Anderson Silva has a total of twenty-six career finishes within mixed martial arts competition and with his upcoming fight against Uriah Hall at UFC 198, he will look to make it twenty-seven.
He is widely considered the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts, and even if you disagree there is no argument for him being anything less than the third greatest of all time. At the age of forty years old, the best days of his career are likely behind him, but even now he remains one of the most dangerous men alive on this earth.
There aren’t many fighters that are worthy of their own best of list, few even have enough finishes to make one, but The Spider has so many we probably could of made a top twenty if we truly wanted to!
Are there any finishes that you think were missed? What would be your top five? Check out what we have and let us know what you think in the comments below!
5) Chris Leben
-UFC FN 5: June 28th, 2006
This is the night that the legend of Anderson Silva began. Chris Leben was riding a six-fight win streak along with being a fan favorite after competing on The Ultimate Fighter, but that wasn’t enough to pick up the W. Silva came into the fight like a man on a mission, precisely measuring and landing every strike he threw on route to picking up the TKO victory.
4) Rich Franklin I
-UFC 64: October 14th, 2007
In just his second UFC fight, The Spider found himself fighting for the title. After winning his debut so flawlessly it was hard to argue against giving the Brazilian anyone but the champ next. Franklin was a tested and proven, so a good showing against him would heavily raise Anderson’s stock. But Anderson not only won the fight, he completely dismantled Franklin in a way that was almost unheard of. The fight seemed as if it was a complete and total mismatch, but Franklin had been the champion of the division! If he couldn’t stop Silva, who was going to be able to?
3) James Irvin
-UFC FN 14: July 19th, 2008
After repeatedly proving himself to be the best middleweight in the world, Silva stepped up a weight class to test himself. He was scheduled to take on James Irvin, who was coming off a superman punch KO that made him seem like a possible threat to the pound-for-pound king. Once again, Silva proved himself to be at least a step ahead of his competition, catching a leg kick from Irvin then using it to counter with a straight right hand. Silva pounced on top of his concussed competitor and finished the fight by TKO.
2) Forrest Griffin
-UFC 101: August 8th, 2009
Once again Silva decided to test the waters at light-heavyweight, but this time against former light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was coming off the loss of his title and looking for a big rebound, but fighting Silva when you’re coming off a loss and have questionable confidence is practically a death sentence. With Silva’s masterful use of mental warfare within the cage, he was able to completely clown Forrest and goad him into the fight he wanted. With Forrest sloppily chasing him, Silva was able to put a jab right on Griffin’s chin that sent him flailing to the canvas and brought an end to the fight.
1) Vitor Belfort
-UFC 127: February 5th, 2011
The night that Anderson Silva front kicked Vitor Belfort in the face changed the sport. It was the first time a front kick had been so successfully utilized landing to the face in known MMA competition and ever since then it has become a common strike to see thrown, but no one still to this day has landed it as precisely as Anderson did.
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