Sherdog’s Top 10: Knockouts in UFC Middleweight Title Fights

8. Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin
UFC 77 “Hostile Territory”
Oct. 20, 2007 | Cincinnati
It was a test Franklin had no chance to ace. A little more than a year after Silva rearranged his face with a knee strike and removed him from power at 185 pounds, the two met again before 16,054 fans at the U.S. Bank Arena. The result was the same. Franklin held his own against “The Spider” for much of the first round and even displayed improved defense against the Brazilian’s vaunted clinch. However, a spinning backfist and crushing knee strike to the body from Silva set up a flurry along the fence, and he floored Franklin with a short right hook in the closing seconds. The respite between rounds did not provide the Cincinnati native with enough time to recover, despite trainer Matt Hume’s best efforts. Franklin emerged for Round 2 glassy-eyed, unsteady and ripe for the picking. Silva moved in for the kill, dropped “Ace” with another right hand and cut loose with a remarkable sequence of surgical strikes -- he even mixed in a leg kick in the heat of the moment -- that necessitated the finish. A final volley of knees forced referee John McCarthy to step in 67 seconds into the second round.

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