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UFC’s Top 20 Knockouts of 2012

20.) Cub Swanson vs. Charles Oliveira Many fans, including myself, thought Oliveira was the next big thing in the UFC’s featherweight division, but Swanson changed that with clean overhand right. Right when it looked liked.

20.) Cub Swanson vs. Charles Oliveira

Many fans, including myself, thought Oliveira was the next big thing in the UFC’s featherweight division, but Swanson changed that with clean overhand right. Right when it looked liked Oliveira took the punch well, he collapsed. This is the only knockout on the list that had a delayed reaction.

19.) Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader

Machida showcased the epitome of precision with his knockout of Bader. After not being able to so much as touch his opponent, Bader charged Machida, but ran face first into his fist.

18.) Mike Pyle vs. Josh Neer

It was a back and forth brawl between these two fighters, but Neer slowly started to get the upper hand. He unleashed a plethora of strikes leaving Pyle to cover up and do what he could to answer back, but shortly after landed what was between a hook and an overhand right that immediately dropped Neer and ended the fight.

17.) Ryan Jimmo vs. Anthony Perosh

How can a seven second knockout not be on the list? It’s practically self explanatory as to why this knockout makes the top twenty.

16.) Pat Barry vs. Shane Del Rosario

After losing the first round, Barry came out aggressive in the second and connected with and a big left hand that backed Del Rosario up. Barry closed in and finished the fight with a flurry of punches.

15.) Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman

Nelson is a master of the overhand right, and this was his best use of it, as he put Herman on his butt, leaving him not knowing where he was.

14.) Andrew Craig vs. Rafael Natal

Who doesn’t love a head kick? Though it was a heck of a kick, Natal’s chin held up as it required multiple follow up punches to actually finish the fight, which keeps Craig from landing a higher spot on the list.

13.) Eddie Wineland vs. Scott Jorgensen

Wineland needed this win bad after losing his prior two fights. Not only did he win, but Wineland put Jorgensen to sleep after dropping him with a straight right and landing several follow up strikes.

12.) Donald Cerrone vs. Melvin Guillard

Cerrone is the only fighter to knockout Guillard, as if that wasn’t impressive enough, he did so in a come from behind victory. Cerrone was hit with several heavy shots and was definitely on the back pedal, but after Guillard was stumbled from a half landed head kick, Cerrone went in for the kill and finished Guillard with one straight punch.

11.) Mike Swick vs. DaMarques Johnson

Swick scored quite the rare knockout in this fight. Swick caught one of Johnson’s kicks and swept his other leg, but instead on taking part in the ground game, Swick winded up for a big punch while in the midst of freefall, and connected before he even hit the canvas. Johnson immediately went limp.

10.) Rustam Khabilov vs. Vinc Pichel

Probably one of the rarest knockouts in the UFC’s history. Not only was it one of only a handful of knockouts due to a slam, but Khabilov suplexed Pichel straight over his head, slamming Pichel’s head to the canvas and knocking him out cold.

9.) Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon

Another head kick knockout, but Pettis threw his kick quicker and more crisp than Andrew Craig’s head kick knockout. Form and technique make a difference on this list, and Pettis landed shin to chin on Lauzon, then finished with a few follow up shots.

8.) Cung Le vs. Rich Franklin

Rich Franklin has never been knocked out so bad in his career, not even Anderson Silva or Vitor Belfort finished off Franklin in such devastating fashion. Le landed what may have been the best counter punch the UFC has ever seen.

7.) Issei Tamura vs. Tiequan Zhang

Because this fight was on the under card and neither fighter is too popular, this was knockouts that most fans forgot about, but Tamura hit Zhang with one of the most devastating punches this year that put Zhang’s lights out.

6.) Brad Pickett vs. Yves Jabouin

Pickett lived up to the name “One Punch” in this fight. As talented a striker Jabouin is, Pickett caught him with one uppercut that ended the fight.

5.) Johnny Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann

Hendricks caught Kampmann with a punch that sent him falling like a chopped down tree. Hendricks landed one final punch to earn himself the number five spot.

4.) Darron Cruickshank vs. Henry Martinez

What makes this head kick knockout better than the others? Cruickshank landed one kick and walked away, Martinez was out and no extra punches were needed.

