As Jason “Mayhem” Miller puts it in the above video interview, “2013? Pretty unlucky number for me.” Indeed, the semi-retired MMA fighter and former media personality spent the past calendar year getting arrested, getting arrested, getting arrested, and dropping N-bombs during a public scuffle with Uriah Hall. Now, a humbled (but still pretty kooky) version of Mayhem is training full time with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, looking for a return to competition, and he has a few things to say about the controversies that have surrounded him recently. Some notable quotes…
On leaving MMA and coming back: “I took some time, I retired, I totally got away from it, and realized the love and the passion that I have for the sport is just undeniable. I realized I love it so much. And the way I am, I got real passionate and jumped right back in. I’ve been here training at Kings for about a year now, and I feel like a new fighter. I’m ready to get on out there. I’m entertaining some offers from some different leagues that are around the globe, and I’m just trying to find my home.”
On who he’d like to fight next [WARNING, MAYHEM AHEAD]: “I don’t know man, I would like to fight Stephen Hawking. I’d like to punch him out of his wheelchair, maybe get him in an armbar. He can’t defend. No one can defend. [*pauses, switches to Stephen Hawking robot-voice*] Ow. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Physics!“
As Jason “Mayhem” Miller puts it in the above video interview, “2013? Pretty unlucky number for me.” Indeed, the semi-retired MMA fighter and former media personality spent the past calendar year getting arrested, getting arrested, getting arrested, and dropping N-bombs during a public scuffle with Uriah Hall. Now, a humbled (but still pretty kooky) version of Mayhem is training full time with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, looking for a return to competition, and he has a few things to say about the controversies that have surrounded him recently. Some notable quotes…
On leaving MMA and coming back: “I took some time, I retired, I totally got away from it, and realized the love and the passion that I have for the sport is just undeniable. I realized I love it so much. And the way I am, I got real passionate and jumped right back in. I’ve been here training at Kings for about a year now, and I feel like a new fighter. I’m ready to get on out there. I’m entertaining some offers from some different leagues that are around the globe, and I’m just trying to find my home.”
On who he’d like to fight next [WARNING, MAYHEM AHEAD]: “I don’t know man, I would like to fight Stephen Hawking. I’d like to punch him out of his wheelchair, maybe get him in an armbar. He can’t defend. No one can defend. [*pauses, switches to Stephen Hawking robot-voice*] Ow. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Physics!”
On personal growth: “I change all the time, man. I change every day. And recently, I’ve changed the most. Out of necessity. I realized that I wasn’t surrounding myself with the right people. I wasn’t really in the right state of mind to really be successful in life, let alone mixed martial arts. And now I have a second chance. I forgive everybody and I hope they forgive me, because what’s the point in holding a grudge?…It’s 2014, all that stuff’s behind me, it’s all in the past. If you don’t have my number, twitter me. I’ll apologize, or if you want to apologize, it doesn’t matter, I forgive you anyway.”
On his confrontation with Uriah Hall: “I was just giving him some publicity. I knew people [had their] cameras out and stuff. He’s my brother. I love him. He’s a good man. He’ll be the damn champion, if he just allows himself to become the champion, he’ll be the champion. I mean, he’s gotta get through a damn sea of tough dudes, but I wish him the best. People really hurt my feelings calling me a ‘racist,’ that was like the worst, I’m like ‘What, get outta here.’ I’m more black than I am racist.”
Tomorrow night in Georgia, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returns to the Octagon for the first time since having his face kicked into space by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 last May. Although Belfort was coming off a blistering head kick KO of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7, many were still picking and betting on Rockhold to defeat “The Phenom” in his UFC debut, and the betting line surprisingly closed as a pick ‘em.
Things didn’t go Rockhold’s way that night, to say the least. In hindsight it’s not such a bad loss considering what Belfort did to iron-chinned Dan Henderson in his next bout, but it was still incredibly disappointing for the highly-touted Californian to be knocked out in less than five minutes when — on paper at least — the fight with Belfort should have been much more competitive.
