Anderson Silva, Melvin Guillard and UFC's All-Time Leaders in Knockdowns Landed

There's a reason why UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has yet to lose in the Octagon and has been so dominant inside the Octagon.

Since 2006, nine of Silva's 14 organizational victories have come by way of knockout against the middleweight division's best.

Joining Silva is explosive lightweight Melvin Guillard, who owns knockout victories over Shane Roller, Evan Dunham, Waylon Lowe, and Denis Siver among others.

A host of former champions along with a current welterweight contender round out the top six fighters in takedowns landed with five mininum fights according to Fight Metric.

4. Thiago Alves

Former welterweight number one contender Thiago Alves is without a doubt one of the welterweight division's most exciting fighters.

Alves' 10 knockdowns landed inside the Octagon have him tied with former UFC champions Lyoto Machida and Rich Frankin at fourth all-time.

"The Pitbull" owns (T)KO victories over Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle, and several others inside the Octagon.

His dominant victories against Josh Koscheck, John Howard, and most recently Papy Abedi certainly help Alves' cause in making the top ranking.

Alves will look to move up the list when he faces Martin Kampmann at UFC on FX 2 in March.

4. Lyoto Machida

There's a reason why Lyoto Machida won eight consecutive fights and captured the light heavyweight championship.

His victories over Tito Ortiz, Thiago Alves, Rashad Evans, and Randy Couture all featured knockdowns which helped tie him at fourth all-time with 10 knockdowns inside the Octagon.

Machida's 10 knockdowns landed tie him with the aformentioned Alves and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.

While Machida fell short of knocking down or defeating light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in his recent outing, "The Dragon" found more success in the opening round than any of Jones previous foes before being caught in a second-round submission.

Whether Machida stays at 205-pounds or travels south to middleweight is to be seen, but regardless he's likely to continue his climb up the all-time rankings ladder.

4. Rich Franklin

During Rich Franklin's UFC career he's racked up 10 knockdowns landed and ties him at fourth all-time.

Franklin first stepped inside the Octagon at UFC 44 in 2003, where he racked up a few of those 10 knockdowns by defeating Edwin Dewees by technical knockout.

Victories over Ken Shamrock, Nate Quarry, and Matt Hamill all helped Franklin's cause in climbing the rankings ladder.

It's been five-years since Franklin was the middleweight champion, but he's continued to provide fan friendly fights win or lose.

3. Melvin Guillard

Melvin Guillard is not only one of the sport's top lightweights, the "Blackzilian" possesses some of the division's most powerful striking.

Guillard recently had a five-fight win streak snapped, but prior to the loss his back-to-back knockout victories over Shane Roller and Evan Dunham helped place him at third all-time with 11 knockdowns landed.

Considering the world class fighters that have competed in the sport's premier organization, it's not an easy task to pass the likes of Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, and Junior dos Santos to merely name a few.

Guillard returns to action against Jim Miller at UFC on FX 1 in Nashville next month and if this ranking holds true, he may very well take one step closer towards the top.

2. Chuck Liddell

Chuck Liddell was the sport's most dominant light heavyweight and his explosive striking led him to 14 career knockdowns landed.

From UFC 44 to UFC 66, Liddell sent Tito Ortiz (Twice), Randy Couture (Twice), Renato Sobral, Jeremy Horn, and Vernon White crashing to the canvas.

Through 23 fights inside the Octagon, Liddell's striking more times than not put his opponents on their backs.

Now, in the Hall of Fame, Liddell is retired but his 14 career knockdowns landed total remains the second highest in UFC history.

1. Anderson Silva

Considering Silva owns 14 organizational victories over a span of five years that includes nine knockout victories, it comes as no surprise that he tops the charts on knockdowns landed.

Silva's 15 knockdowns landed in UFC history have come against the likes Forrest Griffin, Yushin Okami, Demian Maia, Rich Franklin (Twice), Chris Leben, and Travis Lutter.

From his organizational debut until his most recent knockout victory against Yushin Okami this past August at UFC 134, Silva's number continue to add up.

His next foe will be the winner of next month's middleweight bout between Chael Sonnen and Mark Munoz at UFC on Fox 2.

All statistics are provided by FightMetric.com and for additional information, follow Joshua Carey on Twitter.