Top 10 Greatest Knockouts in the UFC

The first UFC event was held in 1993, and since then it has produced some of the most spectacular UFC knockouts, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts has ever seen.

Zuffa, the parent company took over the UFC in 2001, installing a young Dana White as its president. With over 500 fights hosted since its conception, these are 10 of the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, mind-blowing finishes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

10. Mauricio Shogun Rua def. Lyoto Machida

With defending champion Lyoto Machida coming off a controversial unanimous decision win over Shogun Rua at UFC 104, the UFC booked the rematch between the two.

The fight would go down at UFC 113 in 2010. Machida was undefeated in his career up to this point, having won the title against Rashad Evans. The rematch against Shogun was completely different from the first contest, with the champion being more aggressive.

This led to Rua landing a big right hand that hurt and dropped Machida. He quickly gained the mount position and cranked up the pressure to earn a KO. As a result, he became the first person to defeat ‘The Dragon‘ and claimed the UFC middleweight championship.

9. Francis Ngannou def. Alistair Overeem

This fight is remembered as the one with the ‘Uppercut from Hell’. Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou was a relatively lesser-known commodity until his now-famous knockout of Alistair Overeem took place.

This devastating first-round KO of ‘The Demolition Man’ put Ngannou on the map. On the back of his statement performance, he earned the #1 contender’s spot for Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title.

Ngannou landed a huge uppercut, snapping Overeem’s head back as he fell to the canvas stiff as a board. ‘The Cameroonian fighter followed it up with a hammer-fist for good measure before the referee got across and stopped the bout.

Read: WATCH: Insane 20-Second Knockout by Francis Ngannou Stuns UFC 249

8. Anderson Silva def. Vitor Belfort

The battle of Brazil at UFC 126 showcased two of Brazil’s greatest talents, Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfor The duo was all set to thrill fans in a fight for ‘The Spider’s’ middleweight title. UFC President Dana White confirmed that the former light heavyweight champion would go down to challenge Silva despite his reluctance to fight a countryman. However, he relented ‘The Phenom’ insisted on the clash.

Ahead of the fight, no one could have imagined the manner in which Silva retained his belt. ‘The Spider’ landed a devastating front kick and swiftly moved in for a ground and pound to close out UFC 126. As a result, he established himself as one of the greatest talents to come out of Brazil.

7. Valentina Shevchenko def. Jessica Eye

‘Bullet’ shocked the world back at UFC 238 with a devastating victory over USA’s Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye as she landed a spectacular head kick to retain her belt.

Eye survived a dominant first round and absorbed multiple hard kicks to the body. Shevchenko was undeterred as she stuck to her gameplan. Subsequently, she went up high, resulting in a stunning KO of Jessica Eye just 26 seconds after the round began. ‘Evil Eye’ fell right to the canvas to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the fight was over. With her win, ‘Bullet’ demonstrated that she is one of the deadliest and clinical finishers the UFC has ever seen.

6. Amanda Nunes def. Cris Cyborg

The title for ‘Greatest Women’s Fighter’ was up for grabs when UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes went up to face featherweight champion Cris Cyborg at UFC 232. Nunes was on a tear in the UFC, and Cyborg had long held the reputation of being unbeatable. Hence, fans expected a cracker as the women would do battle for Cyborg’s UFC featherweight title.

The pre-fight expectations fizzled out as the fight did not last long. ‘The Lioness’ caught her opponent in the opening minute to assert her superiority over a formidable foe and enhance her reputation as the women’s MMA’s first “Champ-Champ”.

5. Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva was on a 16-fight win streak in the UFC as he went into the fight against a relatively unknown Chris Weidman. ‘The All-American’ was undefeated; however, he was a massive underdog in the fight. Rightly so, as Anderson Silva had risen to be one of the greatest talents the UFC had ever seen with his fan-friendly fight style.

On this fateful night, ‘The Spider’ let his arrogance get the better of his judgment. He dropped his hands and offered the challenger a free swing at his face. This encouraged Weidman to swing while Silva attempted to dodge it with his high-level head movement.

The UFC octagon, however, is no place for games as Silva learned the hard way as he crumpled to the canvas. ‘The Spider’ has not been the same after that defeated and fans wonder what might have been had he not showboated.

4. Holly Holm def. Ronda Rousey

The fight will be remembered in MMA circles as the “Kick heard around the World.” At UFC 193, Holly Holm, who had arrived from the boxing circuit, defeated Ronda Rousey to record the biggest UFC upset of all time.

Rousey was coming into the fight with undefeated and was arguably the biggest brand in the UFC alongside Conor McGregor. The inaugural women’s bantamweight champion was a role model for women of all ages across the globe and fans did not fathom her losing to ‘The Preacher’s’ Daughter.

Holly Holm used her striking game to devastating effect. She landed a brutal kick to Rousey’s neck as she was turning and turned out her lights. As a result, Holm became the second UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Furthermore, she became the first fighter to KO Ronda Rousey. Also, Holm became a two-sport world champion.

3. Conor McGregor def. Jose Aldo

Arguably the biggest star in MMA today, Conor McGregor’s rise to stardom and global recognition started at UFC 194 when he beat the legendary Jose Aldo.

Having captured the interim UFC featherweight title after beating Chad Mendes, ‘The Notorious‘ got his opportunity at the Champion. The build-up to this fight would put a lot of pressure on the Champion Jose Aldo. This included multiple pre-fight press conferences and a lot of mind games from McGregor.

When the fight started, Jose Aldo did not seem to be in his usual state of mind. He opened aggressively, which ended up with Conor McGregor knocking him out in just 13 seconds of the first round to earn one of the fastest finishes in a UFC championship fight.

2. Dan Henderson def. Michael Bisping

In one of the most vicious finishes to date, Dan Henderson went on to knockout Michael Bisping in devastating fashion in a UFC middleweight title eliminator match back in 2009.

A heated build-up from the young, brash English fighter did not go down well with Henderson. After landing a huge right hand which dropped Bisping, Hendo jumped onto Bisping and landed another devastating strike to put ‘The Count’s’ lights out.

Bisping bears the scars of his defeat to this day. He has a detached retina and has to use a glass eye to cover the damage done.

1. Jorge Masvidal def. Ben Askren

The fastest knockout in UFC tops the list of greatest KOs in the eyes of numerous enthusiasts. Multi promotional champion, Ben Askren came into this fight as an undefeated professional. Fans expected him to have it easy against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239.

However, ‘Gamebred’ had his own game plan. He saw ‘Funky’s attempt to catch his leg and charged forward with a precise high-knee to shock the world and leave an arena speechless. The future BMF champion sent Askren to the canvas in under five seconds to end his 19-fight winning run.

It was so shocking that it stopped current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya mid-interview as he saw what Masvidal had done. Joe Rogan even stated that the finish should have been three seconds, but the referee took two seconds to get across and call off the fight.

The finish went viral, propelling Jorge Masvidal, who had been around the UFC for many years, straight to stardom. ‘Gamebred’ rounded off his phenomenal 2019 with a win at the company’s annual Madison Square Garden event.