The MMA Top 10 01.29.10: Week 6 - The Top 10 Knockouts Of All-Time
Posted by Dustin James on 01.29.2010
From Phil Baroni's nasty knockout of Dave Menne to Anderson Silva's stunning elbow to Tony Fryklund, these are just some of the knockouts that 411's Dustin James considers his favorite KO's of all-time. Check out the full article to see which knockouts made the list and why!
Welcome back to The MMA Top 10. As you should know by now, I'm your host Dustin James and I'm PISSED! I got started on this article on Sunday with a lot of enthusiasm! I was going to put together a list of the "Top 10 PRIDE Fighters of All-Time!" I sat down with my laptop and proceeded to almost finish the entire thing in one sitting miraculously. However, I decided to step away from my laptop for a little bit (probably to play Metal Gear Solid 4) and when I came back....guess what decided to take a nap! If you guessed "my laptop" then you my friend are the big winner. I don't know why I didn't save the file at some point, perhaps it was because I was a little hungover from Saturday night? Who knows.
In the end, I lost the entire file and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit down and write the whole thing again! Instead, I decided to whip together a list of my top 10 personal favorite knockouts of all-time. So remember, when you decide to comment in the comment section....it's my personal favorite knockouts of all-time.
Now, who else is excited for the upcoming season premiere of FREAKING LOST? I have been waiting for the final season of this show for years now and I can't wait! They have promised that EVERY question will be answered, including ones that we think the writers probably forgot (while I highly doubt that will happen....I can still hold hope). The writers also want us to know that they have known where the story was going to go the whole time and if that's the truth then I'm getting even more excited for the finale. Remember though, I'm one of those guys who always gets pumped up for things, only to be let down in a big way (HELLO GREG ODEN!!!) so the finale will probably reveal that the entire LOST thing was happening in a snow globe in the home of Chuck Norris. Actually.....that would rule, so ignore that.
Anyway...........
LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!!!!!!................
HONORABLE MENTIONS!!!!!!
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Wanderlei Silva
PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute - September 10, 2006
What do you get when you put one MMA legend known for his outstanding head kicks against another MMA legend known for his outstanding knockouts? Well, I'll tell you what you get....you get one of the best knockouts in MMA history, that's what! This wasn't the first meeting between the two though. They first met back in 2002 at PRIDE 20. The rules of that match stipulated that if the fight went the distance then the bout would be declared a "draw" and that's exactly what happened. Well, four years later we finally got the rematch and let's just say....it was just as good (if not better) than the first fight. Just five minutes into the hard fought battle, Mirko "Cro Cop" connects with the side of Wanderlei Silva's head and puts him down. Cro Cop's knockouts are always a thing of beauty and this one wasn't any different.
I think they are still peeling pieces of Silva's cranium out of Cro Cop's ankle......
Matt Hughes vs. Carlos Newton
UFC 34 - November 2, 2001
If you were a UFC fan back in 2001, then its tough for you NOT to remember the "slam heard round the world!" Future UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes was not quite the legend that he is today back in 2001. As a matter of fact, this fight with Newton was Hughes' first fight back with the UFC in over a year so it really wasn't that much of a deal. However, during the fight, Newton decided to try and lock Hughes in a triangle choke....BAD MOVE. Hughes picked Newton up, walked across the Octagon and proceeded to POWER BOMB THE CRAP out of Newton! It truly was a thing of beauty. I wasn't into MMA as much then, but I really believe this was one of those moments that helped plant the seed for my love of mixed-martial-arts. A truly classic moment that was one that I have replayed for people for years and probably will for many more to come.
My head still hurts watching Newton's head slam on the canvas......
Some of the best MMA knockouts are the ones that happen less than ten-seconds into the fight. It doesn't really matter if we are talking about Houston Alexander vs. Keith Jardine, James Irvin vs. Houston Alexander or any other ten-second KO. However, I feel that my personal favorite "quick KO" is none other than current WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo's complete destruction of Cub Swanson last year. When this fight was originally booked, many people considered it to be the toughest test of Aldo's career. Needless to say, just eight-seconds later we were all amazed at what we saw and Aldo became the #1 contender to the WEC featherweight title. Now THAT'S how you do a knockout!
This video really shouldn't be any longer than 15 seconds......
9) Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell
UFC 88 - September 6, 2008
Chuck Liddell has hit a rough patch in his MMA career. Ever since he beat Tito Ortiz in 2006, he's gone just 1-4 in the UFC with his only win a decision victory over Wanderlei Silva after an incredible fight at UFC 79. After the Silva/Liddell fight, people were asking "Where does Liddell go from here?". Well, Liddell was hoping to get back into title contention for the UFC light heavyweight title when he accepted a fight with "Sugar" Rashad Evans at UFC 88 in September of 2008. MMA experts everywhere were predicting that Liddell was going to knockout Evans. As a matter of fact, I even remember hearing someone say that the odds of Evans knocking Liddell out were pretty much "slim to none." Let's just say you should NEVER EVER EVER doubt the power of Greg Jackson. The man knows how to game plan and that's exactly what he was able to do with Rashad. Evans took the game plan from Jackson and the knowledge he learned from Keith Jardine (who had just fought Liddell a year before) and KNOCKED THE CRAP out of Chuck in the second round. This was one of those KO's I'll always remember because my jaw literally hit the floor. Not only did Evans knock Liddell out.....it was almost attempted murder. Just a thing of beauty from one of my current favorite fighters!
Here's the Liddell/Evans KO viewed through the eyes of "Benny Hill"......
8) Wanderlei Silva vs. Dan Henderson
PRIDE 33 - February 24, 2007
PRIDE 33 was the final PRIDE show in history. It still pains me to write those words today, but one thing that doesn't pain me is to remember the greatness that was PRIDE 33. At the time I thought it was an excellent show and it still holds up this day. One of the reasons that I really love the show was the PRIDE title fight between none other than Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson. This was one of my most anticipated fights of some time (since their first fight in 2000) and it didn't disappoint. After a hard fought battle, Henderson was finally able to put "The Axe Murderer" away in the third round after an AWESOME left hook followed by a sweet right hand forearm that very much looked like his knockout over Michael Bisping (a KO that just missed out on the honorable mentions list...). The reason I rank this one over Bisping is the fact that it was against Silva and the fight was incredible up to that point. Easily one of my all-time favorite KO's, favorite fights, and favorite events ever.
It's widely regarded as the fight that "made" Anderson Silva. Before his UFC 64 bout with Rich Franklin for the UFC middleweight title, Silva was mainly an unknown among the casual MMA fans. However, after he decimated the highly popular Franklin in 2006, "The Spider" became one of the most popular and most dangerous fighters in MMA all in one night. For those of us who got the chance to see this fight live, it was like a thing of beauty. Franklin was on an eight-fight win streak and out of nowhere comes this crazy Brazilian destroying anything in his path. It just so happened that Franklin got in the path of said crazy Brazilian and ended up getting his nose broken into little jigsaw pieces courtesy of Silva's knees. Seriously, this was one of the worst nose injuries I had ever seen. Franklin's nose basically was in the shape of the letter "c." This is the fight that really made us aware of how dangerous Anderson Silva is and the man hasn't stopped since. Can anyone stop this guy?
Every time I see this video I cringe for Rich Franklin......
I mentioned previously my love for MMA finishes via POWER BOMBS (aka slams)! In my opinion, there is no POWER BOMB in MMA better than the one that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson served up to Ricardo Arona at PRIDE's Critical Countdown show in 2004. This was one of those fights that eluded me for sometime. While I kept hearing about it on the Internet, I never actually watched it until about two years after it happened. Once I saw it though, I couldn't express how much I loved it. Right when you think Arona's looking to put Jackson in a submission of some sort, "Rampage" picks Arona up in the air (and I mean UPPPPP) and brings him down with such thunderous force that I'm actually shocked they didn't both go right through the ring. It's one of the hardest slams you will ever see in MMA and I highly recommend checking it out if you have never seen it before......
Poor Ricardo Arona. He never did recover correctly......
5) Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva
UFC 17.5 - October 16, 1998
Man, I love watching Wanderlei Silva fight....but apparently I love seeing the dude get knocked out as well. This knockout loss against Belfort holds a special place in my heart though. Not only did it take place in the beginning of each man's career, but the speed at which Belfort came at Wandy was INSANE! It was the first time I had seen someone use Liu Kang like speed in the Octagon. These isn't much to discuss here since the fight was over in 44 seconds, I'll just let you admire the tape. Can Belfort do the same thing to Anderson Silva? I highly doubt it, but it sure will be interesting to watch.
WARNING: Not for the weak at heart......
4) Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
PRIDE 28 - October 31, 2004
Well, I'll be damned! Finally, "The Axe Murderer" is on the receiving end of a beat down instead of the one counting sheep in the middle of the ring. There's a lot of bad blood between Silva and "Rampage," and rightfully so. Silva beat Jackson twice in PRIDE and didn't just beat him, he BEAT him! While the first fight was fairly good, it was over in just over 5 minutes due to some vicious knees from Silva. However, those knees would fail in comparison to what his BIONIC KNEES OF DEATH would do to "Rampage"s poor face at PRIDE 28. While the two were exchanging in a nice little stand-up war, Silva rocked Jackson hard and then caught his unfortunate victim in his scary muay thai clinch. After a few knees to the face, Jackson was OUT LIKE A LIGHT! It truly was one of the most memorable scenes in MMA history. Even people who didn't follow PRIDE know about this KO due to how many times it's been shown. A vintage piece of MMA history....unless your name is Quinton "Rampage" Jackson of course.
