Every fan of this sport will have their favorite Anderson Silva finish.
It could be that time he shut Vitor Belfort’s lights off with a single front kick. Or both times he demoralized and destroyed Rich Franklin. Just by looking at his pre-2013 record, you’ll be led down a rabbit hole of other stunning fight-enders.
This one right here is mine. Right before he kicked the UFC’s doors down to introduce himself to the rest of the world, “The Spider” ended Tony Fryklund’s night with a beautifully menacing 6-12 elbow strike. It all happened in 2006 in London under the Cage Rage banner.
You’ve got to give Fryklund the props for stepping in there, but that bout looked like it was over as soon as it started. Silva was the more composed fighter, carefully making reads until he found his shots. Most of the initial strikes he landed caused Fryklund to back up and retreat.
Then Silva decided to turn up the heat. After softening Fryklund up with a few strikes in the clinch, he saw the opening for the elbow. No one in that building probably saw that coming.
Now imagine this scenario: 45-year-old Anderson Silva finishes Uriah Hall in highlight-reel fashion on Halloween night, brings us all back to the late 2000s for a brief moment. Ends his UFC career on a high note. Highly unlikely, but hey, a man can dream, right?
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