(Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Francisco Bueno @ PRIDE 8, 11/21/99. Josh Barnett makes the tree-analogy at the 0:41 mark.)
Edson Barboza‘s spinning heel-kick knockout of Terry Etim at UFC 142 wasn’t just an instant-classic because of the technique itself — it was also unforgettable because of the devastating effect it had on Etim, who stiffened up and toppled straight to the mat in slow motion like a felled spruce. The “falling tree” knockout is a rare, brutal moment in combat sports that always gets a rise out of fans. Here are nine of our favorite examples from MMA fights, in no particular order.
(Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim @ UFC 142, 1/14/12)
(Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Francisco Bueno @ PRIDE 8, 11/21/99. Josh Barnett makes the tree-analogy at the 0:41 mark.)
Edson Barboza‘s spinning heel-kick knockout of Terry Etim at UFC 142 wasn’t just an instant-classic because of the technique itself — it was also unforgettable because of the devastating effect it had on Etim, who stiffened up and toppled straight to the mat in slow motion like a felled spruce. The “falling tree” knockout is a rare, brutal moment in combat sports that always gets a rise out of fans. Here are nine of our favorite examples from MMA fights, in no particular order.
(Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim @ UFC 142, 1/14/12)
(Ray Mercer vs. Tim Sylvia @ Adrenaline MMA 3: Bragging Rights, 6/13/09)
(Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber @ UFC Fight Night 14, 7/19/08)
(Hayato Sakurai vs. Olaf Alfonso @ PRIDE Bushido Survival 2006, 6/4/06)
(Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon @ UFC Fight Night 8, 1/25/07)
(Brad Kohler vs. Steve Judson @ UFC 22, 9/24/99)
(Dan Hornbuckle vs. Akihiro Gono @ Sengoku 9, 8/2/09)
Just five months after their last visit to the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UFC returns with another card headlined by native heroes. In UFC 142‘s main event, featherweight champion Jose Aldo — who has now won ten straight fights in the WEC/UFC — looks to make another belt defense against undefeated Team Alpha Male wrestling specialist Chad “Money” Mendes, who will be hoping to put Aldo on his back as much as possible and score some revenge for Urijah Faber’s leg.
In the co-main event, middleweight contender Vitor Belfort returns from his latest injury layoff to welcome Anthony Johnson to the middleweight division, in a matchup that contains too much explosive athleticism for its own damn good.
All 11 fights on the “Aldo vs. Mendes” card feature at least one Brazilian, with Rousimar Palhares, Edson Barboza, and Gabriel Gonzaga making return appearances. The full UFC 142 lineup is after the jump…
Just five months after their last visit to the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UFC returns with another card headlined by native heroes. In UFC 142‘s main event, featherweight champion Jose Aldo — who has now won ten straight fights in the WEC/UFC — looks to make another belt defense against undefeated Team Alpha Male wrestling specialist Chad “Money” Mendes, who will be hoping to put Aldo on his back as much as possible and score some revenge for Urijah Faber’s leg.
In the co-main event, middleweight contender Vitor Belfort returns from his latest injury layoff to welcome Anthony Johnson to the middleweight division, in a matchup that contains too much explosive athleticism for its own damn good.
All 11 fights on the “Aldo vs. Mendes” card feature at least one Brazilian, with Rousimar Palhares, Edson Barboza, and Gabriel Gonzaga making return appearances. The full UFC 142 lineup is after the jump…
MAIN CARD (PPV)
Jose Aldovs. Chad Mendes (for FW title)
Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson (MW)
Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio (MW)
Erick Silva vs. Carlo Prater (WW)
Edson Barboza vs. Terry Etim (LW)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)
Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout (LW)
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Edinaldo Oliveira (HW)
Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa (FW)
Ricardo Funch vs. Mike Pyle (WW)
Fabio Maldonado vs. Caio Magalhaes (LHW)
Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho (FW)
But starting with Friday night’s UFC 141 main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem — promoted as the “biggest” fight of the year — and continuing on to Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier in March, the action among 265’ers is about to start heating up. With that mind, we decided to pay tribute to the greatest and most important heavyweight MMA fights from this past year. Enjoy, and let us know if we left out any of your favorites…
What happened: The smaller man fought like a giant. Cormier landed his punches at will and easily shrugged off Silva’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. Entering the tournament as an alternate, Cormier punched his ticket to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finals with a hook/uppercut combo that stiffened the Brazilian Frankenstein. What we learned: Undersized doesn’t always mean outgunned — and a big chin doesn’t always mean a strong chin.