3.) Stephen Thompson vs. Dan Stiggen

Thompson head kick edges out Cruickshank’s because it was a Tae Kwon Do style side head kick. It blindsided Stiggen as it came over his shoulder and knocked him clean out.

2.) Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer

Lawrence grabs the second spot on the list, because unlike all the other head kick knockouts, Cofer was actually evading when Lawrence still caught him with a kick to the face that knocked Cofer into the cage, unconscious.

1.) Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, obviously the UFC’s most flashy knockout of the year, maybe of all time. Barboza was gutsy enough to throw a wheel kick while standing in the pocket, it landed flush and paid off big time, by winning him knockout of the year.

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

UFC on FX 7 Predictions

Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre Had George Roop not pulled out of this bout, it would’ve made for an tough fight to call. However, Alcantara will now be facing UFC newcomer Pedro Nobre, which is.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Pedro Nobre
Had George Roop not pulled out of this bout, it would’ve made for an tough fight to call. However, Alcantara will now be facing UFC newcomer Pedro Nobre, which is a far less interesting match up. Alcantara is an elite featherweight and grappler with nearly as many wins by knockout as he does by submission. Nobre could shock the fans in his UFC debut, but the chances of that happening aren’t too likely. This fight won’t go to long as Alcantara will look to finish his opponent with a quick submission.

Pick : Yuri Alcantara

Fransisco Trinaldo vs. C.J. Keith
Trinaldo may have lost his fight with Gleison Tibau, but he was able to hold his own and prove that he can hang with some of the better fighters in the division. Keith has some skills in the stand up, but lacks skills in the ground game, which just so happens to be Trinaldo’s bread and butter. Keith is a thinner, more lanky lightweight and doesn’t possess the strength to stop Trinaldo’s takedowns, so Keith will be tapping out earlier than he did in his fight with Ramsey Nijem.

Pick : Fransisco Trinaldo

Wagner Prado vs. Ildemar Alcantara

Prado may have gotten his octagon jitters out of the way, but Alcantara has nearly three times as much MMA experience, with a ninety percent finish rate. Alcantara takes very limited damage on the feet, blocking or evading most of what his opponents throw, while using proficient counter striking. He wastes little energy in his fights, but is explosive in his striking and uses fluent combinations. Prado has the power to finish any fight, but the bottom line is that he is strictly a striker, who will be facing a superior, more technical striker. Alcantara possess excellent kicks and a top notch Thai clinch in his arsenal, so he will be comfortable fighting at all ranges, giving him a significant advantage. Prado always has a puncher’s chance, but it’s not a smart bet. Alcantara will out strike Prado and go in for the kill with relentless knees from his deadly Thai clinch, Anderson Silva style.

Pick : Ildemar Alcantara

Edson Barboza vs. Lucas Martins

There’s no need to go into too much detail about Lucas Martins. Bottom line, he hasn’t faced the same level of competition, and he doesn’t possess the same skill set. Barboza has the tools to finish the UFC newcomer and add another highlight knockout to his repertoire.

Pick : Edson Barboza

Diego Nunes vs. Nik Lentz

How many fans are scratching their heads over this match up? Nunes had a phenomenal performance in his win over Bart Palaszewski, so why is he now fighting the less talented Lentz? Evan Dunham was able outclass Lentz on the feet, so he won’t stand a chance against Nunes. A win over Eiji Mitsuoka doesn’t entitle any fighter to a bout with a top ten featherweight, and Nunes will punish Lents for three rounds, or until the ref intervenes

Pick : Diego Nunes

Ronny Markes vs. Andrew Craig

Markes is an enormous middleweight, and will have a noticeable size advantage. His wrestling skills bested those of Aaron Simpson and shouldn’t have a problem imposing them on Craig as well. Craig was controlled by Kyle Noke’s grappling, but Noke’s cardio wasn’t up to par, which allowed Craig to gain the upper hand to win a decision. On the feet, Rafael Natal was picking Craig apart until Craig’s head kick comeback. Craig’s best attribute is his determination and his nerver say die attitude, but his actual skills are far from impressive. Markes will use his size and wrestling to control the fight and win himself the unanimous decision.