Of course, Rockhold isn’t the first UFC fighter who fell short of expectations in his Octagon debut. The question is, will he rebound in his second fight, or fall deeper into “bust” territory? Read on for our list of eight other fighters who didn’t live up to the hype in their first UFC appearances, and let us know if we’ve left out any notable disappointments.
After the IFL collapsed, the promotion’s former heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell made his way over to the UFC and debuted against fast-rising contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104. Although Rothwell’s aura of invincibility had been cracked by Andrei Arlovski’s limbs at Affliction: Banned the previous summer, there was still hope that he could get back to his winning ways and make a run for the UFC heavyweight title.
But against Velasquez, it was clear that Rothwell was thoroughly outclassed by a far superior mixed martial artist, and “Big Ben” suffered the second true knockout loss of his career. In hindsight, it’s not surprising that Rothwell couldn’t hang with Velasquez, the current UFC heavyweight champion, but at the time it was a harsh reality check for those hardcore MMA fans who believed in Rothwell after his IFL run.
Tomorrow night in Georgia, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returns to the Octagon for the first time since having his face kicked into space by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 last May. Although Belfort was coming off a blistering head kick KO of Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7, many were still picking and betting on Rockhold to defeat “The Phenom” in his UFC debut, and the betting line surprisingly closed as a pick ‘em.
Things didn’t go Rockhold’s way that night, to say the least. In hindsight it’s not such a bad loss considering what Belfort did to iron-chinned Dan Henderson in his next bout, but it was still incredibly disappointing for the highly-touted Californian to be knocked out in less than five minutes when — on paper at least — the fight with Belfort should have been much more competitive.
Of course, Rockhold isn’t the first UFC fighter who fell short of expectations in his Octagon debut. The question is, will he rebound in his second fight, or fall deeper into “bust” territory? Read on for our list of eight other fighters who didn’t live up to the hype in their first UFC appearances, and let us know if we’ve left out any notable disappointments.
After the IFL collapsed, the promotion’s former heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell made his way over to the UFC and debuted against fast-rising contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104. Although Rothwell’s aura of invincibility had been cracked by Andrei Arlovski’s limbs at Affliction: Banned the previous summer, there was still hope that he could get back to his winning ways and make a run for the UFC heavyweight title.
But against Velasquez, it was clear that Rothwell was thoroughly outclassed by a far superior mixed martial artist, and “Big Ben” suffered the second true knockout loss of his career. In hindsight, it’s not surprising that Rothwell couldn’t hang with Velasquez, the current UFC heavyweight champion, but at the time it was a harsh reality check for those hardcore MMA fans who believed in Rothwell after his IFL run.
For years, North American fans were hoping and praying for Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto to make his way over to the WEC and fight the other top bantamweights in the world. “KID” never fought in the WEC, but after the UFC swallowed up the promotion and transferred their fighters over to the Octagon, the Japanese superstar got his shot at the big show and took on Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126.
But although Yamamoto was a 2-to-1 favorite over Johnson, he was outwrestled by Johnson and ended up losing a very disappointing three-round decision. Yamamoto then followed that up with two more losses to Darren Uyenoyama and Vaughan Lee, and when you think about how bad he looked in all three bouts, it’s clear Yamamoto wasn’t the same guy who was knocking dudes out left, right and center in Japan. Not even close.
Anthony Pettis had just won the last-ever WEC championship with his highlight-reel showtime kick against Benson Henderson at WEC 53 and had earned his way into a UFC title fight against the winner of UFC 125’s Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II. But when Edgar and Maynard fought to a draw, UFC president Dana White told Pettis to take another fight and at the TUF 13 Finale he took on veteran Clay Guida in a fight most expected him to dominate.
