Throughout the comparatively short history of mixed martial arts (MMA), there’ve expectedly been a host of fights that stand out as one-sided beatdowns from one man or woman to another. The bout’s referee stopped some of these fights mercifully, a participant’s corner stopped some, and some went to a decision, but ultimately they all featured
Throughout the comparatively short history of mixed martial arts (MMA), there’ve expectedly been a host of fights that stand out as one-sided beatdowns from one man or woman to another.
The bout’s referee stopped some of these fights mercifully, a participant’s corner stopped some, and some went to a decision, but ultimately they all featured one-sided results
To be clear, we aren’t talking about one-punch or kick knockouts; those are a defined subset of a different sort. These bouts are just the most devastatingly one-sided contests in MMA history regardless of if they ended with a single knockout blow or not, and the magnitude of the fight was taken into account for judging.
They also not surprisingly feature some of the greatest fighters who’ve truly helped shape thee polished MMA picture we enjoy today.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 10 worst beatdowns in MMA history.
The complete Renzo Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba Metamoris 5 video is above. Honestly, it was a little boring, but it’s good to see these two old-timers in action again. Full results from the event are after the jump…
The complete Renzo Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba Metamoris 5 video is above. Honestly, it was a little boring, but it’s good to see these two old-timers in action again. Full results from the event are after the jump…
You gotta hand it to the folks over at Metamoris; in two short years, Ralek Gracie & Co. have managed to book some of the most intriguing Jiu-Jitsu matches outside of an ADCC tournament. Bringing guys like Chael Sonnen, Josh Barnett, and Eddie Bravo into the fold has helped the oft overlooked sport a wider audience than it has ever received, and it looks like Metamoris will continue that trend with their fifth event, which features quite possibly their best main event matchup so far.
Yesterday afternoon, the submission-only grappling promotion announced the lineup for Metamoris 5, which goes down on November 22nd, and it looks a little something like this:
Renzo Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba
Rory MacDonald vs J.T. Torres
Yuri Simoes vs Rafael Lovato Jr
Vinny Magalhaes vs Kevin Casey
Garry Tonon vs Zak Maxwell
Secret Match
Yes, you read that correctly: Renzo Gracie. Kazushi “The Gracie Hunter” Sakuraba. Rory MacDonald. Vinny Magalhay-eyes. Tell them what we think of this lineup, Philip J. Fry.
As any MMA fan with even an ounce of dignity knows, the main event will serve as a rematch of sorts to Sakuraba and Gracie’s Pride 10 match, which saw Sakuraba break Gracie’s arm like a goddamn chicken wing with 17 seconds left in the second round. While both men’s MMA careers have taken something of a downswing in the time since, the heat behind this matchup should be at a fever pitch. Should Sakuraba emerge victorious, expect to see Royce Gracie get all up in his grill backstage like the true professional he is.
After the jump: Sakuraba vs. Gracie at Pride 10. UH-DOI!
You gotta hand it to the folks over at Metamoris; in two short years, Ralek Gracie & Co. have managed to book some of the most intriguing Jiu-Jitsu matches outside of an ADCC tournament. Bringing guys like Chael Sonnen, Josh Barnett, and Eddie Bravo into the fold has helped the oft overlooked sport a wider audience than it has ever received, and it looks like Metamoris will continue that trend with their fifth event, which features quite possibly their best main event matchup so far.
Yesterday afternoon, the submission-only grappling promotion announced the lineup for Metamoris 5, which goes down on November 22nd, and it looks a little something like this:
Renzo Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba
Rory MacDonald vs J.T. Torres
Yuri Simoes vs Rafael Lovato Jr
Vinny Magalhaes vs Kevin Casey
Garry Tonon vs Zak Maxwell
Secret Match
Yes, you read that correctly: Renzo Gracie. Kazushi “The Gracie Hunter” Sakuraba. Rory MacDonald. Vinny Magalhay-eyes. Tell them what we think of this lineup, Philip J. Fry.
As any MMA fan with even an ounce of dignity knows, the main event will serve as a rematch of sorts to Sakuraba and Gracie’s Pride 10 match, which saw Sakuraba break Gracie’s arm like a goddamn chicken wing with 17 seconds left in the second round. While both men’s MMA careers have taken something of a downswing in the time since, the heat behind this matchup should be at a fever pitch. Should Sakuraba emerge victorious, expect to see Royce Gracie get all up in his grill backstage like the true professional he is.
