Anderson Silva and His Unique Ways of Finishing Opponents
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Anderson Silva might as well be the new "Baddest Man On The Planet." Ever since his UFC debut, he's run through the entire Middleweight division and could possibly move up in weight classes to take on new challenges.
When people hear terms like "pinpoint," "accurate," "precise," "pound-for-pound king," Silva immediately comes to mind. Silva's built this reputation over time by being the best fighter in the world f. Striking, among other things, just come naturally to this Brazilian powerhouse.
Throughout his career, Silva has found every which way to finish off his opponents. Silva's entire gameplan is executed perfectly and is, ironically, all about timing. Once Silva gets the opponent's timing down, you might as well forget about it. It may take him a while, but Silva's gotten the job done 13 times in his UFC career.
There are so many ways that Silva dominates that it's nearly impossible for his opponents to believe that they have a chance of defeating him. Though he can tick fans off with his lackadaisical performances and nonchalance, there's no denying that he's the best in the world.
People are now pitting Silva in new challenges, hoping for potential matches against the likes of Welterweight king Georges St. Pierre and/or newly anointed Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. Which match would be better? Does either man have a realistic chance of beating the Brazilian spider?
Here are the 10 finishes of Anderson Silva's UFC career.
On paper, people didn't know what exactly to expect out of Anderson Silva in his UFC debut. Chris Leben, one of the tougher fighters in the company, presented a challenge for Silva...or so the MMA world thought.
Leben can sure take a strike, but had no answer for the quick, explosive Spider. After 48 seconds, Silva dismembered Leben with a lethal striking combination and earned a title shot against Rich "Ace" Franklin shortly thereafter.
Silva abruptly timed Leben's explosiveness and made quick work of Leben, matching that same explosiveness and quite frankly, quieting Leben.
As you can see, at about the 28-second mark, "The Spider" times Leben enough to put him away and then just explodes upon him with a flurry of offense. Speaking of pinpoint, accurate striking, Silva's striking was an astounding 100 percent accurate in this fight.
To his own credit, Leben did everything he could to convince the ref to continue the fight, but clearly, Silva had done the job and then some.
Anderson Silva soon earned a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship in just his second fight with the company. Clearly, there would be a changing of the guard at 185 pounds, as "The Spider" decimated Rich "Ace" Franklin to claim the gold in their first meeting.
Ever since that day, October 14, 2006, Silva has ruled over the Middleweight division with an iron fist and hasn't lost. In this bout, Silva quickly got Franklin into his lethal Muay Thai-clinch and devastatingly finished him in Round 1.
Silva eventually broke Franklin's nose in clinch with a knee to the face and would end the fight via TKO through strikes.
At the time, Silva was only the second man to have defeated Franklin, the other being his Black House teammate, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida.
Silva's first two UFC fights lasted just 3:48 combined and he'd already won the UFC Middleweight Championship, a title that he still holds nearly five years later.
Travis Lutter presented a new type of challenge for Anderson Silva at
UFC 67: All Or Nothing. After dismantling Chris Leben and Rich Franklin en route to a Middleweight Title, Silva was now ready to defend his new gold. Lutter, however, wasn't ready to contend for the strap. When the event arrived, Lutter couldn't make weight and forced the bout into a non-title contest.
Silva dominated
The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Lutter, finishing him via triangle choke and elbow strikes in Round two. Perhaps the most impressive feat was that Lutter, a known wrestler, was thought to have the edge on the ground, yet that's how Silva finished him.
This win, though not for the title, showed that SIlva was indeed a multi-faceted threat that could end a fight in any way he wished. This was the first, but not the last time that Silva finished an opponent via triangle choke.
The competition would become increasingly difficult for Silva thereafter, but he still retained the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Nate "The Great" Marquardt, The King of Pancrase, was supposed to pose another threat and was Silva's first "official" Middleweight Title defense. Marquardt had previously defeated Dean Lister, Crafton Wallace Joe Doerksen and Ivan Salaverry to earn his shot.
Anderson Silva again made quick work of an opponent, this one being Marquardt, finishing him in Round one. As you can see in the video, Silva beat Marquardt down near the end of the round and finished him via TKO through strikes.
Since this fight, Marquardt can't seem to break through the proverbial ceiling and get back into the title picture. Marquardt recently lost a No. 1 Contender match to Yushin Okami last November, however, Okami has yet to get his shot since. With Silva potentially lining up for a superfight against Georges St. Pierre, there's no telling when the Okami-Silva bout could happen.
Rich Franklin would soon get a shot at redemption and a chance to reclaim the UFC Middleweight Championship in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Franklin was reminded just how lethal Silva was en route to another failed attempt against Silva.
Silva did his part early on, avoiding Franklin yet feeling him out in the process. Franklin would eventually fall victim to Silva's clinch and be dominated once again.