(Will Lesnar vs. Overeem bash out a place on the list, or will it inevitably fall short of the hype?)
But starting with Friday night’s UFC 141 main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem — promoted as the “biggest” fight of the year — and continuing on to Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier in March, the action among 265′ers is about to start heating up. With that mind, we decided to pay tribute to the greatest and most important heavyweight MMA fights from this past year. Enjoy, and let us know if we left out any of your favorites…
What happened: The smaller man fought like a giant. Cormier landed his punches at will and easily shrugged off Silva’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. Entering the tournament as an alternate, Cormier punched his ticket to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finals with a hook/uppercut combo that stiffened the Brazilian Frankenstein. What we learned: Undersized doesn’t always mean outgunned — and a big chin doesn’t always mean a strong chin.
#5. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA vs. BRENDAN SCHAUB UFC 134, 8/27/11
What happened: After smashing Mirko Cro Cop in his previous outing, Brendan Schaub was looking to put another aging veteran out to pasture. But with Brazil’s adoring fans at his back, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira stayed calm and confident until his found his opening, blitzing Schaub’s jaw with power-punches. And the crowd goes wild… What we learned: Never count out an MMA legend against a TUF finalist.
#4. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS vs. CAIN VELASQUEZ UFC on FOX 1, 11/12/11
What happened: A historic five-round fight on network television that only lasted 64 seconds. Once JDS connected on an overhand right to Cain’s ear, Velasquez’s title reign quickly entered “one and done” status. What we learned: Nobody, except for maybe Alistair Overeem, should try standing and trading with Junior Dos Santos. The UFC heavyweight belt is one seriously hot potato.
What happened: Riding a late-career surge, Dan Henderson decided to challenge a heavyweight icon. The frantic one-round thriller ended with Henderson slipping in a knockout uppercut from behind. Hendo picked up one of the greatest wins of his career, and the once-invincible Russian increased his losing skid to three. What we learned: When legends decline, they decline fast. But as long as Dan Henderson has his H-Bomb, he’s a danger to anybody in the sport, from middleweight to heavyweight.
#2. FRANK MIR vs. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA UFC 140, 12/10/11 What happened: Looking to redeem himself from his previous TKO loss to Mir in December 2008, Nogueira came out strong and managed to rock Mir standing. But instead of going for the kill with follow-up strikes, Big Nog tried to finish on the ground with a submission. Mir reversed him and snapped his arm with a kimura at 3:38 of the first round. What we learned: Hubris can sink even the most experienced fighters, and Frank Mir still enjoys a good bone-breaking.
What happened: Pat Barry knocked Kongo out twice — then Kongo knocked Barry out for good. One of the greatest “back from the dead” fights in MMA history What we learned: Referee Dan Miragliotta knows what he’s doing sometimes. Growing a Kimbo-beard can give you brief periods of invincibility.
Following yesterday’s face-off dust-up with Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz explained why he was forced to knock off Cowboy’s hat and shove him. In short, Cerrone got too close: “He was just trying to walk forward on me and, y’know, trying to get the jump on me, so whatever. He shouldn’t have walked that close, put his stupid-ass cowboy hat all up on me. I wasn’t trying to be a bully or anything, but he shouldn’t have done that.”
Meanwhile, brother Nick eggs him on as much as possible. Like Cerrone put it before, these two just wake up pissed off all the time for no reason. And remember, Nate and Cowboy still have one more face-off to get through at today’s UFC 141 weigh-ins — and then, y’know, an actual fight. Brace yourselves.
After the jump, a video of the Cerrone vs. Diaz and Lesnar vs. Overeem face-offs from yesterday’s press conference, via Karyn Bryant.
