The UFC’s 10 best knockouts of 2010
If there’s one thing that’s never in short supply in the UFC, it’s a wide array of spectacular knockouts. Of…
If there’s one thing that’s never in short supply in the UFC, it’s a wide array of spectacular knockouts. Of course, that makes this usually the toughest category to come up with a top ten list. But here is a Highly Unofficial selection of decisive finishes from 2010 that should find favor with even the pickiest MMA fan.
10 – Gomi Resurrects Career with KO of Griffin
Yes, we all know that former PRIDE lightweight champ Takanori Gomi packs dynamite in his gloves, but after an average 4-2 run in Japan after his 2007 no contest against Nick Diaz and a lackluster three round loss to Kenny Florian in his UFC debut earlier this year, fans wondered whether they would ever see Gomi in Fireball Kid form ever again. The answer? A knockout of Tyson Griffin, a fighter who UFC followers had never seen rocked, let alone stopped. But when a right hand to the head sent Griffin face first to the mat, Gomi’s star was on the rise again.
9 – Condit’s Quick Draw Ends The Night of The Outlaw
The pre-fight trash talk was heated, as it usually is in a Dan Hardy fight, and when the bell rang at the O2 Arena this past October, it was clear that neither Nottingham’s Outlaw or Carlos The Natural Born Killer Condit were going to be content with a three round decision win. These two welterweights were out for blood, and in the final minute of the opening round, both fighters looked to finish it with simultaneous left hooks. Condit’s got there a split second earlier, and it was lights out in London.
8 – Rich Franklin Halts the Comeback of Chuck Liddell
The main event of UFC 115 was one of those tough fights for diehard fans to watch, mainly because it pitted two longtime fan favorites against each other, making it nearly impossible to pick just one fighter to root for. But as long as it lasted, former champions Franklin and Liddell went to war, with Franklin battling through an arm broken by a Liddell kick to ice ‘The Iceman’ with a flush right hand late in the opening round.
7 – Cain Velasquez KO’s Minotauro Nogueira
It was a changing of the guard of sorts at UFC 110 in February, as unbeaten heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez defeated MMA legend ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira in the first round. What was truly impressive about the win was not just that Velasquez took out the durable former PRIDE and UFC champ in a single round, but that he did it with a crisp standup attack punctuated by a thudding three punch combination that was audible throughout Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.
6 – Harris’ Grand Slam
For over two rounds, the bout between middleweight prospects Gerald Harris and Dave Branch was nothing to write home about. But in the third, New York’s Branch tried to make something happen as he pulled guard in the hopes of sinking in a triangle choke. Harris, aware of the approaching danger, chose to pick Branch up over his head and slam him to the mat. Mission accomplished, as the Hurricane not only broke Branch’s grip, he knocked him out, earning a spot on ESPN’s highlight reels for much of the next week.
5 – Garza Announces Arrival with Frightening Finish of Paixao
It’s a move you will see at practically every UFC event, but rarely – if ever – does it score with such devastating results. Facing jiu-jitsu ace Fredson Paixao, UFC newcomer Pablo Garza did what many fighters do when their opponent shoots in for a takedown: he tried to catch Paixao with a knee. On this night in Vegas though, Garza landed flush with the knee as Paixao shot in, and the Brazilian was out as soon as he got hit. On the mat for a few scary minutes, Paixao eventually got up and made it out of the Octagon under his own power, but it was a stark reminder that yes, folks, this is a contact sport.
4 – Mike Russow Stuns Todd Duffee
It wasn’t a seven second blitz like he scored in his UFC debut against Tim Hague last year, but Todd Duffee was on his way to another Octagon victory when he took on Mike Russow at UFC 114 in May. But nothing’s guaranteed in this game until the fight is over, and Duffee learned that lesson the hard way, as Russow pulled out a right hand from nowhere in the final round that starched Duffee at the 2:35 mark, stunning all in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.