Poor "Rampage", oh well...he would get his revenge in the UFC......
3) Phil Baroni vs. Dave Menne
UFC 39 - September 27, 2002
A lot of people don't like Phil Baroni. Perhaps it's his ego. Perhaps it's his mouth. Perhaps it's his charismatic entrances. It doesn't matter....the bottom line is people dislike the guy. Either way, you have to give him credit where credit is due, the dude can throw some leather. He proved this point with an exclamation point in his UFC 39 fight with Dave Menne. It was only Baroni's sixth professional fight and he was really looking to make a name for himself. Well, he did. The referee went to ring the bell, the two stared at each other for about ten-seconds and then it was ALL BARONI, ALL THE TIME! Baroni hit Menne with about 15 straight shots that had Menne's head rocking off the Octagon between each punch. It really was a thing of beauty for people who love KO's. The reason this gets marked so high on my list is the fact that when I saw it live as it happened, I couldn't believe what I saw. While there have been much better KO's since then, this one is my personal vintage one.....
Would someone please warn Dave Menne about the shitstorm that's about to happen?......
2) Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund
Cage Rage 16 - April 22, 2006
Have you ever wondered to yourself? "I wonder what possessed the UFC to actually sign Anderson Silva in 2006?" Well, my friends, this fight would be the answer to your question. Just months before he made his UFC debut, Anderson Silva was battling Tony Fryklund in a pretty good fight. It wasn't until the second round when Silva nailed Fryklund with the most vicious elbow I have ever seen. Seriously, the way this guy can throw his elbows like they are fists is just scary. How do you fight a man with four fists? Perhaps that's why he's yet to be defeated in the UFC? Either way, Dana White obviously saw this clip and fell in love in the same way that I did. It's every MMA fighters dream to achieve a knockout like this one and Silva pulled it off. KUDOS~!
Tony Fryklund.....meet Anderson Silva's elbow......
1) Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
UFC 70 - April 21, 2007
Man, the hardest part of this list was actually picking a #1. I seriously had to debate this sucker for some time. Basically, in the end....I decided to go with the knockout that was perhaps the sickest one I had ever seen. Going into the Cro Cop/Gonzaga battle, many of us expected to perhaps see a head kick finish. Only we all thought it was going to be Cro Cop serving up a side dish of leg kick to the head. Instead, what we got was Gonzaga coming out of NOWHERE and knocking Cro Cop back to Croatia with a vicious head kick. However, that wasn't all. The way that Cro Cop landed on the Octagon is a whole other story. His ankle twisted under the rest of his leg in a sickening manner. It was literally hard to watch for any one who's sensitive to that sort of thing, such as myself. I factored in all of those and realized that this is probably my favorite knockout of all-time. Now remember, I change my mind all the time and next week I'll probably favor something else....that's just how I roll.
Cro Cop....beaten by his own move, IRONY~!......
And that's it for me this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of good MMA, NBA, NFL, and other random crap talk. Trust me, I won't let you down.
All of 411's zones are also on Twitter, so make sure you check it out.....
Posted By: Jim (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 11:52 PM
I know this is strictly your opinion, but no mention of the UFC 17 Pete Williams vicious Head Kick KO upon Mark Coleman?
Posted By: Serial (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 11:53 PM
i thought rashad dislocated chuck's head from his body.
silva/franklin II is just as sick as the first match as i have never seen someone literally beat a man from head to toe.
the one i expected to be on here is yves edwards turn around jump kick.
Posted By: rey (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 12:08 AM
PRIDE 34 Kamikaze was actually the last PRIDE show
Posted By: SedlockIHCC (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 12:43 AM
Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin is the greatest knockout of all time.
IT WAS A RIGHT JAB GOING BACKWARDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:13 AM
Cro Cop getting Cro Copped was fucking scary.
Posted By: MBD (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:26 AM
Jackon has a hard head. That hook right before the Clinch knees would have floored anyone with a lesser jaw; seeing it in slo-mo still looks SICK.
That KO of Wands stands as my personal #1.
Posted By: Guest#2350 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 02:16 AM
No love for Vovchanchyn's KO of Bueno? Best overhand right ever, best KO in Pride FC history.
Posted By: Guest#0772 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 02:18 AM
News flash: Hughes didn't "powerbomb" Newton, he passed out from the choke and the fall KO'd Newton. Hughes "win" was nothing other than the ref fucking up what should have been a double-KO. They were both out.
Posted By: Jordan Breen (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 02:45 AM
Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin is the greatest knockout of all time.
IT WAS A RIGHT JAB GOING BACKWARDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:13 AM
___________________________________________________
...except Forrest wasn't KO'ed... just knocked down.
