There were few more obvious changing of the guard moments in mixed martial arts history than the night Anderson Silva won the UFC middleweight title from Rich Franklin.
Franklin was starting to look like a potential longterm champion by the time he and Silva stepped in the cage at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Oct. 14, 2006 for the main event of UFC 64.
Silva was known by hardcore fans, but not so much by the casuals: Even with the UFC’s business on fire in the company’s breakthrough year of 2006, UFC 64 drew fewer than 9,000 paid fans in Las Vegas.
But Silva knew something the masses didn’t quite understand yet about his skill set. And he wasted little time putting those skills to work.
Franklin is an all-time great whose status as a UFC Hall of Famer is well-deserved. But there’s no getting around this: Silva wrecked him at UFC 64. Silva laid out an astonishing beatdown on a previously untouchable champion, taking the fight via TKO in the opening round.
That turned out to be the start of the longest reign in UFC history, as Silva became a superstar creating magic moments in the cage. He held the title until July 2013, when he lost to Chris Weidman.
Now, you can relive the night the paradigm shifted in the UFC middleweight division, though the UFC’s “Twenty/20 Classics” series. Watch the video above to check out Silva’s superlative effort.
UFC free fight: Relive Anderson Silva's title-winning effort over Rich Franklin
