In that vein, I decided to do my own rankings. I plan to put out a series including all time greatest rankings for each weight class and then current rankings. But first, let's start with the KOs. The knockout is one of the greatest moment in sports. It is the punctuation of any fight. There is know "yeah buts" after a KO. Here is my list of the Top 5. I know that I have seen some others that probably deserve a slot, but these are the ones that made the cut:
Top 5 knockouts of all time
Honorable Mention: Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping, Gary Goodridge vs Oleg Taktarov, Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture, Nick Newell vs Adam Mays, Cris Santos vs Gina Carano
5. Gerard Gordeau vs Teila Tuli, UFC 1 November 12, 1993
I went with this one more because of it's significance that style or brutality. This was the first KO in UFC history. Before the fight everyone was a little curious about what this ultimate fighting championship would be. Never mind that no one expected a certain 170 pound Brazilian to beat a field of savage looking men that were larger than him. This first fight would set the tone for the rest of the night. Gordeau's counter-striking combination of the sumo fighter's bull rush ended with a kick to the face while Tuli was kneeling. His tooth went flying and the referee decided to get a closer look. Brutal as it was, the fight would not have been stopped at that point in modern MMA. Well, except for the kicking a downed opponent rule. Anyway, that knockout kicked off (see what I did there?) UFC 1 and American MMA.
4. Wanderlei Silva vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Pride 28 October 31, 2004
This was Wanderlei Silva at his terrifying peak. What they call "vintage" Wanderlei. The animalistic rage, the terrifying stare. Funny enough, one of the nicest athletes I've ever met. This was the second meeting between Silva and Jackson in 11 months. Silva capped it off with sending Jackson through the ropes in possibly the scariest knockout in history. However, this fight was not one sided as Rampage had his moments. Rampage would eventually get his revenge at UFC 92, but on this night he ended on the wrong end of some hellacious knees.
3. Anderson Silva vs Tony Fryklund Cage Rage 16 August 22, 2006
In actuality, I could easily do a top 10 of Anderson Silva's KOs. This was, in my opinion, his most brilliant offering. Tony Fryklund, who had recently been a recipient of one of the best submissions in history by Ivan Salaverry's body triangle, was a serviceable but certainly not top flight middleweight. Anderson Silva was coming off the last loss of his career, a DQ loss to Yushin Okami. This fight was Silva's last fight before his dominant UFC run.
2. Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim UFC 142 January 14, 2012
The 2012 Knockout Of The Year is nearly the top KO in history. Barboza vs Etim was billed as a clash of young, exciting strikers. It was, just not for Etim. What came next was one of the slickest KOs in history, a spinning hook Etim's dome. He went stiff before he even hit the ground.
1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs Ricardo Arona Pride Critical Countdown 2004 June 20, 2004
Rampage was on the receiving end of our #4 KO but gets the top billing on my list. This fight was actually the elimination bout for Rampage's ill-fated title shot against Silva. Arona was a former Abu Dhabi Combat Club Open weight champion, 2x ADCC under 99 kilo champion, ADCC super fight winner, and RINGS middleweight champion. His grappling style could best be described as incredibly boring. I own the first three DVDs in ADCC's "best of" series. Arona's match against Jean Jacques Machado is included, but I'm not quite sure why. Arona just laid on the smaller man without attempting a single submission that I can remember. Machado consistently attempted submissions and sweeps but the bigger stronger man just held him down. In his 14 career victories, Arona mustered two submissions. Three if you count Alistair Overeem tapping to strikes. However, in the fight with Rampage he locked up tight triangle. Then Rampage did what you are never supposed to do while being stuck in a triangle, he slammed Arona. The result was brual.
Here's an extra one for you Eddy Gordo fans out there:
I was hoping for Silvas KO of your boy Forrest. Might not be the 'best' KO, but definitely one of the funniest.
ReplyDeletehaha, like I said I could easily do a top 5 of Anderson Silva's. That'd probably be number 2 on my Anderson Silva countdown.
DeleteDid you see the brutal KO on the recent TUF episode? I was afraid for the guy for a moment.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I saw that and was mad that I'd written this just a day before. I probably would have had that 4th or 5th. Glad that the guy is ok and really classy by Uriah Hall to check on him and be visibly worried.
Delete