But despite Pettis’s flashy striking and Guida’s love of standing and banging with his opponents, “The Carpenter” was able to use a smart wrestling gameplan against Pettis, scoring takedowns and sitting in top control long enough to get the judges’ decision. It was a poor performance by Pettis and he had to win three more fights before he finally got his UFC title shot, but when finally got his crack at the belt he made the most of it, with a submission win over Benson Henderson at UFC 164.
Jake Shields had won 14 fights in a row and was coming off a gigantic win over Dan Henderson to retain the Strikeforce middleweight championship when the UFC decided to sign him and put him on the fast track to a title shot. For his first fight, Shields would take on top contender Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, and the winner would earn a fight against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Despite Shields being a sizeable favorite heading into the match, Kampmann and Shields grappled back-and-forth for 15 minutes, and at the end of three rounds it was tough to say who had won. Although many thought Kampmann did enough to secure the victory, Shields ended up getting his hand raised by split-decision. But while the fight went down as a win on his record, it didn’t help him win any fans in his Octagon debut, as his bout with Kampmann was a total snoozer — something that nearly all of Shields’s UFC fights have ended up being.
(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)
As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.
So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):
We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout. It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen? This one beats it. Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.
On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?
(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)
As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.
So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):
We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout. It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen? This one beats it. Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.
On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?
Rewatch the video of Hall’s KO, or Matt Riddle’s KO of Dan Simmler, for that matter, and ask yourself: Should this really be a selling point for our sport? It’s kind of contradictory to declare that our sport is so much safer than boxing one day — which, it barely is — and then promote this kind of uber-violence the next. While there are surely some MMA fans out there who follow the sport to satiate their own sadism, not everyone of us adopts a “Just Bleed” guy mentality towards fighters. Likewise, the UFC should be past the point where it needs to hype the brutality of the sport in order to get people interested.
But who knows, maybe ol’ DW is simply speaking in hyperbole again. Or maybe TUF 19 will feature a KO that leaves a fighter in a coma for a week. No matter the case, “scary” should probably be on the short list of words *not* to use when describing a knockout in a positive manner. That is, if you’re ever hoping to convert the Tim Rothfield’s of the world to our fine sport.
Note:Reed’s book ‘Fightnomics’ is available now on Amazon (in Kindle and paperback versions), featuring 336 pages of statistical analysis on UFC fighters and the “hidden science” behind their fights. If you’ve been a fan of his Databomb columns, pick up a copy today. A full description of the book is at the end of this post.
While cranking through some statistical analysis of fighters competing at next weekend’s UFC 168 event, I came across a few tidbits that fit the character limit for tweetability. Tweet ‘em all you want, I’ll make more.
The Good:
• Anderson Silva has the highest Knockdown Rate of any fighter at #UFC168. 16% of his landed power head strikes cause a knockdown.
• In terms of Knockdown Rate, #UFC168 fighters Robert Peralta (14%) and Travis Browne (12%) are also way above average.
• Tibau vs Johnson at #UFC168 will be a rare Southpaw vs Southpaw matchup, or what I call a “Cyclone fight” due to the clockwise spin.
• Mostly likely to attempt takedowns at #UFC168 is Ronda Rousey who attempts 4 TDs per 5 min. round. Not that her rounds ever last that long.
• The most active standup striker at #UFC168 is Dennis Siver, who outworks his opponents by 59% in volume while standing.
• Hardest fighter to hit at #UFC168 is Anderson Silva, who avoids 82% of all head strikes thrown at him. Still, Weidman may only need one.
• Highest takedown defense at #UFC168 are Weidman & Browne, both 100%. Neither have been taken down despite each facing 7 attempts.
Note:Reed’s book ‘Fightnomics’ is available now on Amazon (in Kindle and paperback versions), featuring 336 pages of statistical analysis on UFC fighters and the “hidden science” behind their fights. If you’ve been a fan of his Databomb columns, pick up a copy today. A full description of the book is at the end of this post.
While cranking through some statistical analysis of fighters competing at next weekend’s UFC 168 event, I came across a few tidbits that fit the character limit for tweetability. Tweet ‘em all you want, I’ll make more.
