Erick Silva

Erick Silva was one of those fighters whose tape always promised fireworks. Fast, athletic and aggressive, the Brazilian welterweight came into the UFC with hype and backed it up with early finishes that hinted at a top-contender ceiling.

That ceiling never quite arrived. Silva tended to be at his most dangerous early, and the division's more methodical grinders found ways to drag him into deep water. Losses to names like Jon Fitch and a late-career skid against Jordan Mein and Yancy Medeiros eventually pushed him out of the sport.

Still, he was reliably entertaining, the kind of fighter casual viewers loved precisely because every Silva bout carried the threat of a sudden ending.