Following yesterday’s face-off dust-up with Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz explained why he was forced to knock off Cowboy’s hat and shove him. In short, Cerrone got too close: “He was just trying to walk forward on me and, y’know, trying to get the jump on me, so whatever. He shouldn’t have walked that close, put his stupid-ass cowboy hat all up on me. I wasn’t trying to be a bully or anything, but he shouldn’t have done that.”
Meanwhile, brother Nick eggs him on as much as possible. Like Cerrone put it before, these two just wake up pissed off all the time for no reason. And remember, Nate and Cowboy still have one more face-off to get through at today’s UFC 141 weigh-ins — and then, y’know, an actual fight. Brace yourselves.
After the jump, a video of the Cerrone vs. Diaz and Lesnar vs. Overeem face-offs from yesterday’s press conference, via Karyn Bryant.
FUEL TV aired the latest UFC Countdown special last night, previewing next Friday’s UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem pay-per-view card. The stuff about Brock Lesnar‘s latest recovery from diverticulitis and new love of swimming is fairly straightforward — once again, Pat Barry is on hand talk about what a monster Brock is — but if you’re a fan of Alistair Overeem, the look back at his rise in the sport and his career rebirth after a rough stretch in his personal/professional life is worth watching. Overeem’s sights are now set on a UFC belt to complete his collection; of course, Brock Lesnar is just as motivated to defend his turf and play the spoiler in the Reem’s Octagon debut.
FUEL TV aired the latest UFC Countdown special last night, previewing next Friday’s UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem pay-per-view card. The stuff about Brock Lesnar‘s latest recovery from diverticulitis and new love of swimming is fairly straightforward — once again, Pat Barry is on hand talk about what a monster Brock is — but if you’re a fan of Alistair Overeem, the look back at his rise in the sport and his career rebirth after a rough stretch in his personal/professional life is worth watching. Overeem’s sights are now set on a UFC belt to complete his collection; of course, Brock Lesnar is just as motivated to defend his turf and play the spoiler in the Reem’s Octagon debut.
(“Look kid, I’m gonna find the man who did this to you. And when I do, so help me God, I’m gonna dock him one point for shorts-grabbing.” / Photo of Stout vs. Edwards aftermath via ESPN)
With a little help from the Potato Nation, we spent the last couple days gathering videos of the nastiest, ugliest, most-painful looking knockouts and submissions from this year. Finding 25 of them was the easy part. (Damn, MMA fighters. You seemed especially angry this year. Problems at home?) Putting them in order was a little more challenging.
Obviously, Frank Mir snapping Nogueira’s arm at UFC 140 was the people’s choice for #1. But how do you rank a head-kick knockout against a spinning-backfist knockout, when they both leave their victims zombie’d on the mat with their eyes open and their arms in the air?
So here’s what we’ll do. Instead of arranging these brutal stoppages in some arbitrary order, we’ll arrange them in groups. Use the links below to navigate through the sections, and take a moment to appreciate the human devastation that our great sport has caused in the last 12 months. And all this without a single death! Enjoy…
(“Look kid, I’m gonna find the man who did this to you. And when I do, so help me God, I’m gonna dock him one point for shorts-grabbing.” / Photo of Stout vs. Edwards aftermath via ESPN)
With a little help from the Potato Nation, we spent the last couple days gathering videos of the nastiest, ugliest, most-painful looking knockouts and submissions from this year. Finding 25 of them was the easy part. (Damn, MMA fighters. You seemed especially angry this year. Problems at home?) Putting them in order was a little more challenging.
Obviously, Frank Mir snapping Nogueira’s arm at UFC 140 was the people’s choice for #1. But how do you rank a head-kick knockout against a spinning-backfist knockout, when they both leave their victims zombie’d on the mat with their eyes open and their arms in the air?
So here’s what we’ll do. Instead of arranging these brutal stoppages in some arbitrary order, we’ll arrange them in groups. Use the links below to navigate through the sections, and take a moment to appreciate the human devastation that our great sport has caused in the last 12 months. And all this without a single death! Enjoy…