The only major difference in this fight was that it went into the Second Round and Franklin was supposed to have the homefield advantage, so to speak.
This dominant performance against Franklin earned Silva "Knockout of The Night Honors" at
UFC 77: Hostile Territory. This was the first of three times that Silva would earn this honor from the UFC and the added bonus that comes along with it.
For the first time in his UFC career, Anderson Silva lost a round in a fight. This happened in the first Round of his UFC-PRIDE Title Unification bout against Dan Henderson. Previously, Silva had stopped all of his fights early on and dominated them while suffering little, if any, damage.
Henderson, a known wrestler, had grounded Silva in the early part of the fight and done things to Silva that no other fighter had been able to do. To be quite frank, Henderson took away Silva's vertical base and left him to have to try to win the fight in a new way. That's exactly what Silva did in the second round.
Silva broke new ground with this win and would be definitively recognized as the best fighter in the world. With about eight seconds left in second round, Silva finished Henderson with a Rear Naked Choke.
This was the best representation of Silva to the UFC fans, as this was the first time they'd seen him in any sort of trouble in a fight. For him to finish Henderson by gaining his back was impressive and Silva had now unified the PRIDE and UFC Titles.
What better way for the UFC to make their Middleweight Champion more accessible than to put him on free television? That's exactly what UFC President Dana White did in the summer of 2008.
Anderson Silva moved up to Light Heavyweight (205 pounds) in a match against James "Sandman" Irvin. Irvin clearly was not the best opponent for Silva after a victory against Henderson. He rather served as a tune-up for Silva, as he quickly demolished Irvin in flashy knockout fashion.
Silva caught Irvin's leg on an attempted kick and returned the favor with a clean shot to the jaw, earning the knockout victory. This was the another signature knockout that's still seen on highlight reels today, three years later.
Following this victory, Silva would remain the status quo and keep his title, but without knockouts/submissions. He would defeat Patrick Cote via injury stoppage and defeated Thales Leites and Demian Maia via unanimous decision
To say that Anderson Silva put on a clinic in Philadelphia against Forrest Griffin is an understatement. Griffin, known for being tough and improving as the fight goes on, was no match for the elusive Spider at
UFC 101: Declaration.
Griffin appeared overmatched from the onset, but with a warrior's effort, many believed that he could at least give Silva a respectable match. That wasn't the case as Silva showboated his way to victory and proved once again why he's the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Griffin attempted to hit Silva with a bevy of strikes, none of which connected, as Silva effortlessly and swiftly dodged
TUF 1 winner. Prior to this fight, Silva was criticized for not facing the toughest opponents that he could...but that was before he decimated Griffin, a former Light Heavyweight Champion.
While Griffin may have help put the UFC on the map for good, his image was a bit tarnished at the hands of Anderson Silva. After dodging many shots, Silva toyed with Griffin and hit him with what I like to call "the drive-by," which can be seen at approximately the 0:26 mark of the video.
This was the 2010 Fight of The Year and for obvious reasons. Though it was later found out that Chael Sonnen was aided by performance-enhancing steroids, he dominated Anderson Silva in their
UFC 117 main-event bout.
For about 22 of the 23 minutes of their bout, Sonnen dominated Silva with his D-1 wrestling background. Sonnen appeared well on his way to a UFC Middleweight Championship in one of the most shocking fights the world had ever seen.
Sonnen had gotten in Silva's head in the pre-fight talk and it showed for most of their fight, however, Silva is the Kobe Bryant of MMA when it comes to finishing.
This was the best fight on the best UFC card of the year and was worthy of Fight of The Year Honors, in my opinion. Furthermore, this was Submission of The Year and showed exactly why Silva is a fighting champion and the best in the world.
The fight could've easily been stopped in the first round, when Sonnen was mashing Silva's head against the cage, but it wasn't. To referee Josh Rosenthal's credit, the fight continued and the finish was spectacular.
"This guy's not from a bowing culture. If you bow in Brazil, they'll hit you over the head and take your wallet out of your pocket."
Anderson Silva's UFC career had come full-circle by early 2011, as he was set to take on Brazilian foe Vitor Belfort. This was their first meeting, as Silva's title reign appeared to be in great jeopardy. Coming off a rugged, yet victorious effort against Chael Sonnen, the MMA world questioned Silva heading into this match.
Silva silenced the naysayers in the first round and extended his streak to 13 consecutive victories in the UFC (eight straight title defenses). A vicious front kick put Belfort away in the latter part of round one, as Silva retained the title again in dramatic, highlight reel-worthy fashion.
With another punishing, dominating performance, Silva left no doubt as to who the best fighter in the world truly was. Belfort came in rusty after not fighting for nearly a year and a half, but who's to say the fight would've been different had it happened sooner?
This was the first time in his career that Vitor Belfort had been knocked out that hard.
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