With his 61-second knockout of James Irvin, Anderson Silva made a successful transition to 205 lbs, and also achieved something that very few fighters have done before him: seven consecutive victories in UFC bouts.  Every single one of Silva’s seven UFC fights has been the main event, and every time he put his opponent away in under two rounds.

The record for most consecutive wins in the UFC is currently shared by Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch, at eight victories in a row each.  Fitch’s streak is still active, however he will have to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Georges St. Pierre to pull ahead of Gracie.  Should Fitch lose, Anderson Silva stands an excellent chance of achieving the record nine wins in his next two bouts.

The only other UFC fighter to hold seven consecutive Octagon wins is Chuck Liddell, who has accomplished it on two separate occasions.  Former champions Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, and Pat Miletich have all won seven straight UFC bouts as well, but suffered losses in other organizations within the same time frame.

Most Consecutive Wins in the UFC

We’ve compiled a list of the 10 biggest MMA upsets in recent history. The significance of upsets on this list is measured not by the betting odds, but by the difference in the Fightmatrix.com point standing between the two fighters, normalized for weight class differences.

1. Gabriel Gonzaga W Mirko Filipovic (UFC 70, Apr 21 2007) @ -186.18
2. Matt Serra W Georges St. Pierre (UFC 69, Apr 7 2007) @ -155.02
3. Quinton Jackson W Chuck Liddell (UFC 71, May 26 2007) @ -142.45
4. Mark Hunt W Wanderlei Silva (Pride Shockwave 2004, Dec 31 2004) @ -140.3
5. Keith Jardine W Chuck Liddell (UFC 76, Sep 22 2007 ) @ -127.90
6. Mark Coleman W Mauricio Rua (Pride 31, Feb 26 2006) @ -126.49
7. Cheick Kongo W Mirko Filipovic (UFC 75, Sep 8 2007) @ -114.57
8. Forrest Griffin W Mauricio Rua (UFC 76, Sep 22 2007) @ -108.48
9. Eduardo Dantas W Shinichi Kojima (Shooto, Nov 8 2007) @ -103.79
10. Sokoudjou W Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pride 33, Feb 24 2007) @ -98.48

Interesting to note that with exception of 2 fights, this list is all comprised of heavy and light-heavyweights. Also, Mirko Filipovic, Chuck Liddell, and Mauricio Rua were all victims of huge upsets on more than one occasion.

Though Tito Ortiz lost his UFC 84 bout to Lyoto Machida, he still managed to get a one-up on his long time rival Chuck Liddell.  In what Ortiz claimed to be his last UFC fight, he became the only man with 21 bouts inside the Octagon.  Liddell is not far behind with 20 bouts, and Matt Hughes will also be at 20 after UFC 85. 

Check out more UFC records:

Most Wins in the UFC

Most Consecutive Wins in the UFC

Most UFC Bouts

Most UFC Title Wins

Most Consecutive UFC Title Defenses

Most UFC Title Bouts

So far in 2008….

• 79.4% of wins have been by knockout, technical knockout, or submission.
• 1.8% of bouts have been declared draws.
• 61 fighters have had 3 or more bouts, while 16 of these fighters have had 4!
• 57.9% of bouts have ended in round 1.
• 3.2% of men’s bouts have taken place at 131 pounds or less, while 10.9% have taken place at 210 or over.

With a hard-fought decision victory over Chris Wilson, Jon Fitch did not only assure himself a shot at the UFC’s Welterweight title.  He also reached an important milestone in the MMA history by becoming the first fighter in the post-tournament era to achieve eight consecutive wins in the UFC (read about why this record may be disputed). 

Following not far behind Fitch is UFC’s Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.  Silva posted his 6th straight victory in the Octagon, defending his belt for the third time.   The current record for most consecutive title defenses is shared by former champions Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz, with five each.  Silva would have been within an earshot of joining them, had Travis Lutter made weight for their UFC 67 bout (Silva defeated Lutter by triangle choke in the second round of what ended up being a non-title match.)

See other impressive accomplishments inside the octagon:

Most Wins in the UFC

Most Consecutive Wins in the UFC

Most UFC Bouts

Most UFC Title Wins

Most Consecutive UFC Title Defenses

Most UFC Title Bouts