The Good:
• Anderson Silva has the highest Knockdown Rate of any fighter at #UFC168. 16% of his landed power head strikes cause a knockdown.
• In terms of Knockdown Rate, #UFC168 fighters Robert Peralta (14%) and Travis Browne (12%) are also way above average.
• Tibau vs Johnson at #UFC168 will be a rare Southpaw vs. Southpaw matchup, or what I call a “Cyclone fight” due to the clockwise spin.
• Mostly likely to attempt takedowns at #UFC168 is Ronda Rousey who attempts 4 TDs per 5 min. round. Not that her rounds ever last that long.
• The most active standup striker at #UFC168 is Dennis Siver, who outworks his opponents by 59% in volume while standing.
• Hardest fighter to hit at #UFC168 is Anderson Silva, who avoids 82% of all head strikes thrown at him. Still, Weidman may only need one.
• Highest takedown defense at #UFC168 are Weidman & Browne, both 100%. Neither have been taken down despite each facing 7 attempts.
• The best takedown defense at #UFC168 is really Gleison Tibau at 92% against 62 total opponent attempts; he ranks #2 all-time behind GSP.
• Ronda Rousey has 0.72 submission attempts for every minute she has spent on the ground; closest 2nd at #UFC168 is Jim Miller at 0.37.
• Jim Miller has more total submission attempts in the UFC than any other fighter at #UFC168 with 29. One more & he wins an Octagon toaster.
• Denis Siver has the biggest pace advantage at #UFC168. He averages 12.8 Significant Strikes attempts/min, while Gamburyan averages 5.4.
• At 80.5” Uriah Hall will have the longest reach of any fighter at #UFC168, and >7” reach advantage over his opponent Chris Leben.
The Bad:
• Women’s champion Ronda Rousey will have the shortest reach of any fighter on the #UFC168 card at 66 inches. #irrelevant
• Weidman, Camoes, Brandao & Hall will all be facing southpaws. Generally, orthodox fighters fare a little worse when facing southpaws.
• The lowest paced standup striker at #UFC168 is Diego Brandao, who throws >40% fewer standup strike attempts than his opponents
• Lowest takedown defense at #UFC168 is Miesha Tate who only defended 1/5 attempts for 20%. Camoes not far behind (25%). But small samples.
• When fighting on the ground, Michael Johnson, Robert Peralta and Anderson Silva all mostly end up on their backs #UFC168
• Jim Miller and John Howard have both been swept for a ground position reversal 6 times by opponents, more than other fighters at #UFC168.
• 170’er William Macario is the only #UFC fighter ever who actually goes by the name “William.” There were 3 “Will”s though, and a “Willamy.”
The Ugly:
• Worst head striking defense at #UFC168 is Bobby Voelker, who only defends 57% of head strikes by opponents. Anderson Silva’s is best (82%).
• Both Rousey & Tate have very low head strike defense, meaning if they stand and trade they’re both going to look less pretty. #UFC168
• Denis Siver has suffered 6 knockdowns in his UFC career, more than anyone at #UFC168, despite having above average head strike defense.
• At 38.7 years old, Anderson Silva is the oldest fighter at #UFC168, meaning he is less likely to be submitted, but more likely to be KO’d.
• The worst Knockdown Resiliency rating at #UFC168 is Miesha Tate at 91%. She has suffered 3 knockdowns in Strikeforce/UFC.
• Despite having been KO’d by Weidman, Silva is still a -150 favorite at #UFC168, on par with when he fought Henderson -145 & Marquardt -150.
• Fabricio Camoes has the worst relative striking overall at #UFC168. His stats are below average in accuracy, power, pace & cage control.
• The final prelim bout pits some of the best head strike defense (Hall) vs some of the worst (Leben). Lots at stake in that fight. #UFC168
Fightnomics quantifies the underlying drivers of the world’s most exciting and fastest growing sport through deep analysis of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition. Part Freakonomics and part Moneyball, Fightnomics is a statistical spotlight on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and the fighters who compete in the Octagon.