After the jump: Sakuraba vs. Gracie at Pride 10. UH-DOI!
To purchase Metamoris 5 on internet stream pay-per-view, go here.
While kidnapping princesses in Japan last month, UFC president Dana White spent some time with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (and a translator, and another Japanese dude who was apparently just there to hang out), and talked to Saku about his days in PRIDE. The resulting video is above, although as Dana tells us, there was a lot that Sakuraba asked him not to include. Some thoughts and observations, in no particular order…
– Is it me, or does DW seem really jet-lagged in the intro? Dude is running on fumes.
– The sociopathic matchmakers at PRIDE wanted Sakuraba to fight Fedor Emelianenko at one point; that was the only fight he ever turned down. And no, Sakuraba wasn’t paid extra money whenever he fought a 205-pounder or a heavyweight.
– White can’t help crapping on PRIDE a bit for their handling of Sakuraba. “Imagine if they promoted fights the right way, and did it the way it should have been done,” White says. “Sakuraba is a fighter and an attraction that they could have took all over the world…if Sakuraba was at 170 and, at that time we’re talking the 170-pound division was Matt Hughes, Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich. All those guys that competed at 170 at that time, imagine Sakuraba coming into Las Vegas to take on one of those guys. They could have done big things.”
While kidnapping princesses in Japan last month, UFC president Dana White spent some time with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (and a translator, and another Japanese dude who was apparently just there to hang out), and talked to Saku about his days in PRIDE. The resulting video is above, although as Dana tells us, there was a lot that Sakuraba asked him not to include. Some thoughts and observations, in no particular order…
– Is it me, or does DW seem really jet-lagged in the intro? Dude is running on fumes.
– The sociopathic matchmakers at PRIDE wanted Sakuraba to fight Fedor Emelianenko at one point; that was the only fight he ever turned down. And no, Sakuraba wasn’t paid extra money whenever he fought a 205-pounder or a heavyweight.
– White can’t help crapping on PRIDE a bit for their handling of Sakuraba. “Imagine if they promoted fights the right way, and did it the way it should have been done,” White says. “Sakuraba is a fighter and an attraction that they could have took all over the world…if Sakuraba was at 170 and, at that time we’re talking the 170-pound division was Matt Hughes, Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich. All those guys that competed at 170 at that time, imagine Sakuraba coming into Las Vegas to take on one of those guys. They could have done big things.”
– Dana apparently isn’t aware that Sakuraba did indeed fight Carlos Newton in PRIDE, and that it was awesome. White also never watched Sakuraba vs. Akiyama. When Dana says this, Sakuraba thinks he’s joking. Clearly, the UFC president isn’t a real fan.
– Somebody who speaks Japanese should do a transcript of this video. I’m guessing that White only got about 15% of what was actually being said at that table.
– The last 30 seconds of the video are great — Saku hasn’t lost his pro-wrestling ability to oversell an armlock — although we did shed a single tear when Dana sunk the rear-naked choke.
We here at CagePotato.com aren’t the types to say “We told you so,” which is convenient, because we couldn’t even gather enough interest in BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar III to mock it beforehand. The fight ended predictably; Penn continued to be no match for Edgar, and “The Prodigy” hinted at yet another retirement from MMA after it was over. Given the trilogy’s one-sided nature and predictable ending, we’re tempted to call it the most pointless trilogy in our sport’s history. But doing so would do the following trilogies a grave injustice:
Bryan Robinson vs. Andrew Reinard
Third Fight: Tuesday Night Fights, 01/24/2002. Scoreboard: Robinson, 3-0.
A quick glance at the record of every ironman in MMA will reveal multiple victories over fighters who can best be described as “victims” and “warm bodies.” Reinard is Exhibit A: You can watch his entire three-fight career in only forty-eight seconds.
[Author Note: Robinson vs. Reinard is a stand-in for every pointless trilogy that other MMA ironmen have been involved in. Coincidentally, Robinson himself accounts for seven (?!?) of Travis Fulton’s career victories.]
(Okay, but can he beat a motivated, featherweight Penn? Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.)
We here at CagePotato.com aren’t the types to say “We told you so,” which is convenient, because we couldn’t even gather enough interest in BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar III to mock it beforehand. The fight ended predictably; Penn continued to be no match for Edgar, and “The Prodigy” hinted at yet another retirement from MMA after it was over. Given the trilogy’s one-sided nature and predictable ending, we’re tempted to call it the most pointless trilogy in our sport’s history. But doing so would do the following trilogies a grave injustice:
Bryan Robinson vs. Andrew Reinard
Third Fight: Tuesday Night Fights, 01/24/2002. Scoreboard: Robinson, 3-0.
