MMA legacy: Frank Shamrock vs Anderson Silva

By popular request, I've decided to set up one of the greatest MW/LHW fighters of all time against today's best MW in the world. The Legend takes on The Spider in a battle of past vs present.


Frank Shamrock

Age: 37

Record: 23-10-2

Accomplishments: 1st ever UFC LHW champion (4 defenses), 1st Interim King of Pancrase Champion, 1st WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, 1st Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.

Notable wins: Bas Rutten, Funaki, Horn, Ortiz, Ceasar Gracie, Kevin Jackson, Inoue.



Anderson Silva

Age: 35

Record: 27-4

Accomplishments: Shooto Middleweight Champion,

Current UFC Middleweight Champion: Most successful title defenses (Seven)
Most consecutive wins in the UFC (Twelve)
Longest UFC title reign

Pride FC Welterweight Champion, Cage Rage LHW champion

Notable wins: Mach Sakurai, Carlos Newton, Horn, Murray, Leben, Franklin x2, Maurquardt, Henderson, Cote, Leities, Griffin, Maia, Sonnen.


I'm sure people have different opinions as to who is a "notable win" so I tried to put down the more successful one's. If you think some don't deserve to be on, or if I've left someone out, feel free to point that out.

Now vote away.

Anderson never won the welterweight championship in pride.

Silva for me, he holds so many records that i think in a few years time when hes retired he'll be missed much more than Frank.

When he beat Hendo he took the Pride Welterweight belt off him and unified the belts.

I'm with Axe on this one. Although I also think that Silva deserves the title of 'most frustrating fighter in the entire history of MMA'.

4-0 Silva already, I have to try and make these things closer!

Its close for me, but i reckon Anderson will be remembered more favourably when he retires. Frank is still a legend though, and for sure Hof worthy.

I reckon we should do Crocop-Randy next. That will liven things up around here.

Frank in his prime would have taken Silva down and subbed him. The under-rating of Frank Shamrock that goes on here is amazing. People seem to think that the Frank they saw against Cung Le, Nick Diaz and the like is THE Frank Shamrock. No. The Frank that was by far the best fighter in the world when he choose to retire is THE Frank Shamrock. And that Frank would have beaten Anderson.

Frank in the day was a true great without a doubt,but it's not as if he didn't lose his fair share of match ups during that time,and taking near enough 6 years out of the sport in his prime doesn't help his legacy either.

Especially when you compare him to Anderson and what he has achieved in the sport,plus Anderson's still going strong,and can still add and improve on his already great legacy in the sport.

I also think the sport has moved on along way from when frank was the man of his time,so I'd definitely choose a prime Anderson to beat a prime Shamrock in a match up.

strange one for me because i dont like anderson silva but if im being honest id say silva has a better legacy.

Anfield, remember it doesn't matter if Shamrock would have subbed Silva in 30 seconds. Doesn't show who has a better legacy.

At the moment, I think Shamrock has the better legacy as he was someone who shaped MMA and was one of the first fighters to be well versed in all aspects of the MMA game but in 10-15 years people will most likely be remembering Anderson Silva as one of the greatest ever.

Sorry Chelski, i completely forgot it wasn't a who-would-win choice. that actually makes the Silva picks a complete joke!

Frank's family helped build the sport, Frank revolutionized the training in the sport and was one of the first MMA fighters to bring it in the mainstream! He's also been a constant advocater for the sport over the last 15 years. He helped build the number 2 organization in the world and he's got MMA Academies springing up all over.

Anderson has done nothing to match that. How anyone can claim Silva's legacy even comes close to that is beyond me. Frank's legacy on the sport trumps pretty much anyone.

In terms of legacy, Frank wins this by miles and miles.

Ye I'm actually quite surprised this has been a blow out. I was expecting a lot more votes for Shamrock. The thing is Silva isn't finished yet, and I think still he has a bit to prove. Also it'll take a few years before were talking about Silva the same manner were talking about Shammy.

Silva CAN'T build a legacy like Shamrock. He's can't help build the sport from the ground up. He can't become a pioneer in the sport. He's very unlikely to change training methods and be years ahead of his time in his training. And I really don't see him helping to build a company the way Frank's helped build Strikeforce.

Shamrock obviously