Last Saturday night, Erick Silva showed why he is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport by finishing Mike Rhodes in one minute and 15 seconds into the fight. All of Silva’s wins have been in the first round, only goning the distance once in the UFC against long-time veteran Jon Fitch. Silva is 5-4 in the UFC, but should be 6-3 because of a controversial call against Carlo Prater as the referee disqualified him for illegal strikes to the back of the head. Silva is always a fan favorite because of his style, but there has been criticism because of his inconsistency in the UFC.
Silva has struggled against grinders and tough grapplers in the UFC as he has suffered losses to Fitch, Dong Hyun Kim and Matt Brown. Pressure fighters have seemed to expose Silva and he has not overcame that obstacle in the octagon yet. Many have questioned his conditioning because of that, but it may be that he expends all his energy by trying to finish his opponent in the first round all of the time. He has absolutely demolished any other fighter outside of the top 15 and made it look easy doing so.
That is when his “all or nothing” style pays off and he has received several “Performance of the Night” bonuses for it. He has a highlight reel of some of the most spectacular finishes involving flashy knockouts and lightning quick submissions.
Fighters such as Phil Baroni, Chuck Liddell and Pat Barry had this type of style in their UFC careers, but paid the price for it by doing so. These fighters may not have tried the spinning moves and flying knees that Silva tries, but they had the same mentality of finishing their opponent as fast as they could. High-risk moves leave the possibility open to getting knocked out or submitted.
Anthony Pettis is an exception to this as he is still reigning high at the top of the division as he has displayed flashy high-risk moves, but it ended up paying off for him. Something positive Silva can take from Pettis is the excitement factor of not knowing what will come next as they are in the octagon. Fans love these types of fighters because they are unpredictable and love seeing people take risks.
It is up to Silva to see how he approaches each fight. He could end up making his style more conservative for his own protection or he can risk it and continue this flashy style that he has to increase his marketability and finish fights quickly as he usually does.
Silva has the athleticism, good looks and unpredictable style that the crowd wants to see. It does not matter who Silva fights next because he has made himself known enough that people want to watch him perform in the octagon. Hopefully he can put together some wins to put himself in the top 15 again in the always-tough UFC welterweight division.
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