Mixed Martial Arts has more than its fair share of ‘Holy Jesus!’ moments- from flying side-kicks to flying armbars – the sport has it all. The sport’s top organisations such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator, Pride FC (now defunct), One FC, RIZIN FF and others, showcase a wide variety of stylistic matchups- some technical, others all-out slugfests.
Amongst these, there are a few fights that transcend the run-of-the-mill MMA bouts; involving insane skills and manoeuvres that challenge the laws of physics.
Regardless of the fight, regardless of the outcome, a group of gifted athletes elevate our sport as well as themselves to the next level of martial science; by their larger-than-life in-cage/in-ring moves. Such glaring illustrations of MMA gold, are listed below:
#5 Ryo Chonan’s flying scissor heel hook in Pride
Ryo ‘Piranha’ Chonan (22-13) is an MMA veteran of Pride FC, UFC, DREAM and other notable organisations, with an MMA base of Kyokushin karate. Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (34-8-1) is a former UFC Middleweight champion with a record 10 title defences to his name.
Silva’s MMA base is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Muay Thai. He trained in Taekwondo and capoeira as a child as well.
Chonan faced the mighty Silva at Pride Shockwave 2004 in Saitama, Japan. Silva dominated Chonan, tagging him at will and toying around with the Japanese karateka on the feet. Chonan looked to be on his way to getting knocked out by Silva, when all of a sudden, he successfully executed a flying scissor-lock takedown on ‘The Spider’.
Chonan immediately secured position and slapped on a heel-hook submission on his Brazilian foe, who was forced to tap-out instantly. Ryo Chonan’s flying scissor takedown and simultaneous heel-hook that are usually two different manoeuvres were integrated seamlessly to form a perfectly choreographed submission sequence.
Pride’s 2005 NYE event forever lives on in the minds of MMA fans. Pride Never Die!
#4 Uriah Hall’s spinning flying back kick at UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs Nelson
Uriah ‘Primetime’ Hall (12-8) is a Jamaican kickboxer and MMA fighter, with a base of Kyokushin karate and BJJ. Gegard ‘Dreamcatcher’ Mousasi (41-6-2) is a Dutch-Armenian former Strikeforce and DREAM Light-heavyweight champion and former DREAM Middleweight champion. Mousasi has an MMA base of boxing, kickboxing and judo.
Hall entered the 2015 fight against Mousasi as a huge underdog, getting thoroughly outworked in the first round. Mousasi secured top position on Hall and had dominated him on the feet as well as the ground. Round 2 started and Mousasi, having the obvious grappling advantage over his opponent, ducked in for a takedown.
Hall timed Mousasi’s takedown-attempt perfectly and flung his entire body into the air, spinning to create torque and landing a back-kick on his Dutch opponent. Mousasi lost his balance and wobbled back towards the fence.
Hall finished the fight with a few follow-up shots and secured the biggest win of his career. Now although Mousasi would avenge this loss in a rematch with Hall in 2016, Hall’s flying spinning back-kick will forever remain a staple of the UFC’s highlight reels.
#3 Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis’ Showtime kick at WEC 53
Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis (19-6) is a former UFC and WEC Lightweight (LW) champion with an MMA base of Taekwondo and BJJ. ‘Smooth’ Benson Henderson (24-7) is also a former UFC and WEC LW champion.
Pettis owns a pair of victories over Henderson- a five-round decision win in the WEC followed by a submission win in the UFC. Henderson was the defending champion in both fights, with their WEC matchup being one of the most entertaining fights in the promotion’s history.
Pettis and ’Bendo’ fought a back-and-forth fight, going toe-to-toe on the feet as well as the ground. Pettis, being the more diverse and fluid striker, shone through in most of the standup exchanges, with the icing on the cake being a spectacular flying head-kick that he successfully landed on Henderson’s face.
Pettis initiated the attack by propelling himself off the cage with his right foot, flying through the air and landing his right foot perfectly on Bendo’s face; knocking him down.
This flying head-kick off the cage was thereafter popularly referred to as the ‘Showtime kick’, taking after Pettis’ nickname ‘Showtime’.
#2 Anderson Silva’s Neo-like performance at UFC 101
Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (34-8-1) is a former longtime UFC Middleweight (MW) champion and one of the greatest fighters in our sport’s young history. Forrest Griffin (19-7) is a former UFC Light-heavyweight (LHW) champion with an MMA base of boxing, kick-boxing and BJJ.
Silva faced Griffin at UFC 101 in 2009, in his second matchup in the LHW division, whilst still holding the UFC MW strap. Rumours were rife in the lead-up to the fight that Griffin would open up with a 1-2-headkick combo, and so he did. However, Griffin’s attempted combinations fell short of ‘The Spider’, who used his slick footwork to pivot out of harm’s way.
Regardless Griffin pursued the smaller Silva, chasing him around the Octagon. This is where Silva’s otherworldly head-movement came into play, slipping almost all strikes thrown by the former 205-pound champion, and catching Griffin with accurate counters from awkward angles.
Silva’s sharp counters started adding up and after getting tagged clean, multiple times, Griffin made the critical error of following the ‘Spider’ in a straight line. Bad idea! Silva slipped his opponent’s telegraphed strikes and caught his American opponent clean with a jab, knocking him out.
Anderson Silva’s entire performance against Forrest Griffin is now widely regarded as an essential case-study for aspiring MMA fighters and martial arts practitioners, all over the world. Silva is Michael Jordanesque Neo-like in his head-movement, Joe!
#1 Toby Imada’s standing reverse triangle choke at Bellator 5
Toby Imada (30-18-1) is an American kick-boxer and MMA fighter of Japanese and Mexican descent, with an MMA base of kick-boxing, BJJ and judo. Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal (32-11) is an American boxer, kick-boxer and MMA fighter of Cuban descent, with an MMA base of boxing, kick-boxing and wrestling.
Imada faced Masvidal at Bellator 5 in 2009 in the promotion’s inaugural Lightweight Championship tournament. The two slick fighters fought each other in the tournament’s semi-final bracket, with Imada scoring one of the most incredible moves of all time; a moment that is now considered iconic in the savage science’s young history.
After getting outworked by his opponent on the feet for the better part of two rounds, Imada started off the third round busted up. Masvidal looked to be cruising to a victory when Imada sprawled on a takedown-attempt and instead of regaining his stance, Imada chose to step over his opponent, slapping on an inverted triangle lock.
Masvidal on his part did the right thing by trying to slide his opponent off of his back, by standing upright. However, Imada miraculously hung on to Masvidal head, locking on the submission and putting Masvidal to sleep.
The referee stepped in to stop the fight and Imada celebrated amongst a large round of applause from the raucous crowd in Dayton, Ohio.
Toby Imada’s standing reverse triangle submission of Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal is one of the most iconic moments and unlikeliest submissions in MMA history.
From flying submissions to flying strikes, MMA has it all. Now although many fans would argue with Imada’s performance being rated above the ‘Spider’, we must note that submissions can be just as dynamic as strikes- it is Mixed Martial Arts, after all.
Keeping up with our combat tradition, I’d like you, the reader, to chime in with your favourite ‘MMA Matrix’ moves in the comments.
Keep training and watch out for more spinning, flying, outlandish MMA stuff!!!
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