Starch Madness Presents: Ranked Starches (Anderson Silva)
Starched Madness Mascot: Starchibald Spudd
A series of articles appreciating some of the best knockouts in combat sports
Welcome to Starch Madness! This edition will be doing something a little different from the other articles from this series. It started with the desire to choose a knockout from one of the most (if not THE most) thoroughly skilled strikers ever seen in the octagon, Anderson Silva. A man who has brought such creativity and artistry to the world of combat sports. The problem with picking one knockout to review and appreciate from Anderson Silva is that he has multiple KO’s that rightfully deserve to be appreciated. So it’s been decided that for this edition of Starch Madness, multiple Anderson Silva knockout victories will be covered and ranked by three different criteria: Creativity, Slickness, and Brutality. These factors will be judged on a scale of 1-5 as well for each knockout. It’s gonna be interesting so let’s get into it!
“The Spider” in his zone
Anderson Silva x CHris Leben (UFC Fight Night 5)
This knockout came in Anderson’s debut in the UFC. He’d come off a very successful stint in PRIDE with a couple of really nice knockout finishes there as well. He met with a UFC certified tough guy, Chris Leben, in the octagon. Leben came at Silva fairly sloppily and The Spider did his best in capitalizing on Leben’s brash approach making him pay with entire counterstrike combos and finally ending things with a well-timed knee on the button.
Silva hurting Leben with a counter combo
Silva sending Leben to slumber with a knee
Creativity (2.4): Anderson Silva is a solidified virtuoso in the world of combat sports. His bag is deep with all kinds of unconventional tricks, punches, and kicks. However, this fight did not showcase a ton of what Silva is capable of doing throughout the course of a fight. That’s perfectly all right because a lot of times the basics are more than enough to get it done.
Slickness (3.9): Silva’s ability to evade and punish is one of the defining qualities of his legendary fighting style. His reflexes and counter-striking are elite and they were shown in this fight as he was able to totally neutralize a way more aggressive fighter in Leben.
Brutality (3.6): Silva has never really shown himself to be a raw power striker like an Ngannou or Gaethje. His knockout ability is more than often the result of perfect precision and timing. With that being said, knee strikes to the dome are brutal enough to make any regular person wince a bit. This knee knockout is definitely in that category as well.
FINAL SCORE: 3.3
anderson silva x vitor belfort (ufc 126)
This knockout came in one of Anderson Silva’s 10 Middleweight title defenses in a match against fellow UFC legend, Vitor Belfort. There was a bit of bad blood between the two fighters as (apparently) they both trained at the same gym at one point before Vitor left the gym. Belfort then came back to fight his former teammate and current (at the time) Middleweight champ, Anderson Silva. Anderson put a halt to their beef by ending the bout at around the 3:25 mark of the first round via seldom seen front snapkick, which interestingly enough, he credited Steven Seagal for teaching him.
Silva demolishing Belfort with the front kick
Creativity (4.4): This fight really shows Silva’s penchant for unorthodox strike. However, the technique itself is pretty rudimentary and simple, but the application of the front kick in MMA up to that point was not mainstream especially not on a stage as grand as a UFC title fight. So, the fact that Silva not only chose to throw this strike, but also ending the fight with it (and a few others) shows the extensive variety of attacks Silva will throw and land at any point. AND his decision to credit Steven Seagal for the technique is just hilarious in its own right.
Slickness (4.2): Despite this strike not really following any evasion or being a sequence in a counter-striking combo, that does not take away from the slick delivery Silva had when delivery this blow knocking Belfort out. It’s visible how Silva is shifting and moving his hands and arms as to not allow Vitor to even think about what Silva may do with his legs. He throws the kick out there with seemingly not a lot of force, and that probably played a large part of why the kick landed and did as much damage as it did. He threw it perfectly between Belfort’s guard as well ensuring that he would not be able to deflect it once it was thrown.
Brutality (3.6): Honestly, this knockout is so precise and perfect that it feels hard to really see much brutality in it (as strange as that probably sounds). It feels like something that should be exhibited in a museum on a screen just looping over and over. The kick itself does not look to carry much power, but it’s evident it does by the way Vitor’s head snaps back as it lands. The punches Silva follows up with while Belfort struggles to remember what country he’s in on the mat are pretty brutal and though he only lands two, who knows how much uglier it could’ve gotten if it hadn’t been stopped?
FINAL SCORE: 4.1
Anderson Silva x Forrest Griffin (UFC 101)
This is quite possibly the most classic Anderson Silva knockout out of all the others on his career résumé. It is the one that is shown in his highlights whenever he is being introduced or honored. It is the knockout that fans of him think about either first or second every time he pops in their minds. This fight came in one of Silva’s short stints in the UFC’s Lightheavyweight division against the original Ultimate Fighter winner, Forrest Griffin. The bout was Anderson Silva pretty much wall to wall blatantly styling on Griffin for about 3-ish minutes before performing a god-mode counter after dodging multiple strikes from Griffin ending it with a KO.
Anderson doing what he does best making Forrest miss and punishing
Anderson Silva ending the show against Forrest Griffin
Creativity (3.1): Again, the strike that ended the fight did not show Silva’s deep arsenal of unorthodox strikes. He was able to end it with a single punch coming off dodging multiple shots from Griffin. However, like his Leben knockout, sometimes all that is necessary is something simple. One punch may be the simple solution in this case, but it is also pretty iconic too.
Slickness (4.8): Silva showed his amazing sense of knowing just exactly when to duck, slip, and pull. All throughout this bout, Silva was putting his defensive abilities on full display as he just did not allow Griffin to get ANYTHING started offensively. He stayed cool and collected as he Matrix bullet-time dodged everything being thrown at him. You could count on both hands how many strikes Forrest landed on Silva in this fight.
Brutality (4.7): In this fight, Silva put that precision timing in his finishes on the forefront. He was able to end it with one strike that was perfectly timed and placed right on Griffin’s chin as he charged forward and stopped him in his tracks. It was such a powerful shot that Griffin threw his hands up signifying he’d had all he could take. Anytime you can get your opponent to concede mid-fight, something brutal has definitely taken place.
FINAL SCORE: 4.2
It was fantastic taking a stroll down Memory-loss Lane revisiting Anderson’s greatest hits. Hopefully this could be a cool edition of Starch Madness to do every once in a while for fighter’s that possess a large array of noteworthy knockout finishes. Thanks for reading and remember to keep those hands up!