Anderson Silva: natty or not?
Confirmed "The Spider" — the longest title reign in UFC history, ten defences
Short answer. Verdict: confirmed. At the peak physique on this page, Anderson Silva is 6'2" (188 cm) and 185 lbs (84 kg) at roughly 8% body fat. That works out to an FFMI of 21.4, against the ~25 mark cited as the natural ceiling.
The numbers (estimated)
| Peak physique | Middleweight fighting weight, 185 lbs |
|---|---|
| Height | 6'2" (188 cm) |
| Weight | 185 lbs (84 kg) |
| Body fat | ~8% |
| FFMI | 21.4 — ~25 is the cited natural ceiling |
Era by era (estimated)
| Era | Year | Age | Weight | Evidence | Body fat | FFMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shooto champion at 168 lbs | 2001 | 26 | 168 lbs (76 kg) | weighed | ~9% | 19.1 |
| Middleweight title reign | 2010 | 35 | 185 lbs (84 kg) | reported | ~8% | 21.4 |
FFMI over time (estimated)
FFMI per era (values in the table above). Hover a point for details.
Note. Fighting weight is the listed figure; the body-fat number is an estimate. The verdict is not — it rests on a positive test and a commission suspension. See the methodology page for how we judge.
Anderson Silva was, for most of a decade, the best fighter alive. He also failed a steroid test on both sides of the same fight.
Confirmed.
What he said
Silva admitted taking the benzodiazepines the night before the fight, saying he used them to manage stress and sleep. On the steroids his team offered a different account: a tainted sexual-enhancement drug a friend gave him after a trip to Thailand.
Take the contamination defence seriously as a category, because it sometimes turns out to be true. In 2017 Silva failed a USADA test and was later exonerated when contaminated supplements were found — though he still took a one-year suspension. One of those two episodes ended in exoneration. The 2015 one did not.
The numbers
He is listed at 6’2”, fighting at 185 lbs — tall for the division and never a mass athlete. Nothing in his build was ever the tell. What he was famous for was timing and distance, and no compound sells those.
Verdict
Confirmed — by the 2015 tests and the Nevada sanction that followed. His greatness is not in question on this page; the tests are simply on the record.
Common questions
Is Anderson Silva natty or on steroids?
This site rates Anderson Silva as confirmed, the only verdict here stated as fact. It takes an admission, a failed test or an official record, and the one behind this page is cited in the sources below.
Has Anderson Silva ever failed a drug test or admitted to using PEDs?
The record that settles this page is listed in the sources below and described in the article above. It is what makes the verdict confirmed rather than an opinion.
What is Anderson Silva's FFMI?
About 21.4. That comes from 6'2" (188 cm) and 185 lbs (84 kg) at roughly 8% body fat, normalized to 1.8 m. Drug-free lifters in the Kouri 1995 study topped out near 25.