A quick glance at the record of every ironman in MMA will reveal multiple victories over fighters who can best be described as “victims” and “warm bodies.” Reinard is Exhibit A: You can watch his entire three-fight career in only forty-eight seconds.
[Author Note: Robinson vs. Reinard is a stand-in for every pointless trilogy that other MMA ironmen have been involved in. Coincidentally, Robinson himself accounts for seven (?!?) of Travis Fulton’s career victories.]
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva
Third Fight: Pride: Total Elimination 2003, 08/10/2003. Scoreboard: Silva, 3-0.
Move along. We don’t need to re-open this wound.
Jeremy Horn vs. Chael Sonnen
Third Fight: UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie, 05/27/2006. Scoreboard: Horn, 3-0.
Three fights. Two submissions. Zero interest. It’s hard to believe that the UFC once had such humble plans for Chael Sonnen.
Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz
Third Fight: UFC: The Final Chapter, 10/10/2006. Scoreboard: Ortiz, 3-0.
A trilogy that saw a slightly disinterested relic from a bygone era get mercilessly picked apart by a hungrier fighter in his prime. In other words, it was the Penn vs. Edgar of its era.
Olaf Alfonso vs. John Polakowski
Third Fight: WEC 24, 10/12/2006. Scoreboard: Polakowski, 2-1.
These two guys easily engaged in the most competitive, entertaining trilogy that made this list. If Polakowski didn’t waste the first three years of his career fighting Alfonso, he may be known to MMA fans for more than this.
Depending on how you view TUF exhibitions, Diaz vs. Maynard may simply be a “pointlessly marketed as a trilogy” rematch. That the UFC wanted us to view their fight at The TUF 18 Finale as a trilogy made it eligible for this list. The “TUF exhibition + Unwatchable ‘second’ fight” formula sealed its fate as an inclusion.
Did we omit an especially pointless grudge match? Are you dying to make the case for Sylvia vs. Arlovski, even though it was technically a quadrilogy? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, or hit us up at our official Twitter account.
Thanks to everybody who entered last week’s UFC Fight Night 33 fight-picking contest! I kind of enjoyed the free-for-all style that we tried this time, and I think we’ll do it like that from now on. Anyway, we’ve just sifted through your entries, and while there were a bunch of basically-correct guesses, a couple were more correct than the others. They were…
– Simon Cossette, for predicting a unanimous decision win for Ryan Bader against Anthony Perosh. With his entry of (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), Simon nailed two of the three judges’ scores, and missed the third one (30-26) by a single point.
– Lasha Lasha (?), for being the only person to predict that Soa Palelei would beat Pat Barry by first-round knockout. In fact, L.L. was the only person to predict a win for Palelei, period.
Those two talented fight-pickers have just won an official Sakuraba t-shirt from Scramble. So Simon and Lasha, please check the “other” folder of your Facebook messages today, as we’ll be sending you instructions on how to claim your prize. Thanks again to Scramble for hooking us up with all these shirts. If you need any Christmas gifts for the MMA/grappling fan in your life, swing by Scramble today!
Thanks to everybody who entered last week’s UFC Fight Night 33 fight-picking contest! I kind of enjoyed the free-for-all style that we tried this time, and I think we’ll do it like that from now on. Anyway, we’ve just sifted through your entries, and while there were a bunch of basically-correct guesses, a couple were more correct than the others. They were…
– Simon Cossette, for predicting a unanimous decision win for Ryan Bader against Anthony Perosh. With his entry of (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), Simon nailed two of the three judges’ scores, and missed the third one (30-26) by a single point.
– Lasha Lasha (?), for being the only person to predict that Soa Palelei would beat Pat Barry by first-round knockout. In fact, L.L. was the only person to predict a win for Palelei, period.
Those two talented fight-pickers have just won an official Sakuraba t-shirt from Scramble. So Simon and Lasha, please check the “other” folder of your Facebook messages today, as we’ll be sending you instructions on how to claim your prize. Thanks again to Scramble for hooking us up with all these shirts. If you need any Christmas gifts for the MMA/grappling fan in your life, swing by Scramble today!