Pick : Ronny Markes

Godofredo “Pepey” Castro vs. Milton Vieira

Vieira will have the Jiu-Jitsu advantage, but Pepey possess impressive submission skills, making the gap between their grappling much smaller then the gap in their striking. Pepey went toe to toe with Rony “Jason” for three rounds to showcase his ability to stand and throw leather. Pepey may not be able to submit Vieira, but he certainly can use his knowledge of the ground game to keep the fight standing where he will have a definitive advantage. Vieira has yet to be the victim of a stoppage loss, so this fight will most likely go the distance, but it will be Pepey who gets the victory.

Pick : Godofredo “Pepey” Castro

Thiago Tavares vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Despite a controversial win over Gleison Tibau, Nurmagomedov has a solid performace against a strong lightweight, but now he’s facing a step down in competition by fighting Tavares. Like Tibau, Tavares is a Brazilizn Jiu-Jitsu black belt, but hasn’t been as successful in the octagon as Tibau. Tavares took two unanimous decisions over Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher, two fighters who are slowly becoming insignificant in the division, and Nurmagomedov shouldn’t have any issue getting this fight to the ground. Tavares doesn’t possess the strength to prevent the takedown attempts like Tibau was able to. Once the fight in on the ground, Nurmagomedov will control this fight in it’s entirety.

Pick : Khabib Nurmagomedov

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell

Gonzaga has a tendency to neglect his Jiu-Jitsu in his fights, and instead stand toe to toe with his opponent. Even though he had relative success in doing so, Rothwell isn’t the fighter to challenge to a slugfest if you can avoid it. Rothwell has showcased his capability to knockout his opponent, but the Gonzaga has succeed in taking down a number of heavy handed strikers such as Junior dos Santos, Shane Carwin, and Mirko Cro Cop (when he was still relevant). Mark Hunt is primarily a striker, but was able to not only take and hold Rothwell down, therefore, Gonzaga shouldn’t have any problem doing the same. The Gonzaga has stated his intensions to go back to his Jiu-Jitsu roots, so as long as he doesn’t stray from that plan, he will get his opponent to the ground and submit him.

Pick : Gabriel Gonzaga

Daniel Sarafian vs. C.B. Dollaway

Dollaway is a variable. He may have a stellar performance one fight, and then bomb the very next. Dollaway is a great wrestler, but is more or less a one dimensional fighter. He has several submission wins, but it seems that all he has in his repertoire is chokes. Dollaway was knocked out in two consecutive fights by Jared Hamman and Mark Munoz, and if Hamman was able to finish him, than Sarafian can certain do the same. Sarafian is a well rounded fighter with six submissions and two knockouts, including his fights while on the Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. When Dollaway tries to take Sarafian down, he’s going to eat a plethora of punches, one of which is bound to drop him. Sarafian has serious power in his hands and if the fight does go to the ground, he is capable of submitting Dollaway, even off his back.

Pick : Daniel Sarafian

Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping

This is a fight where the fans may very well see Bisping try to utilize his wrestling, because it will be a mistake for him to stand toe to toe with the Phenom. Belfort doesn’t usually take part in the whole “feeling out” process, and will attack aggressively from the start. Bisping may be a talented striker, but he doesn’t possess the speed or the power than Belfort has, the same speed and power that helped him achieve quick finishes over Rich Franklin and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Even if Belfort finds himself on his back, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt will be more than comfortable; it only takes one second for Belfort to catch Bisping in with a submission. Either way, this is a bad match up for Bisping whether he wants to strike or grapple, Belfort will take the fight to him and finish in the first round.

Pick : Vitor Belfort

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

Because It’s Bisping

Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that Michael Bisping has talent. With that being said, he also has the biggest mouth in the middleweight division, maybe in all the UFC..

Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that Michael Bisping has talent. With that being said, he also has the biggest mouth in the middleweight division, maybe in all the UFC. Does he do it for the hype, the entertainment, or does he enjoy playing the bully? Whatever the reason, Bisping sure loves to talk his game, and boy does he say some ridiculous things.

