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March 23rd has delivered a handful of epic finishes.

With no new fights to report on, we are still taking the time to look back into the annals of MMA history. Today we are mostly focusing on epic TKO/KOs.

March 23, 2014: Dan Henderson knocks out Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC Fight Night 38

PRIDE favourites Dan Henderson and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua put on one of the greatest contests of all time when they met at UFC 139 in November 2011. That fight, which Henderson won via unanimous decision, has since been recognized by the UFC’s imaginary Hall of Fame.

After that bloody war Henderson went on a three fight losing streak, losing to former UFC light heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort. Shogun fared a little better; rebounding to TKO Brandon Vera, but then losing to Alexander Gustafsson and Chael Sonnen.

After Shogun KO’d James Te-Huna in Brisbane, he and Henderson found themselves matched-up once again. This time they were given the headline spot at UFC Fight Night 38 in Natal, Brazil.

The rematch wasn’t as thrilling as the first bout, but few fights are. Still, Henderson vs. Shogun 2 was an exciting back and forth contest. In the first round both fighters scored a knockdown, but it was Rua who came closest to the early finish; pummeling Hendo against the cage as the round ended.

In the second round both men traded more big shots. Again, it was Shogun getting the best of the action, dropping Henderson for a second time with a huge uppercut. Heading into the third Bloody Elbow had scored the first two rounds for Shogun. Based on what happened next, Henderson probably thought he was behind on the scorecards, too,

In the third the American came out all guns blazing. He threw his patented H-Bomb with reckless abandon and, when he landed, that was the beginning of the end for Shogun. Here’s Tim Burke’s live commentary of that third and final round:

Round 3 – Hendo missed with the H-Bomb. Hendo charged in an connected with a right. Shogun with a few jabs. Then a monster right hook sent Shogun flying! What a huge shot! He jumped him and landed another huge shot on the ground. A few hammerfists were borderline to the back of the head, but he landed a few to the side of the head and it was enough for Dean to stop the fight. WOW. Shogun’s nose is sideways!

See some highlights, including the finish of the fight, right here (via Fight Network):

On that same night C.B. Dolloway beat Cezar Ferreira by TKO, Thiago Santos beat Ronny Markes with a body kick, and Godofredo Pepey scored another highlight reel finish — with a flying knee on Noad Lahat.

You can watch Pepey’s KO here, on UFC Fight Pass.

After beating Rua this night, Henderson fought on for two more years. His results were inconsistent. He took losses to Daniel Cormier, Gegard Mousasi and Vitor Belfort (again). But he got knockout wins over Tim Boetsch and Hector Lombard. The last fight of his career was at UFC 204, in a rematch versus then UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Bisping won the bout via a unanimous (some would say controversial) decision.

Shogun, now 38, has fought seven times since that loss to Henderson. His most recent bout was only in November, a draw to Paul Craig. Over that stretch he has gone 4-2-1.

March 23, 2019: Anthony Pettis knocks out Stephen Thompson at UFC Nashville

We are only turning the clock back one year for this one. At 2019’s UFC Nashville, headlining honours were given to two fighters with a history for highlight reel knockouts; Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

Former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Pettis came into this welterweight bout off the back of a corner stoppage loss to Tony Ferguson. Prior to that he submitted Michael Chiesa.

Thompson was going through a rough patch. He had just lost to Darren Till, after beating Jorge Masvidal. Prior to the Masvidal fight he failed to win the UFC welterweight belt on two back to back occasions; thanks to a majority draw and then a majority decision loss to Tyon Woodley (in two utterly forgettable fights).

Given these fighters’ pasts, many were confident their fight in Tennessee would not go the full five rounds. And those people were right, with the fight stopping in the second thanks to a superman punch from Showtime.

Here’s the finish, along with Tim Burke’s reaction:

Round 2 – They trade low kicks. Hook kick from Thompson. Pettis still leg kicking. Side kick the chest from Wonderboy. Pettis lands a punch to the body. Slapping kicks from both men. Thompson is landing the jab with regularity. Thompson with a body-head combination. Pettis with some oblique kicks. Another hook kick. Body shot from Thompson. Pettis pushes off the cage with a superman punch and THOMPSON IS OUT COLD! HOLY HELL!

