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4. Silva’s “Ong Bak” Elbow
Cage Rage 16
April 22, 2006 | London
We have already discussed the moment of Anderson Silva’s transcendence to stardom, but the seeds of that ascension to greatness were sown long before. His last fight before signing with the UFC, against Tony Fryklund, was chock-full of signs of that bright future.

Silva’s performance throughout the entire fight was a work of art, a magnum opus of striking that showcased the future Greatest of All-Time’s command of each and every piece of his devastating repertoire. He transitioned seamlessly from kicking distance into punching range and from there into the clinch, landing a bewildering variety of strikes. Silva hit Fryklund with knees to the body and horizontal elbows to the head in the clinch: high kicks, counter jabs, forward-moving uppercuts and a flying knee. He also dumped him to the canvas, Thai-style, for good measure just before the finish.

Given that masterful performance, it was fitting that it ended with a crowning jewel. That piece de resistance was a lead reverse back elbow that Silva apparently picked up from Tony Jaa in the movie “Ong Bak.” Silva stepped inside of Fryklund’s lead foot, dropped levels and fired the elbow vertically through Fryklund’s guard. His face caught the point of the elbow on the right side, knocking him out with a single shot.

If you consider yourself a connoisseur of violent artistry, it is difficult to top this knockout for the sheer technical perfection of the strike as Silva throws it. Bear in mind that “The Spider” had never thrown this in an MMA fight before, that he learned it from watching a martial arts movie and that his coaches did not want him to use it. It was a triumph of innovative artistry by a master of the genre, and it encapsulates the freewheeling stylings that characterized Silva at his best.

Number 3 » Power Bomb