contributed by Adam Qureshi
The UFC is always exciting, edge-on-your-seat stuff because the match could literally finish out of nowhere. All it takes is one swift kick or well-placed punch and it’s all over. There have been some pretty iconic finishes in UFC history, so I thought I would go through them and find the best 10 of all time. While some of them didn’t come from the best fights in general, they were certainly the best finishes.
Let’s take a look!
10: Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal knocks out Ben “Funky” Askren at UFC 239
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Can we have a list of the best finishes without the fastest finish in UFC history?
At UFC 239 Masvidal recorded the fastest knockout in UFC history. This was recorded as a 5-second knockout beating the record of 4 different fights from UFC149, 102, 263 and 140 of 7 seconds.
This came against Ben Askren in July 2019 when Masvidal delivered an accurate flying knee strike to the head of Askren knocking him out cold on the spot.
This was a shocking moment all MMA fans will remember for a long time.
Some fans say it was pure luck. Some think it was skill. Either way, it was shocking.
9: Holy “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm knocks out Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey at UFC193
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At UFC193 women’s MMA changed forever when Holm finished Rousey in the second round by a vicious knockout.
Although this may not be the most flashy or technical knockout, this fight changed women’s MMA forever. Rousey dominated the women’s UFC scene being the number one pound-for-pound fighter and left everyone else in her shadow, a woman who many MMA fans thought would retire undefeated. For her to be beaten left a shock to the world and opened up numerous opportunities for more amazing female talent to emerge from her shadow.
This ended a historic and amazing era of women’s MMA but allowed for an amazing new era of women’s MMA to be born.
8: Joaquin “New Mansa” Buckley Knocks out Impa “Tshilobo” Kasanganay at UFC Fight Night 179
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At UFC fight night 179 Buckley produced one of the flashiest knockouts anyone has ever seen.
After a failed head kick from Buckley, Kasanganay got a hold of Buckley’s leg and didn’t let go, with some quick thinking and sensational movement from Buckley he hopped and spun off one leg and landed one of the most beautiful spinning head kicks ever. Kasanganay’s whole body froze on impact and he went limb declaring Buckley winner by KO at 2:57 of the second round.
Although this KO has no division or historic relevance this will forever go down as one of the coolest knockouts we will ever see inside the octagon.
7: Jon “Bones” Jones submits Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida at UFC140
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It cant be a UFC top “Finishes” list without a couple of submissions. One of the most impressive if not the most impressive submission was in UFC 140 when arguably the best MMA talent of all time Jon “Bones” Jones submitted Lyoto “The Dragon Machida” via a standing guillotine choke.
In round 2 of the fight, a devastating blow from Jones found Machida dazed and against the cage. Jones trapped him in a front headlock and amazingly caught Machida in a standing guillotine. Jones held this choke until Machida went limb and Jones finished with one of the best submissions we have ever seen.
6: Francis “The Predator” Ngannou knocks out Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem at UFC 218
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A fight of two enormous powers, this fight was in no doubt in anyone’s mind going to end in a knockout.
A man not shy of being on the wrong end of memorable UFC knockouts, Overeem was definitely not shy of being knocked out at UFC218 when Ngannou unleashed one of the most spine-chilling and devasting uppercuts we have seen. After multiple watches, you will still be perplexed about how Overeems head is still attached to his body.
The UFC champion has had numerous memorable and incredible knockouts on his journey to becoming the UFC world champion, but this knockout tops them all.
5: Daniel “DC” Cormier knocks out Stipe Miocic at UFC 226
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Cormier, although known as a very skilled fighter, isn’t known for his knockouts. Matter of fact he has only 2 knockouts during his UFC career. What makes this knockout so impressive is Cormier, the light heavyweight champion at the time moved up to fight what most people think is the best heavyweight of all time Stipe Miocic. Not only did he defeat him but he knocked him out in great fashion with a hook inside the clinch.
After this fight Cormier became the first man to hold the LHW and HW title simultaneously, thus adding to Cormier’s amazing UFC Career.
4: Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson submits Ray “The Tazmexican Devil” Borg at UFC 216
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Although this is not on many Top 10 lists, due to the skill of the opponent this was still arguably the best submission we have ever seen inside the octagon. At UFC216 Mighty Mouse broke the UFC’s record for consecutive title defences in a tremendous fashion. After one of the most dominant performances, we’ve seen from Mighty Mouse. After rounds of battering Borg, he finally finished Borg by throwing him backwards, catching his wrist mid-air, and fell into a perfect armbar to make Borg tap. Even a non-MMA fan can imagine the difficulty of that.
You would expect nothing less from one of the best fighters we have seen inside the octagon ever, this being one of my personal favourites.
3: Dan “Hendo” Henderson Knocks out Michael “The Count” Bisping at UFC 100
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Bisping being great at his arrogant trash-talking, he had definitely made it known to Henderson leading up to the fight, throwing insults left, right and centre. All UFC fans know Henderson was never an emotional fighter but Bisping made this person for Henderson. Making this an entertaining and must-watch fight for MMA fans all over the world.
Henderson was well known for his “H-bombs” as he has had some great knockouts with his strong and destructive right hand. At 3:20 of the second round, he dropped that H-bomb perfectly on Bisping’s jaw, knocking out a 17-1 future contender.
This may be the most impressive knockout we have seen in the UFC to date.
2: Anderson “The Spider” Silva Knocks out Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort at UFC 126
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Silva was fresh off a tremendous win again Chael Sonnen in his previous match and was looking for blood.
This was a great championship fight, with both fighters finding lots of success in the octagon. Silva knew not to leave this fight to the judges, at 3:25 of the first round Silva threw one of the dirtiest moves we have seen in the octagon, a front kick straight at Belfort’s face. This shot wobbled Belfort and put him on his back, moments after Silva followed up with a couple of punches before the fight was stopped.
This was one of the most impressive and unseen kicks we have seen inside the octagon and will forever be a crucial point in Silva’s wonderful UFC career.
1: Connor “The Notorious” McGregor knocks out Jose “Junior” Aldo at UFC 194
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This was one of the most anticipated fights of all time, with Aldo being unbeaten for 15 fights, including 9 title defences against some extremely tough opponents such as; Chad Mendes, Urijah Faber and Frankie Edgar. This was McGregor’s toughest fight to date, although it did not look like it. After just 13 seconds Connor “Notorious” had one of the best fighters of all time knocked out cold. After a couple of thrown punches, Aldo leaned it for a shot which McGregor slipped perfectly landing a devasting left hand that knocked out Aldo cold.
To this day this moment is still a shocking thing to watch and even think about. This was truly one the biggest turning points in McGregor’s career, this moment creating the biggest star the UFC had to offer.
And that’s our list!
Do you agree with my selections? Who did I miss?
Let me know in the comments!