The flying knee. A move as brutal as it is beautiful and as elegant as it is dangerous. Executed perfectly and one could find themselves on the exciting side of a highlight real leaving their opponent immortalized forever in YouTube land receiving the raw end of the deal. A poorly timed, poorly thrown, or less than perfect execution of this maneuver will leave one high and dry, off balance, or in a seriously precarious situation.
We will take a look at five of mixed martial arts’ greatest flying knee knockouts and those involved. This is a move that takes years of dedicated practice and above all else requires balance, timing, grace, and control over one’s body and is definitely classified in the category of high risk/high reward.
5) Diego Rivas vs Noad Lahat
After making a less than inspiring unanimous decision victory in his UFC debut, Diego Rivas was given a chance to once again prove himself on the world’s largest stage and was bound and determined to make a statement…and make a statement he did! Merely 23 seconds into round number two Diego Rivas landed a beautiful flying knee that sent Noad Lahat tumbling to the canvas and into what Mark Hunt so aptly describes as the dark lands.
4) Brenson Hansen vs Tom Marcellino
At WSOF 2 Brenson Hansen took on Tom Marcellino in his WSOF debut in a lightweight bout which would no doubt be a test as Hansen’s natural weight class is featherweight. Fearing no one and not wanting to miss a chance to showcase his skill set on a larger platform than had previously been available to him, Hansen was determined to not disappoint. In round number two, Hansen let loose a flying knee that stunned Marcellino as well as the referee. The move was executed so precisely and so quickly that it even took the referee by such surprise, and as you can see in the picture below, it caused him to literally jump out of his shoe to stop the bout.
3) Norifumi Kid Yamamoto vs Kazuyuki Miyata
This is quite possibly the quickest flying knee finish and perhaps one of the fastest knockouts in mma history! Officially recorded as four seconds, it may possibly be unofficially even faster! Without giving away too many details; Kid simply runs across the ring and lands a perfectly placed flying knee, the results of which are delivered with finality!
2) Joachim Hansen vs Caol Uno
This is one of my personal favorite flying knee finishes and comes to us from the land of the rising sun at K-1 Hero’s 1 in 2005. An extremely close fight was brought to a stunning end in brutal fashion with a single knee from Hansen. Though technically not a flying knee, Hansen’s move is executed with all of the ingredients: a two or three step head start, a leaping movement, and then a devastating connection. Although his balancing foot barely comes off the surface of the ring it is still technically described as a flying knee and most definitely deserves a spot on this list.
1) Jose Aldo vs Cub Swanson
Jose Aldo is world renowned for his Muay Thai skills but more specifically for his Muay Thai-adapted-for-mma skills. In his title defense in the WEC versus Cub Swanson, Aldo made quick work of Cub…very quick work, like eight seconds quick. In what is one of the rarest knockout finishes in mixed martial arts Jose Aldo sent Cub Swanson into the dark lands with the coveted double knee. Words cannot do this ballet of violence as a picture is worth a thousand words.
