5 best last-gasp finishes in UFC history

#2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen – UFC 117

Anderson Silva snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat in his entertaining UFC middleweight title bout with Chael Sonnen.

When Chael Sonnen signed to take on UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 117, he promised to take the fight to ‘The Spider’ like nobody had done before.

At that point, Silva had held the title for the better part of four years, and had turned back six consecutive challengers. Nobody had come close to beating him. He even stepped up to 205lbs to casually smack around a former UFC light heavyweight champion in Forrest Griffin.

However, Sonnen’s incredible wrestling skill and ability to push the pace offered Silva something he hadn’t really faced before. Early on, it looked like ‘The American Gangster’ would live up to his promise. He came into the fight on fire, hurting Silva with punches on the feet before taking him down to beat on him with elbows on the ground.

‘The Spider’ seemingly had no answer to this gameplan. Midway through the fight, UFC fans were stunned by the ease with which Sonnen seemed to be able to handle the pound-for-pound king.

By the fifth round, the fight looked all but over. Sonnen had been bloodied by Silva’s elbow strikes, but he seemed undeterred, and his ground-and-pound assault wasn’t letting up.

With just under two minutes remaining, though, Silva threw out a ‘Hail Mary’ move in the form of a triangle choke. Unbelievably, he was able to lock the submission hold in, forcing Sonnen to tap out.

‘The American Gangster’ had undoubtedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. However, this was still a phenomenal achievement for Silva, who proved once and for all that he was the best middleweight in the UFC.

Simply put, this remains one of the best last-gasp finishes in a UFC title bout in the promotion’s history.

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#1. Yair Rodriguez vs. Chan Sung Jung – UFC Fight Night 139

Yair Rodriguez pulled off the UFC's greatest-ever last gasp finish in his clash with Chan Sung Jung.

No matter how good Anderson Silva’s triangle choke victory over Chael Sonnen was, there’s only one choice when it comes to the greatest last-gasp finish in UFC history.

The finish in question came during the UFC’s 25th anniversary show in the headline bout between featherweight contenders Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung. Fighting in Denver, Colorado, the same city that had hosted the inaugural UFC show in 1993, Rodriguez and Jung put on a war for the ages for five rounds.

However, as the fifth round approached its conclusion, it seemed as if the one who’got the better shots in would be adjudged the winner. Quite who would be awarded the win was anyone’s guess at that point. Incredibly, though, Rodriguez somehow made sure that things never came to that.

With just one second remaining on the clock, ‘El Pantera’ caught Jung coming forward with a ridiculous upward elbow from a ducking position, and knocked ‘The Korean Zombie’ silly.

The knockout tied the UFC’s record for the latest finish in the promotion’s history. It made an instant star of Rodriguez, who immediately went viral across the internet. Quite what possessed the Mexican fighter to throw such a wild strike was not known, but it clearly worked.

Three years later, this finish has lost none of its allure, and remains the best last-gasp finish in the UFC's history.