MMA Video Tribute: 12 Jaw-Dropping First-Punch Knockouts

(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)

To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.

(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)


(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)

To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.


(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)


(Chris Clements vs. Lautaro Tucas @ TKO 25. Let’s just say that Tucas’s gameplan wasn’t hand-crafted by Greg Jackson.)


(You ain’t shit, Tim!” Never gets old, does it?)


(Nate Marquardt permanently knocks the jiu-jitsu out of Demian Maia at UFC 102.)


(Not sure who these guys are, but I have a feeling that one of them trains with Lautaro Tucas.)

This first-punch party is just getting started. Click that “next page” link for more…

Knockout of the Week: Marcus ‘Lelo’ Aurelio’s Flying Switch Kick

(Props: TheBattlefieldFight via MiddleEasy)

And here we have Marcus ‘Lelo’ Aurelio scissor-kicking Jose Cornejo’s head in mid-air like he was trying to score the winning goal for Brazil. The stoppage came just 43 seconds into their meeting at Saturday’s Battlefield Fight League event in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Fun fact: Lelo is the very same dude who pulled off that insane capoeira kick knockout against Keegan Marshall in 2009. Good lord, get this guy on TUF already.


(Props: TheBattlefieldFight via MiddleEasy)

And here we have Marcus ‘Lelo’ Aurelio scissor-kicking Jose Cornejo’s head in mid-air like he was trying to score the winning goal for Brazil. The stoppage came just 43 seconds into their meeting at Saturday’s Battlefield Fight League event in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Fun fact: Lelo is the very same dude who pulled off that insane capoeira kick knockout against Keegan Marshall in 2009. Good lord, get this guy on TUF already.

Video: Kimbo Slice Scores 10-Second Knockout in Boxing Debut

(Props: S0S0BOXING via BloodyElbow)

Kimbo Slice‘s pro-boxing debut last night in Oklahoma ended in highlight-reel fashion, as the former bare-knuckle YouTube brawler/MMA fighter turned out James Wade‘s lights with a crushing right uppercut, sending him through the bottom rope just 10 seconds into the match. Check out the video above for two different angles of the finish; as you can see, it took a long time for Wade to regain his senses.

Ariel Helwani passes along the word that Kimbo’s next match is scheduled for October 15th, possibly on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson. Can Kevin Ferguson really be an injection into boxing’s heavyweight division?


(Props: S0S0BOXING via BloodyElbow)

Kimbo Slice‘s pro-boxing debut last night in Oklahoma ended in highlight-reel fashion, as the former bare-knuckle YouTube brawler/MMA fighter turned out James Wade‘s lights with a crushing right uppercut, sending him through the bottom rope just 10 seconds into the match. Check out the video above for two different angles of the finish; as you can see, it took a long time for Wade to regain his senses.

Ariel Helwani passes along the word that Kimbo’s next match is scheduled for October 15th, possibly on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson. Can Kevin Ferguson really be an injection into boxing’s heavyweight division?

Vintage KO of the Day: Duane Ludwig vs. Jens Pulver

(Props: king981)

Since Sunday night’s UFC on Versus 5 broadcast will be led off by Duane Ludwig‘s welterweight battle with Amir Sadollah — we’ll be liveblogging the action starting at 9 p.m. ET, by the way — we figured we’d look back at one of Bang’s classic knockouts that you might not have seen before. On January 25th, 2003, Ludwig (8-2) faced off with former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver (14-2-1) in Montreal for UCC’s vacant lightweight title. After vacating his UFC title the previous year, Pulver had won his first two fights outside of the organization and was looking to pick up another scalp and another belt. It didn’t quite work out like that.

About 12 seconds into the fight, Ludwig leveled Pulver with a massive right hand. Pulver managed to struggle to his feet, and Yves Lavigne broke the fighters after a brief clinch. From there it’s all Duane — a body shot, head kick, and a right-straight finisher that dropped Pulver and actually had him rolling out of the ring to avoid more damage. As the commentator puts it, “Jens Pulver might be ‘Little Evil’, but Duane Ludwig is a shepherd for the devil.” The dramatic victory earned Ludwig a shot in the UFC, where he out-pointed Genki Sudo in his debut at UFC 42.


(Props: king981)

Since Sunday night’s UFC on Versus 5 broadcast will be led off by Duane Ludwig‘s welterweight battle with Amir Sadollah — we’ll be liveblogging the action starting at 9 p.m. ET, by the way — we figured we’d look back at one of Bang’s classic knockouts that you might not have seen before. On January 25th, 2003, Ludwig (8-2) faced off with former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver (14-2-1) in Montreal for UCC’s vacant lightweight title. After vacating his UFC title the previous year, Pulver had won his first two fights outside of the organization and was looking to pick up another scalp and another belt. It didn’t quite work out like that.

About 12 seconds into the fight, Ludwig leveled Pulver with a massive right hand. Pulver managed to struggle to his feet, and Yves Lavigne broke the fighters after a brief clinch. From there it’s all Duane — a body shot, head kick, and a right-straight finisher that dropped Pulver and actually had him rolling out of the ring to avoid more damage. As the commentator puts it, ”Jens Pulver might be ‘Little Evil’, but Duane Ludwig is a shepherd for the devil.” The dramatic victory earned Ludwig a shot in the UFC, where he out-pointed Genki Sudo in his debut at UFC 42.

Vintage KO of the Day: Dan Hardy Starches Aaron Barrow in 13 Seconds

(Hardy vs. Barrow, 12/18/04)

Six months into his pro career, future UFC star Dan Hardy (2-2 at the time) met up with Aaron Barrow (3-2) at a Cage Warriors FC event in Sheffield, England. The first strike that Hardy throws — a left head kick — finds its mark and drops Barrow on the spot. Hardy machine-guns him from the top and it’s a wrap. And my, what an excited young man.


(Hardy vs. Barrow, 12/18/04)

Six months into his pro career, future UFC star Dan Hardy (2-2 at the time) met up with Aaron Barrow (3-2) at a Cage Warriors FC event in Sheffield, England. The first strike that Hardy throws — a left head kick — finds its mark and drops Barrow on the spot. Hardy machine-guns him from the top and it’s a wrap. And my, what an excited young man…

Knockout of the Day: The One-Armed Handstand Kick

(Props: pritch84 via Douche)

To be fair, we’ve seen Anthony Pettis try this sort of thing in an actual MMA fight. But to put somebody to sleep with it, even in the context of a semi-friendly sparring session, is pretty damn impressive. The kicker in question is a world-champion Muay Thai fighter named Saenchai Sinbimuaythai (formerly known as Saenchai Sor Kingstar). Check out more of Saenchai in the highlight reel after the jump.


(Props: pritch84 via Douche)

To be fair, we’ve seen Anthony Pettis try this sort of thing in an actual MMA fight. But to put somebody to sleep with it, even in the context of a semi-friendly sparring session, is pretty damn impressive. The kicker in question is a world-champion Muay Thai fighter named Saenchai Sinbimuaythai (formerly known as Saenchai Sor Kingstar). Check out more of Saenchai in the highlight reel after the jump.