Does size matter?
Is the Southpaw Advantage real for MMA?
Is it better to be young or experienced in a fight?
How is the UFC Tale of the Tape lying to us?
What makes a strike significant?
What about Ring Rust, Octagon Jitters, or the Home Cage Advantage?
Just how accurate are betting odds?
Theories about how MMA works get put to the test with a little bit of science, and a whole lot of numbers. Fightnomics is the deepest and most complete analysis to date of historical UFC data that answers common, yet hotly debated questions about the sport. The fight game will never quite look the same once you’ve learned what really matters in a cage fight, and even a few surprising things that don’t.
(Gerard Gordeau delivers the first head-kick TKO in UFC history against Teila Tuli back at UFC 1, which took place exactly 20 years today on November 12th, 1993.)
There are literally thousands of ways a mixed martial arts match can end, but one of the most thrilling methods is the head kick knockout.
Over the course of two decades of fights in the UFC Octagon, there have been a number of memorable knockout blows delivered via head kick, and in honor of the UFC’s 20th anniversary, I’ve put together a list of what I believe are the top 20 head kick knockouts in UFC history.
I wanted to keep the list strictly to knockouts that happened during live UFC events, but I’m going to bend the rules a bit and kick off the list with one that happened on TUF.
Of course I’m talking about Uriah Hall’s spinning hook kick KO of Adam Cella, which took place earlier this year during TUF 17. It was a devastating knockout that made UFC president Dana White’s hyperbole raise to a whole new level as he declared Hall the nastiest fighter to ever step into the TUF house (the same house that produced Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin – you know, former UFC champs), and thus the UFC embarked on a social media campaign to play the clip non-stop on every medium in existence.
It was a brutal knockout, and I literally felt sick watching it. Even though Hall never lived up to the massive expectations that were placed on him, his most well-known career highlight deserves a place at #20.
19. Pat Miletich vs. Shonie Carter, UFC 32 (6/29/01)
(Gerard Gordeau delivers the first head-kick TKO in UFC history against Teila Tuli back at UFC 1, which took place exactly 20 years today on November 12th, 1993.)
There are literally thousands of ways a mixed martial arts match can end, but one of the most thrilling methods is the head kick knockout.
Over the course of two decades of fights in the UFC Octagon, there have been a number of memorable knockout blows delivered via head kick, and in honor of the UFC’s 20th anniversary, I’ve put together a list of what I believe are the top 20 head kick knockouts in UFC history.
I wanted to keep the list strictly to knockouts that happened during live UFC events, but I’m going to bend the rules a bit and kick off the list with one that happened on TUF.
Of course I’m talking about Uriah Hall’s spinning hook kick KO of Adam Cella, which took place earlier this year during TUF 17. It was a devastating knockout that made UFC president Dana White’s hyperbole raise to a whole new level as he declared Hall the nastiest fighter to ever step into the TUF house (the same house that produced Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin – you know, former UFC champs), and thus the UFC embarked on a social media campaign to play the clip non-stop on every medium in existence.
It was a brutal knockout, and I literally felt sick watching it. Even though Hall never lived up to the massive expectations that were placed on him, his most well-known career highlight deserves a place at #20.
19. Pat Miletich vs. Shonie Carter, UFC 32 (6/29/01)
I couldn’t do a best-of MMA list without sneaking Pat Miletich and Shonie Carter in it, and thankfully they were both involved in the same fight so I get to kill two birds with one stone here.
At UFC 32 in 2001, Miletich fought Carter in a matchup between two of my personal old-school fan favorites. Miletich was coming off a defeat to Carlos Newton where he lost the UFC welterweight championship, while Carter was coming off an amazing spinning backfist KO of Matt Serra, meaning this fight had serious title implications at the time.
But while many predicted a close matchup on paper, the outcome belonged to “The Croatian Sensation” as he hit “Mr. International” with a head kick so hard it knocked Carter out cold, one of the very rare head kick KOs that took place in the first decade of the Octagon’s existence.
