When heavyweights collide in the octagon fifty-percent of the time the fight ends by TKO, whether it be by a flurry of punches, a single spinning wheel kick or something else. Which gives us plenty of knockouts to choose from when putting together a list of the eight greatest the heavyweight division has ever seen.
Are there any knockouts that are missing from the list that you think should be on it? Are any of the knockouts on the list undeserving? Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below!
8) Cain Velasquez vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
-UFC 110: February 20, 2010
Before Cain Velasquez had staked his claim as one of the best heavyweights of all time, he was an up and coming prospect. When these two were matched up, Nogueira had what was considered possibly the best chin (ability to take a shot) in all of mixed martial arts. The last thing anyone expected was for Cain to come in and knock Nogueira out with a clean three punch combination but that is exactly what he did.
7) Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve
-UFC on Fuel TV: March 3rd, 2013
The story of Mark Hunt’s life and career make it almost impossible to not be a fan. After starting his mixed martial arts career by compiling a 5-6 record, the UFC acquired his contract and offered to pay him to quit fighting instead of having him finish out his agreed contract.
The Super Samoan refused, showing his fighting spirit and since has become a top level UFC heavyweight, even fighting for the title back in 2014. When he took on seven-foot tall Stefan Struve, he ended the fight with a destructive leaping left hook that broke Struve’s jaw.
6) Shane Carwin vs Frank Mir
-UFC 111: March 27th, 2010
When Brock Lesnar discovered he had diverticulitis, he had to pull out of his fight against Shane Carwin defending his heavyweight title. In his place Frank Mir stepped in a few events later to contest against Carwin for an interim title. Early in the fight Carwin was able to back Mir up against the fence. Using the XXXXL gloves that the UFC had to make specifically for him, Carwin began throwing uppercuts that eventually left Mir sleeping face down on the mat.
5) Antonio Silva vs Alistair Overeem
-UFC 156: February 2nd, 2013
Alistair Overeem was the big thing in the heavyweight division after beating Brock Lesnar effortlessly at UFC 141. But after testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone before a fight with Junior Dos Santos, he was suspended. His comeback fight was scheduled against Antonio Bigfoot Silva and everyone was curious as to how he would perform.
He certainly wasn’t the same physically, but did enough to decisively win the first two rounds. But in round three Alistair slowed down just enough for Bigfoot to capitalize, landing arguably the most devastating series of punches we’ve ever seen in all of MMA.
4) Travis Browne vs Alistair Overeem
-UFC Fight Night: August 17th, 2013
Coming off of his first loss in the UFC to Antonio Silva, fans expected to see a more focused Overeem. Alistair certainly looked to be in better condition physically and took early control of the fight after landing a knee to the body that floored Travis. Overeem put all of his effort into finishing the fight, but somehow Browne managed to push through the adversity to stay in the fight, even making his way back to his feet.
Once doing so, he landed a front kick to the face that Overeem seemed to have no defense for. Browne repeatedly landed the same strike until one of them sent Overeem falling back to the floor, where Browne followed up with ground strikes finishing the fight.
3) Junior Dos Santos vs Cain Velasquez
-UFC on FOX: November 12th, 2011
For the UFC’s debut on FOX, they decided to only show a single fight. That fight being for the heavyweight title with champion Cain Velasquez coming off of his beatdown of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, defending against Junior Dos Santos. Velasquez and Dos Santos were both climbing through the ranks at the exact same time, so much so that it became a dream matchup of sorts.
There was an unbelievable amount of hype and build up leading up to the event but it only took Junior Dos Santos a little over a minute to land an overhand right that finished Velasquez and stole his belt.
2) Junior Dos Santos vs Mark Hunt
-UFC 160: May 25th, 2013
This is a matchup of styles that had fans salivating for years before the match was made. Junior Dos Santos being arguably the best straight boxer in MMA heavyweight history and Mark Hunt being a kickboxing legend that is as tough as any man could ever possibly hope to be.
The pre-fight argument among fans had been simple, Dos Santos’ boxing vs Mark Hunt’s more well rounded approach. But I’m willing to bet not one person on this planet predicted Junior Dos Santos willing by a spinning wheel kick.
1) Gabriel Gonzaga vs Mirko Filipovic
-UFC 70: April 21st, 2007
Mirko Cro Cop Filipović for years had been considered one of the best heavyweights MMA had ever seen. He’d finally been signed to the UFC after fighting overseas for all of his career. In his UFC debut, he made quick work of Eddie Sanchez, which then put him in position to fight for number one contender status.
He would take on Gabriel Gonzaga and the winner would fight Randy Couture for the UFC’s Heavyweight title. Many people looked past Gonzaga thinking that it would just be another easy matchup for Cro Cop but, Gonzaga used the opportunity to prove there is no such thing as an easy fight in the UFC.