After this Pettis lost fights to Nate Diaz and Carlos Diego Ferreira. Thompson beat Vincente Luque last time out, at November’s UFC 244.

March 23, 2013: Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson defeats Andrei Arlovski at WSOF 2

There wasn’t much happening outside the UFC on previous March 23rds. However, there was a heavyweight fight between Anthony Johnson and Andrei Arlovski in the now defunct WSOF promotion.

You can see that whole fight below:

After losing the decision to Johnson Arlovski took one more WSOF fight, then a bout in his native Belarus, before returning to the UFC in 2014. Back with ZUFFA he went on a four fight win streak, beating Brendan Schaub, Bigfoot Silva. Travis Browne and Frank Mir. He then lost his next five. Arlovski has mostly lost since then. His most recent appearance was last November, when he was knocked out by Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Johnson also returned to the UFC soon after this fight. He turned himself into a UFC light heavyweight title challenger after wins over Phil Davis, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexander Gustafsson. He lost that title fight to Daniel Cormier, but earned a second shot with wins over Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. He lost his second title fight to Cormier, too.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The world of MMA, and the world in general, needs more people like Michael Bisping in these troubled times.

The world is obviously a very chaotic place at the moment. A virus is spreading across the earth, leaving over 14,000 dead as of this writing (and it will undoubtedly have gone up by the time you read this). Many countries have enacted strong measures in an attempt to “flatten the curve” of Coronavirus, or COVID-19 if you prefer.

In the world of MMA though, it seems that quite a few are not taking this as seriously as they should be.

Some fighters are still training together. Some are downplaying the potential severity of COVID-19. And some promoters are still running events, which is reckless at the very least and has the ability to be potentially deadly if things really go sideways.

And then there’s UFC president Dana White, who couldn’t handle valid criticism from media regarding his handling of the virus, and childishly responded by insulting said media and calling them “the weakest, wimpiest people on earth”.

I’m sure guys like ESPN analyst Chael Sonnen would chuckle at a statement like that. Another guy that laughed was UFC Hall of Famer and current broadcast team member Michael Bisping.

While a few emojis don’t exactly explain the motivation behind his amusement, Bisping has been much more clear in many other social media posts. He hasn’t been afraid to call out idiots who are defying government guidelines, and has spent much of the last month using his various platforms (social media, his Believe You Me podcast) in an attempt to open some eyes to exactly what is happening in the world right now. And he’s thrown in some lighthearted humor in the process.

Here are just a few examples from his various accounts:

As mentioned, he’s also mixed in some humor. This one actually did make me laugh:

And to avoid the so-called “TP hysteria”, he even installed bidets in his house. All of this is in addition to him RTing multiple experts and people that are attempting to hammer home the practices of social distancing and self-quarantining.

Now I’m sure that some other fighters, managers, promoters, and people involved in MMA are doing their part. I don’t follow every social media account, and I don’t keep track of every damn thing that goes on. In addition, I understand the mindset that putting food on your family’s table is more important than anything else, and I’m not judging fighters for thinking that way. But even though I follow Bisping, I’m still consistently seeing many other people RTing what he has to say as well. That’s a solid sign that what he’s putting out there might be making a difference.

I’m not writing this to kiss the former UFC middleweight champion’s ass. I don’t need to, and he probably wouldn’t want the accolades anyway. I’m writing this to raise some more awareness, and point you readers in the direction of someone one is doing his best to use his notoriety in a positive way. I truly wish there were more people like Michael Bisping involved in the sport we hold most dear, and there is still time for others to follow his lead.

So I just want to say thank you to Mr. Bisping for his efforts. If those posts (or this one) convinced even a few more people stay at home, or stop hoarding items we all need, or made them more aware of treating elderly individuals with compassion – it was worth it.