MMA Spot’s Best Of 2009: Knockouts

**chrisc** · Posted On: 12/23/2009 3:56pm

1) Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping (UFC 100)

During the filming of "The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK", a heated rivalry began brewing between coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. The build-up of the feud was put into living rooms across the country leading up to UFC 100 in July. Henderson, who had been open about his distaste for Bisping while filming, got his revenge on the biggest stage in UFC history. Henderson dominated the first round by cutting off the Octagon and making Bisping circle dangerously toward his power hand. The second frame saw more of the same, only this time Bisping would not hear the closing bell. After feigning a leg kick, Henderson landed a crushing right hand on Bisping’s chin that turned the Brit’s lights out entirely. Adding insult to injury, Henderson then followed Bisping to the ground with a diving punch reminiscent of professional wrestling, and earned what was, by far, the most brutal knockout of the year.

2) Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski (Affliction: Day of Reckoning)

In what was a clash between the two top-ranked heavyweight fighters on the planet, Fedor Emelianenko proved once again that he is indeed the greatest heavyweight of all time. As story played out at Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" this past January, Andre Arlovski used his superior boxing skills to frustrate Emelianenko early on, keeping ‘The Russian Experiment’ on his heels for the first three minutes of the fight. After landing a powerful straight kick which pushed Fedor into the corner, Arlovski attempted to follow with a flying knee. Fedor had had enough at that point. While Arlovski was still in mid-air Emelianenko landed a thunderous overhand right which sent ‘The Pitbull’ crashing to the mat face first, in one of the most visually stunning knockouts in MMA history, at 3:13 of the first round.

3) Lyoto Machida vs. Rashad Evans (UFC 98)

Without a doubt, now UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Lyoto Machida had a banner year in 2009. Riding high off a devastating first round knockout victory of previously undefeated Thiago Silva, ‘The Dragon’ met Rashad Evans at May's UFC 98 and added another victim to his win column. After controlling the action in first round, dropping Evans, Machida proved that his "elusive" style did not simply mean backing away. The champion came out for blood in the second frame, absorbing no damage, while repeatedly tripping and dropping Evans. Machida ended the fight when he landed a devastating combination of punches that sent Evans crumbling, unconsciously, against the cage and to the canvas at 3:57 of the round. The "Machida Era" had begun.

All Ten Knockouts: MMA Spot - MMA Spot’s Best Of 2009: Knockouts

Fedor with two KO's in the top 5.

**Conde Koma** · Posted On: 12/23/2009 4:21pm

He deserves it. Glad to see Smith's KO of Cung Le up there.

**Ka-Bar** · Posted On: 12/23/2009 9:19pm

Marquardt-Maia anyone?

**Demon Eyes** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 12:07am

Funny, I just watched the Cung Le fight right now. I'm just shocked by the KO. Scott Smith really lived up to his ring name. Caught Cung Le right under the ear.

Good list. Some crazy KO's this year.

**inertia** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 12:26am

No Marius Zaromskis over Jason High on that list?That is one of the cleanest KO's i've seen.

Pretty good list otherwise with the exception of number 6 which while it looked cool was a TKO.

**ronaldk** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 10:45am

i'm peeved Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago isn't up there. much more spectacular and unexpected than Smith's KO IMO.

**Hesperus** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 4:49pm

That KO wouldn't be half as much fun without Koscheck's fro wobble.

**mdf2** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 10:22pm

Good list. I didn't see many of them, so it's nice to be caught up.

**wakarukaya** · Posted On: 12/24/2009 11:41pm

Originally Posted by ronaldk

i'm peeved Josh Koscheck vs. Paulo Thiago isn't up there. much more spectacular and unexpected than Smith's KO IMO.

I think the Smith vs Cung KO was there because it was the more unexpected one.

Kos's striking has improved, but I didn't think its become phenomenal.

**laevus** · Posted On: 12/25/2009 2:30pm

Also, just as likely that they wanted to avoid having a large majority of UFC matches on the list.

Although to be fair, I think we can all agree that what Marquardt did to Maia was a nastier KO than most of those, with the possible exception of Fedor/Arlovski (AA lying there like an eyes-open corpse was creepy) and of course Henderson/Bisping, which rightly comes in at number 1.