By Alex Mattis
The criteria for this list consists of four factors:
-Fight relevancy
-Level of competition
-Skill level displayed
-The overall memorable quality
The elite fighters of the world are in the UFC. That’s the way it is. Thus, the elite level of competition and skill are in the UFC. This is a way of saying “Most of the entries in these ‘Top Ten’ lists will be from the UFC, unless exceedingly deserving otherwise.”
Let’s get to it.
10. Tim Kennedy goes USA on Rafael Natal’s face (UFC Fight For The Troops 3 – 11/6)
Tim Kennedy started off his UFC run with an impressive decsion victory over Roger Gracie. In his second octagon outing, Kennedy did exactly what the UFC set him up to do; win in front of his military bretheren and create a moment. A murderous left hand put Rafael Natal out cold and cued the necessary USA chant.
9. Renan Barao spinkicks Eddie Wineland into purgatory (UFC 165 – 9/21)
Going from a Submission of the Year to a Knockout of the Year, Renan Barao covered the board in 2013. Eddie Wineland is a solid boxer with some serious punching power, but his predicatablilty proved to be his downfall. In the second round, Barao perfectly timed a spinning back kick that landed on the jaw of Wineland and sent him crashing to the mat. Wineland tried to get up and defend himself but his mind and body had no idea where they were.
8. Shogun robs James Te Huna of his soul (UFC Fight Night – 12/7)
Te Huna isn’t the biggest name Shogun has ever beat, but my god it was one of his most horrific victories. It’s too early to tell if Shogun is truly “back,” but this victory is exactly what he needed for his career at the moment. This was the kind of knockout that would cause the Pope to take the Lord’s name in vain. If Mauro Ranallo had been commentating this fight, his head would have *literally* exploded.
7. Machida kicks Mark Munoz head,takes him to dinner the same nightn(UFC Fight Night – 10/26)
When Lyoto Machida is on, there is no one in the sport that’s better. After a series of body kicks lured Munoz into leaving his dome unprotected, Machida unleashed a left leg head kick that would make a prime Cro Cop shed a tear. Machida knew it was over and elected to throw no additional blows; confirming his status as a true martial artist.
6. Demetrious Johnson knocks out Joseph Benavidez for the little guys (UFC on FOX – 12/14)
No UFC champion in 2013 had to fight for respect more than Demetrious Johnson. He constanly outworked his opponents and was the clear champion of his division, but people still wrote him off due to his size. On the biggest UFC stage possible, live of FOX, Johnson capped off his 2013 with a scary one-punch knockout of top contender Joseph Benavidez just two mintues into the fight. It was the perfect rebuttal to the “small guys aren’t exciting” argument.
5. Junior Dos Santos wheel kicks Mark Hunt out, and it still has us going “Huh…” (UFC 160 – 5/25)
It felt like everyone watching this fight was holding their breath for the entire first round; waiting for something to go boom. JDS landed an overhand right from the edge of sanity on Hunt, but Mark Hunt don’t go out like no sucka. The second round was a “Woah! That was close” affair. The third became a “Alright, boys, let’s do something,” until Dos Santos threw a SPINNING WHEEL KICK THAT KNOCKED OUT MARK HUNT. It’s almost like the viewer couldn’t do anything but laugh. After all that, the fight was ended in the rarest fashions possible.
4. Emanuel Newton spinning backfists King Mo into a zombie-like state (Bellator 90 – 2/21)
If ever there was proof that the Philly shell defense is not meant for MMA, it’s this fight. King Mo was a name and still held as a top level fighter when this fight went down. So when Emanuel Newton KO’d him with a backfist from hell, it was quite a shock. These two would later rematch and Newton would win again; erasing any doubt. But the knockout is what left people talking. Keep them hands up, Mo.
3. Bigfoot Silva puts Reem/hype to bed (UFC 156 – 2/2)
This is what we got for worshiping false idols. Seriously though. I can’t imagine anything more terrifying than waking up to a screaming Bigfoot Silva standing over me.
2. Tyron Woodley floors Josh Koscheck; nations celebrate (UFC 167 – 11/16)
Going into UFC 167, Tyron Woodley and Josh Koscheck had a lot to prove. Woodley had to assert himself amongst the top welterweights in the world. Koscheck had to prove that despite dropping two fights in-a-row, he was still a top level fighter. What resulted was a wild slugfest that saw both men get cracked and wobbled. Woodley would get the better however, as he unleashed the hammer of Thor in the form of his right hand and finished Koscheck in the most brutal fashion of his career. It sounded like a vinyl record being cracked over a rock. It was a tough day for Fraggle Rock, indeed.
1. Chris Weidman knocks out Anderson Silva. Duh. (UFC 162 – 7/6)
There is no possible argument from anything else to be #1 on this list. I’m not sure what else can be said about it. Personally, it was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen in combat sports. That’s covering 23 years of ground. I literally just sat in shock for ten minutes, not moving. It was the unthinkable and like some weird Voodoo karma curse, I am still left unthinkable. Unthinkable because Silva just got his leg broken and Weidman has some weird Voodoo mojo going on. He just has his number and this was the top KO of the year.
