Sherdog.com’s 2014 Fight of the Year

5. Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva
UFC Fight Night “Brown vs. Silva”
May 10 | Cincinnati

Brown and Silva’s raucous UFC Fight Night headliner on May 10 is the only bout on our “Fight of the Year” list that was not for a championship title. In a way, that is a virtue. The other contests on this list are rich in context, backstory, history and legacy. Sure, Brown violently conquering Silva in front of his Ohio faithful to extend his improbable, brutal UFC winning streak to seven fights is a great story, but ultimately, if you wanted to show this fight to an unsuspecting pal, the best way to set the stage would likely be, “Hey, you wanna see an [expletive] fight?”

There was no pretense here. As soon as referee Herb Dean told the welterweights to fight, Brown and Silva got right down to it, the Cincinnati crowd amped up to 11 from the get-go. Despite the bad intentions being so clear from both fighters, it still came as a shock when Silva, who had already touched Brown with a few left body kicks, crumpled him to the mat just 36 seconds into the contest. From there, Brown endured the Brazilian’s punches, then two-and-a-half minutes of back control, fighting tooth-and-nail to get back to his feet.

As soon he got there, Brown’s violent sensibilities were inflamed; he kneed Silva to the guts, rocked him with clinch elbows and kicked him in the head. After nearly being vanquished in the bout’s opening moments, Brown out-landed Silva 40-17 in significant strikes by FightMetric count, overcoming half a frame in intense peril to take the round in many watchers’ eyes. No wonder it was “Round of the Year.”

In a world where UFC crowds tend to sound dull on television, the Cincy crowd was a screaming breath of fresh air, raising its screams to new decibel levels as “The Immortal” sprang to life and began ruthlessly beating Silva, foot sweeping him multiple times like a big brother would, hammerfisting Silva and soccer kicking him in the ribs until the horn. Really, it was the perfect union of a fighter and a crowd.

From 2007-09, the Ohio market produced diminishing returns for the UFC, going back year after year in March to coincide with the Arnold Sports Festival. This was the state’s first UFC card in five years, headlined by a guy from Xenia, Ohio, who clinically died of a heroin overdose and escaped Rust Belt hell to become one of MMA’s most emblematic blood-and-guts warriors. These were not celebrities and Vegas high-rollers who rolled in for the main event. These were friends, family, training partners and fight fans. You can literally see middle-aged women in the crowd screaming support for Brown, with toddler-aged children pinned under their arms like parcels.

Whether fueled by the crowd or his usual violent impulses, Brown took over in round two, ripping Silva with four and five left hands to the head and body at a time. He got a topside crucifix and smashed on his face. He even nearly hit a triangle armbar on the Brazilian. Yet, Silva, despite the cost Brown was extracting from him, kept punching back, landing body kicks and making the best of his time on top. He would not go gently. Of course, sending away victims gently is typically not one of Brown’s concerns.

Brown kept the pressure on Silva as the third round started, pasting him with punches and forcing him to the canvas against the fence, where “The Immortal” dutifully and clinically pounded away with both hands, looming over Silva with both guns blazing until Dean rescued “Indio” at 2:11. The finish gave Brown five straight knockout finishes in the Octagon, joining Chuck Liddell and Thiago Alves as the only other men to do it. He also recorded his ninth knockout in the UFC welterweight division, making him the promotion’s all-time KO king, to boot.

Now that I think about it, maybe the context is fantastic here. Still, I recommend you lead with the “Hey, you wanna see an [expletive] fight?” line.

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