Then again, Anderson didn't KO Franklin either.
Besides, the real #1 KO should be Herring vs. Nakao. I don't care if it counted or not- they were supposed to fight, it took place in the ring, and Nakao was KtFO.
Posted By: cyks (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 03:35 AM
Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin is the greatest knockout of all time.
IT WAS A RIGHT JAB GOING BACKWARDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:13 AM
You want jabs, forget AS watch my stuff.
Posted By: BJ Penn (Steriod-less) (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 04:13 AM
Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin is the greatest knockout of all time.
IT WAS A RIGHT JAB GOING BACKWARDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 01:13 AM
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This! And Hendo-Bisping should be added.
Posted By: Guest#0766 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 04:44 AM
No Rory Markham vs Brody Farber?
Faggot...
Posted By: Guest#3788 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 05:27 AM
No Henderson-Bisping.... Wrong
Posted By: Guest#1158 (Guest) on January 28, 2010 at 11:32 PM
if it wasnt for the fact that Bisping is british and talked some trash,you wouldnt even remember that KO. Not even top5 from previous year.
Good list by the way,Gonzaga-CroCop was scary.
If you want some great KOs,I would recommend you some K-1 fights:
Peter Graham vs Badr Hari (first fight)
Badr Hari vs Stefan Leko (second fight)
Badr Hari vs Ruslan Karaev (second fight)
Remy Bonjasky vs Vernon White
these are even better than what MMA has to offer.
Posted By: SoulBrotherNo1 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 05:29 AM
You, good sir, are my new favourite 411mania MMA columnist simply because of your mentioning of your love for the brilliance that is Lost.
Also really good list. Gonzaga's knockout of Cro Cop is one of the first MMA knockouts I ever saw and is still one of the sickest.
Posted By: Guest#4332 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 08:02 AM
You gotta love how Anderson just knew the fight was over after he landed that elbow. He never hesitated. He just walked away.
I also agree that Henderson/Bisping should've been on here
Posted By: GeeSpotter (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 08:11 AM
i missed a lot of them cuz this was before my time
i would have put the hendo-bisping in the top 10...not only was it ufc 100 but bisping talked THE MOST TRASH to all of America and Hendo's team for SOOOOOOO LONG. NO ONE could shut him up and when he finally got knocked out it was hands down the best thing i've ever seen in mma. There is a God! lol I think Bisping is an ok guy and he will recover from that...maybe it made him humble
Posted By: mae (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 10:04 AM
All things considered Ricardo Aronas nose looked pretty good after Rampage punched it in with the force of a jackhammer.
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 11:49 AM
You missed Hendo taking Bisbings manhood with the first shot, and fist dropping away any creditability that english prick had.
Posted By: Picone44 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Vitor vs. Wand was one of the most overrated fights in history. Wand wasn't out completely.
That being said, not having Bisping and Hendo on that list is inexcusable.
Posted By: sprawlandbrawl (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Being english, Michael Bisping was probably overhyped just like Andy Murray in tennis, Jenson Button in F1, Wayne Rooney in football etc
...or maybe not lol
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 12:32 PM
I was starting to think you didn't like Wanderlei Silva until I got to # 4.
Posted By: Bruno (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 12:56 PM
News flash: Hughes didn't "powerbomb" Newton, he passed out from the choke and the fall KO'd Newton. Hughes "win" was nothing other than the ref fucking up what should have been a double-KO. They were both out.
"News Flash" You're a fucking moron if you think that Hughes did anything other than plan Newton more visciously than anything this side of Big Van Vader
Posted By: kingave66 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 02:00 PM
Belfort vs Eastman. Eastman looked like someone took an ax to his head. A flipping ax.
Posted By: ilb320 (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 05:42 PM
""News Flash" You're a fucking moron if you think that Hughes did anything other than plan Newton more visciously than anything this side of Big Van Vader"
I don't know what is funnier. The fact that this idiot doesn't know what he's talking about or the fact that he's arguing with Jordan Breen about it.
Dude has forgotten more about MMA than you will ever know.
Posted By: Lester Bangs (Guest) on January 29, 2010 at 07:31 PM
Some of my favorites not mentioned, not in any particular order
Fedor vs Arlovski
BJ Penn vs Caol Uno from the same card as the Hughes/Newton fight
Wand vs Sukuraba in the 3rd fight
Evans vs Machida
Any of Marius Zaromski's from 2009
Posted By: B (Guest) on January 30, 2010 at 06:19 AM
gary goodridge elbows anyone
Posted By: tk (Guest) on January 30, 2010 at 04:49 PM
TANK VS NELMARK watch it & no other ko will matter
Posted By: cumdogmillionaire (Guest) on January 31, 2010 at 03:30 AM
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