Clearly, Bisping is the type of fighter that loves making excuses. He’s been extremely vocal about believing he deserves a title shot, even when he recently lost to Chael Sonnen. Bisping likes to claim that he won the fight against Sonnen, and was cheated by the judges, which is quite hypocritical seeing he was on the winning end of the most controversial decision in UFC history against Matt Hamill. Even if you take the Chael Sonnen fight out of the equation, the only top ten fighter he has a win over is Brian Stann, and he is in the lower half of the list. Bisping has victories over Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Dan Miller; none of which are anywhere near the top ten, and yet he believes he next in line for the title.

More so than his losses, Bisping has excuses for other fighter’s wins and credentials. Instead of accepting Alan Belcher’s challenge to a fight, he has done nothing but make excuses for as to why he shouldn’t have to fight him. At a press conference, Bisping stated that Belcher’s knockout win over Rousimar Palhares wasn’t impressive because Palhares was a “Jiu-Jitsu guy” and not a fighter. Bisping must have forgotten that unlike himself, Palhares wasn’t finished in his fight with Dan Henderson, and also had a more decisive victory over Dan Miller.

As if Bisping’s remarks weren’t outlandish enough, he’s convinced that he is the most exciting fighter in the division. Really? He’s had entertaining bouts, but fights with Brian Stann, Chael Sonnen, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Dan Miller and Wanderlei Silva aren’t necessarily proof to back this claim. By no means are Bisping’s bouts boring, but his for him to make such statements is rather ignorant, because most intelligent fans would agree that Chris Leben, Brian Stann, Vitor Belfort, Hector Lombard, Cung Le, and Chris Weidman are all more entertaining to watch.

This will be Bisping’s third opportunity to become the number one contender. He was unsuccessful the prior two times, so now it’s do or die. However, if Belfort is victorious, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bisping had an excuse of some kind and continued to call himself the number one contender, continuing to petition for a title shot.

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

Roger Gracie Living Up to the Family Name

Roger Gracie is certainly keeping his family name significant in modern MMA. Sometimes a Gracie only needs one submission attempt to finish a fight, and Anthony Smith found that out first hand. Giving credit where credit is due, Smith was getting the better of the striking, and wasn’t allowing Gracie to close the distance, but despite a solid performance in the first round, Gracie quickly answered back. Gracie came out in the second round more aggressive, and was successful in taking the fight to the ground which led to the inevitable submission finish.

It was surprising that Smith took a short amount of time to recover after the accidental eye poke. It’s doubtful that the eye poke is the reason Gracie was able to close the distance to set up the finish of the fight, but nonetheless, he came out in the second round with a different kind of energy. He made clear intensions to impose his Jiu-Jitsu, and once the fight hit the ground, it was the beginning of the end, as Gracie shortly after tapped Smith with an arm triangle choke.

With two decisive wins at his new weight class, Gracie has surely secured a spot for himself in the UFC’s middleweight division. Although Anthony Smith has nothing to be ashamed of, I don’t know if I can say the same for him. A specific intriguing fight for Gracie’s UFC debut would be an all out grappling chess battle with fellow Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Rousimar Palhares.

– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

UFC on FX 7 Prediction Video

Vinny Magalhaes’ Calls Out Phil Davis

The ADCC World Grappling champion has called out the Division 1 All American wrestler in Phil Davis. Vinny has stated that nobody wants to fight him, and the UFC told him to call out an.

The ADCC World Grappling champion has called out the Division 1 All American wrestler in Phil Davis. Vinny has stated that nobody wants to fight him, and the UFC told him to call out an opponent if he wants it to happen. This sounds like the UFC is looking to do anything to help promote fights, but this is going a little too far in my opinion.

Getting back to the fight, I really like this match up. Usually when we see a grappler versus grappler fight it turns into a striking match; however both these men believe they are better on the ground so I see this hitting the mat. The real question is who really has the advantage on the ground? Many times we see good wrestlers have the ability to hold down a good BJJ practitioner. However, in my opinion I think Magalhaes has the advantage on the ground in this one.

Davis has a solid submission game, but his blue belt is nothing compared to the black belt that Vinny has. It will be really interesting to see what Davis’ submission defense is like, and believe me it will be tested. Even if Davis is able to strap on his famous Anaconda choke, I believe Malgalhaes will be able to get out of it and use it against him. Let me know how you see this fight going fight fans.

-Josh Leduc