There is much debate in the combat sports world as to which way to win a bout or competition is the most dominant: the knockout or the submission. This is an age old debate that will probably never be settled but none the less flood message boards across the internet and is the topic for discussion in martial arts clubs all over the world.

On the one hand, the knockout is an act of sheer power, force, grace, and an action of beauty to behold and ends the confrontation in such a manner that the recipient has no choice but to accept the battle as one that he lost as he is physically unable to continue.

On the other hand, when a person is submitted he has consciously and knowingly given up. The recipient of a submission loss has physically made the statement, I give up and at this moment, during this confrontation, you have gotten the better of me and I have lost. Some even go as far as to hold the belief that a submission via tap out (verbal or physical) designates the statement, I am dead.

Regardless of which side of the debate you may find yourself, I would say that it is safe to agree that we all love seeing a clean knockout. Below you will see a compilation of some of the most brutal knockouts ever captured on film. Some occur on the street while others occur during sanctioned competitions however; all of these instances have a single characteristic in common: the confrontation ends quickly and decisively and in a very entertaining fashion!

“>

Jacob C. Stevens is a lifelong athlete and cerebral martial arts enthusiast who is also skilled in the art of linguistic manipulation, his published work, Afterthoughts and Handgrenades, can be found here.