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There are few things more entertaining in a UFC fight than a truly explosive and violent finish. Naturally, all of the promotion’s fighters would prefer to stop their foe rather than allow a fight to go to the judges.
Over the years we’ve seen a number of UFC fighters get so desperate to finish their opponent that things have backfired on them – usually ending instead with them suffering a loss.
Sometimes this overzealousness leads to them gassing out – leaving them a sitting duck for a recovered opponent. Other times it leads them to get too wild in their attempts to finish, leaving them susceptible to a counter.
So with this considered, here are five times that overzealousness to finish a fight cost a UFC star dearly.
#5. Shane Carwin vs. Brock Lesnar – UFC 116
There have been a number of true power punchers operating in the UFC’s heavyweight division over the years. However, few fighters hit quite as hard as Shane Carwin.
The hulking wrestler debuted in the octagon in mid-2008, and quickly established himself as a fighter to watch with a number of crushing knockouts. Often, it felt like all Carwin had to do was touch an opponent on their jaw, and they’d be knocked silly.
After reeling off four straight victories in the UFC – including a seriously brutal one over Frank Mir that gave him the interim UFC heavyweight title – Carwin was finally handed his shot at reigning UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Many people favored Carwin to dethrone ‘The Beast Incarnate’ but, in reality, he simply hadn’t been all that tested during his UFC career.
So when it came to their clash at UFC 116, as per usual, Carwin started quickly. He stunned Lesnar with a flurry, causing the former WWE star to retreat, and then put him down with another series of punches.
The fight looked all but over as Carwin bombed on Lesnar with heavy ground-and-pound, but ‘The Beast Incarnate’ was able to do just enough to survive. When the buzzer sounded, it was clear something wasn’t right with the challenger.
Carwin had run completely out of steam in his attempts to finish Lesnar. When he came out for the second round, he looked like a dead man walking.
Within seconds of the round beginning, Lesnar secured an easy takedown, passed Carwin’s guard and slapped on an arm triangle choke, forcing him to tap out after two minutes.
This was a classic example of a fighter’s overzealousness costing them. Had Carwin simply picked his shots rather than unloading his entire gas tank in the first round, he likely would’ve become the new UFC heavyweight champion.
#4. Leonardo Santos vs. Clay Guida – UFC on ESPN 31
A recent example of a fighter’s overzealousness costing them dearly came earlier this month at UFC on ESPN 31.
The fight in question saw lightweight veterans Leonardo Santos and Clay Guida squaring off. Early on, it looked like Santos’ fight.
The Brazilian hurt Guida early on with a kick to the body, and then began to unload on him with strikes, repeatedly hurting his midsection. Eventually, ‘The Carpenter’ failed on a takedown attempt and it looked like Santos would be able to finish him with ground-and-pound.
Somehow though, Guida did just enough to survive – arguably thanks to some lenient officiating from Keith Peterson. Before the first round even ended, it was clear Santos was slowing down.
Guida ended the round with a takedown and some elbows of his own. In the second round, the exhausted Santos was a sitting duck. ‘The Carpenter’ took him down again. This time he was able to secure back control and apply a rear-naked choke to force the highly-decorated grappler to submit.
In this instance it’s almost hard to blame Santos for being so overzealous in his pursuit of a finish. Many referees would’ve called the fight off. Realistically, however, the Brazilian should still have ensured he had something left. He didn’t though and it cost him.
#3. Greg Hardy vs. Tai Tuivasa – UFC 264
When heavy hitters Greg Hardy and Tai Tuivasa faced off at UFC 264, it was always likely that one of them would end up being knocked out.
However, few fans expected what happened. In a truly wild fight, Tuivasa was almost put away himself before he turned the tables on ‘The Prince of War’ – all in just over a single minute.
The two big men exchanged strikes from the word go. After the first big trade-off, it looked like Hardy’s power was going to give him the advantage. He connected with a huge right hand to the temple, causing ‘Bam Bam’ to stumble backwards towards the fence.
The Aussie looked all but done. Hardy charged forward to finish him off but in the process, he forgot the golden rule of protecting yourself at all times inside the octagon.
The former NFL defensive end dropped his hands a little too much. Tuivasa – who had barely recovered – caught him coming in with a crushing right hand that separated him from his consciousness immediately. Hardy crumpled, and Tuivasa added a largely needless flurry to seal the deal.
Given his relative inexperience in MMA, it was perhaps understandable to see Hardy get too overzealous to finish this fight. However, he probably should’ve remembered that against a dangerous foe like Tuivasa, it would’ve been better to pick his shots and not charge in unprotected.
#2. Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne – UFC Fight Night 26
After his big return to the octagon went awry when he was knocked out by Antonio Silva at UFC 156, Alistair Overeem had a point to prove against Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 26.
‘The Reem’ came into his second UFC fight since returning looking fired up. He wasted no time in opening up on ‘Hapa’ with his full arsenal. After failing on a guillotine choke, he landed a knee to the gut that doubled Browne over. From there, he looked to finish the fight.
Overeem smashed Browne into the fence and nailed him with a ridiculous amount of knees, as well as a hailstorm of punches. Despite the Hawaiian fighter barely even covering up, referee Mario Yamasaki decided to let the fight continue.
Eventually, Overeem slowed down, and Browne was able to get back to his feet and create some separation. Immediately, it was clear from the body language of ‘The Reem’ that he was tired, while Browne appeared to have recovered somehow.
Sure enough, just moments later, with ‘The Reem’ now plodding on flat feet, Browne was able to score with a heavy front kick to the jaw. The kick dropped the Dutchman – allowing Browne to dive on him with hammer fists to finish him off.
Like with Leonardo Santos, you could probably excuse Overeem’s wild attempts to finish this fight, as Yamasaki probably could’ve stepped in. However, had he been more patient with his strikes, he probably could’ve found the killer blow. As it was, his overzealousness ended up blowing his gas tank – leading directly to his KO loss.
#1. Pete Sell vs. Scott Smith – UFC's The Ultimate Fighter IV Finale
Perhaps the greatest example of a UFC fighter who got too overzealous in his attempts to finish a fight – leading directly to a loss – remains Pete ‘Drago’ Sell in his fight with Scott Smith in 2006.
The two men had struck up a close friendship during their time on the cast of the fourth season of UFC's The Ultimate Fighter series. Evidently, they decided to put all of that to the side for their clash on the finale event.
From the word go, the two UFC middleweights began to exchange wildly. The clash quickly developed into a crazy brawl, with both men landing some huge shots to back the other up.
Neither man really gained a real advantage in the first round. Despite looking more physically busted up, it looked like it would be Sell who would be on his way to victory when he stung Smith with a heavy body punch midway through the second round.
‘Hands of Steel’ outright yelled in pain and stumbled back, attempting to cover up. It looked like Sell simply needed to finish him off with a quick flurry – but as he came charging in for the kill, he dropped his hands entirely.
Sensing an opening, Smith threw everything he had left into a single right hand – and it connected cleanly with Sell’s jaw, instantly turning off his lights.
Smith was still so badly hurt by the earlier body shot that he collapsed to the ground himself – but he’d still won the fight, becoming part of UFC legend in the process. Sell, meanwhile, would rue his decision to charge in so recklessly. Had he not been so overzealous, there’s no doubt he’d have won the fight.