I saw this one on a tape I borrowed from a friend a long time ago and I’ve always wanted to see it again but haven’t had the opportunity to. Fortunately I’ve found a GIF for all of us to enjoy, but if you can track down the entire fight I highly recommend it.
One of the most awesome head kick knockouts in UFC history took place at UFC 126, and no, I’m not talking about the one you’re already thinking of (that will come later). I’m actually talking about the head kick KO that Brit Paul Taylor delivered on Gabe Ruediger, one of the most underrated finishes in UFC history in my opinion and one that I don’t think enough people have seen.
On any other night, Taylor would have claimed a nice $50,000 bonus check for KOTN, but as we all know there was another very good head kick KO that same night. Still, we can give him some props for scoring a classic knockout in what turned out to be his final appearance in the Octagon; Taylor recently announced his retirement from the sport due to a variety of nagging injuries. At least we have this sweet finish to remember him by. (Watch the GIF here.)
Back in 2006, Georges St-Pierre was seen as the future of the UFC welterweight division and at UFC 65 he was able to get his revenge on Matt Hughes (who had earlier submitted St-Pierre with an armbar at UFC 50) when he kicked the Miletich Fighting Systems product in the head and then followed it up with a series of punches on the ground to capture the UFC welterweight title for the fist time in his career.
This head kick is the only part of the fight I really remembered, and I was going to place it higher on the list originally, but since St-Pierre needed the follow-up punches to finish off the job I decided to stick it at #17. Either way, a job well-done by St-Pierre in this fight, and arguably the best finish of his storied career to date. (Watch the GIF here.)
One of my favorite fights of all time took place at UFC FUEL TV 4, an unheralded middleweight bout between Andrew Craig and Rafael Natal. I was actually the reporter who first broke news of this fight back when I worked for theScore.com, and so it always holds a special place in my heart for that. But I’ve broken other fight announcements before, and rarely do the final products turn out to be as good as Craig vs. Natal ended up being.
In the fight, Natal was absolutely beating the crap out of Craig and looking like he was going to cruise to a stoppage win, but at the end of the second round, Craig – who was down big on points – threw a booming head kick out of desperation and caught Natal square on the chin, knocking him out cold.
An absolutely insane fight, and an even crazier knockout. Wow. (Watch the GIF here.)
15. Chuck Liddell vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, UFC 40 (11/22/02)
Back in his prime, Chuck Liddell was an absolute killer, and at UFC 40 he showed that he wasn’t just a power puncher as he head-kicked Renato “Babalu” Sobral into oblivion to earn a shot at the light heavyweight title.
Despite coming from a karate background, this remains one of only two head kick knockouts in Liddell’s storied MMA career (and his only one in the UFC), so let’s savor it since we’ll never get another one of these from “The Iceman” now that he’s happily retired. (Watch the GIF here.)
Mark Hunt is considered by many to have one of the best chins in the history of combat sports, but at UFC 160 Junior dos Santos showed that Hunt is a human being like the rest of us when Cigano spinning wheel kicked Hunt in the temple to knock him to the ground, and then followed it up with a massive punch to put “The Super Samoan” completely out cold.
It was a beautiful, dominant performance by Dos Santos up until the KO, and the finish was just a cherry on top. I still can’t believe that Hunt was finished in this fashion, but then again dos Santos is one of the most powerful punchers the Octagon has ever seen – and, one of the hardest kickers as well, clearly. (Watch the GIF here.)
13. Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber, UFC Fight Night 14 (7/19/08)
Another knockout that doesn’t get as much love as it should was Rory Markham’s massive head kick KO of Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 14. Just watch the GIF and tell me how awesome this is.
It’s too bad that Markham has had so many issues out side of the cage, because when he was in the Octagon he was an absolute killer. But at least he was able to give us this beauty before he rode off into the sunset, and for that we have to give him props.
