45
Brandon Sayles, 44
Diego Saraiva, 43
Shanon Slack, 42
Chris Herrera, 41
Sam Stout, 41
Cass Bell, 38
Juan Manuel Puig, 36
Lisa Mauldin, 35
Ibo Aslan, 29
Khonry Gracie, 28
Dmytrii Hrytsenko, 28

APRIL 24

Marcio Cruz, 47
Achmed Labasanov, 47
Cosmo Alexandre, 43
Shoji Maruyama, 42
Alan Belcher, 41
Daniel Madrid, 41
Germaine de Randamie, 41
Nick Hein, 41
Michael Chandler, 39
Montel Jackson, 33
Jhonata Silva , 28
Gabriel Braga, 27

APRIL 25

Kazuo Misaki, 49
Alexandre Ferreira, 46
Clifford Starks, 44
LaRue Burley, 41
Paul Felder, 40
T.J. Waldburger, 37
Enrique Barzola, 36
Rakim Cleveland, 36
Leonardo Mafra Texeira, 36
Rogerio Bontorin, 33
Uros Medic, 32
Julio Cesar Neves Jr. 31

APRIL 26

David Abbott, 60
Megumi Fujii, 51
Bobby Voelker, 46
Carlos Condit, 41
Cole Miller, 41
Bartosz Fabinski, 39
Brian Houston, 38
Marlon Moraes, 37
Carlton Minus, 32
Mason Jones, 30
Cristian Quinonez, 29
Isai Ramos, 24

APRIL 27

Paul Cressaty, 54
Luke Cummo, 45
Derek Downey, 45
Steve Swanson, 45
Ricardo Abreu, 41
Sijara Eubanks, 40
Justin Wren, 38
Cameron Else, 34
Jesse Stirn, 33
Joaquin Buckley, 31
Noelle Grandjean, 29
Esteban Ribovics, 29

APRIL 28

Joe Johnson, 60
Billy Miles, 47
Brandon Foxworth, 46
Leopoldo Serao, 46
Takasuke Kume, 40
Davy Gallon, 36
Jonavin Webb, 36
Darrick Minner, 35
Justin Gonzales, 34
Kathryn Paprocki, 32
Kevem Felipe, 31
Bartosz Lesko, 29

APRIL 29

Raymond Daniels, 45
Tim Gorman, 42
Valerie Letourneau, 42
John Cofer, 41
Kyle Dietz, 39
Dustin Hazelett, 39
Marina Rodriguez, 38
Gaetano Pirrello, 33
Andrew Lazo, 31
Aiden Lee, 30
Kantemir Shibzukhov, 25
Nikita Dobryakov, 21

APRIL 30

Todd Medina, 55
Jeff Joslin, 50
Yoel Romero, 48
Charmaine Tweet, 48
Jimmy Yabo, 44
Al Iaquinta, 38
Sarah Moras, 37
Kinberly Tanaka Novaes, 34
Smealinho Rama, 33
J.P. Buys, 29
Dayane de Souza Cardoso, 29
Brady Hiestand, 26