Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim is the most famous one, but there are several more!
“What goes up, must come down. Spinning wheel got to go ‘round.”
Those are the words of lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas in the song “Spinning Wheel” by famed 1960s band “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.” It’s an appropriate lyric for this video put out by the UFC, which compiles every wheel kick finish in the promotion’s history. Whether you want to get into semantics over wheel kick, spinning heel kick, it’s cool stuff that’s worth your time because you might not remember all of these.
The most famous wheel kick KO here is Edson Barboza’s picture-perfect stoppage of Terry Etim at UFC 142. You also have Stephen Thompson dropping Jake Ellenberger twice with spinning sh-t, with the second one putting him down for good.
I barely remember the Daron Cruickshank one against Mike Rio, which was mostly finished with punches but it was the kick that spelled the beginning of the end. Loudest crowd reaction belongs to the Brazilians for Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold, which was the peak of the TRT Belfort era. Let’s not forget about Lando Vannata’s one-shot destruction of John Makdessi, which remains Vannata’s only KO in his UFC career.
Watch the video at the top of the page.