12. Tim Sylvia vs. Tra Telligman, UFC 54 (8/20/05)
I know Tim Sylvia gets a bad rap from fans these days, but don’t forget that he gave us one of the best head kick knockouts ever witnessed inside the Octagon.
It took place at UFC 54, when Sylvia took on Tracy “Tra” Telligman. Sylvia was coming off a loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 51 that cost him a chance to capture the UFC heavyweight title, but after taking Telligman’s head off, Sylvia gained the confidence to make a run up the ladder and eventually capture the belt.
Sylvia has had an underappreciated career and this finish of Telligman is my favorite moment from it. It’s also one of the very few knockouts in UFC history that’s occurred at the 4:59 mark of round one, making it extra special.
11. Alan Belcher vs. Jorge Santiago, UFC Fight Night 7 (12/13/06)
One of my favorite all-time knockouts of any kind took place at UFC Fight Night 7, when a young Alan Belcher took on Jorge Santiago and delivered one of the most damaging head kick finishes in the history of the sport.
I don’t think Santiago was ever the same after this KO, which is a shame because he is a skilled fighter — although he was never able to prove that in the Octagon. As for Belcher, he has had a solid career but there’s no doubt in my mind this is his ultimate career highlight, and it’s for good reason. (Watch the GIF here.)
Ready for the Top 10? Hit that “next page” link and read on…
You’ve probably heard by now that former MMA fighter/current crazy person Jason Miller got into an altercation with Uriah Hall at a BAMMA USA event in California on Friday night, which involved a punch being thrown and repeated incantations of the phrase “bitch nigga.” When the reports first came out, we had no idea what might have led to beef between the two middleweights, or even if the story was 100% accurate. But now Spencer Lazara of MMAInterviews has just released some footage on YouTube proving that yes, this all happened — and he also adds some backstory to the fracas:
The scene begins with Jason “Mayhem” Miller being aggressive to a woman who is apparently his ex girlfriend who he has allegedly assaulted in the recent past. This was told to me by a source close to Miller who added that he is currently out on bail in fact for allegedly assaulting her. She was visibly emotional and upset and he continued to yell at her as her friend shielded her from Miller. Uriah Hall poked his head in the situation and instantly Miller turned his aggression to him. He began with continuous rants of, “N**** please.” Then the video starts and you see the rest.
Indeed, we do. A tense face-off between Miller and Hall leads to Miller sticking his middle fingers in Uriah’s face and shouting “Bitch nigga! Fuck you bitch nigga!” In response, Hall fires a straight right that Miller mostly dodges, and a swarm of security guards and onlookers move in to separate them. Hall is immediately escorted from the building.
You’ve probably heard by now that former MMA fighter/current crazy person Jason Miller got into an altercation with Uriah Hall at a BAMMA USA event in California on Friday night, which involved a punch being thrown and repeated incantations of the phrase “bitch nigga.” When the reports first came out, we had no idea what might have led to beef between the two middleweights, or even if the story was 100% accurate. But now Spencer Lazara of MMAInterviews has just released some footage on YouTube proving that yes, this all happened — and he also adds some backstory to the fracas:
The scene begins with Jason “Mayhem” Miller being aggressive to a woman who is apparently his ex girlfriend who he has allegedly assaulted in the recent past. This was told to me by a source close to Miller who added that he is currently out on bail in fact for allegedly assaulting her. She was visibly emotional and upset and he continued to yell at her as her friend shielded her from Miller. Uriah Hall poked his head in the situation and instantly Miller turned his aggression to him. He began with continuous rants of, “N**** please.” Then the video starts and you see the rest.
Indeed, we do. A tense face-off between Miller and Hall leads to Miller sticking his middle fingers in Uriah’s face and shouting “Bitch nigga! Fuck you bitch nigga!” In response, Hall fires a straight right that Miller mostly dodges, and a swarm of security guards and onlookers move in to separate them. Hall is immediately escorted from the building.
