5 times when renowned UFC knockout artists were stopped in brutal fashion

#4. Jorge Masvidal vs. Kamaru Usman – UFC 261

Kamaru Usman almost decapitated Jorge Masvidal in their second bout, rendering the knockout artist unconscious

While the early stages of his UFC career were largely marked by fights that often went the distance and usually saw a controversial decision go against him, when he returned to action in 2019 following a short break, Jorge Masvidal quickly developed a reputation as a knockout artist.

This reputation was essentially built off the back of two truly brutal knockouts, one over Darren Till in the UK-based fighter’s home country and one over Ben Askren in a fight that lasted just five seconds. With the latter KO, ‘Gamebred’ set a promotional record in the process.

When a third TKO victory over Nate Diaz made him the UFC’s first ‘BMF’ champion, it was hardly a surprise that fans began to clamor for him to fight reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

While Masvidal came up short in a late-notice fight with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ in 2020, his reputation was such that the promotion decided to give him another shot a year later. That was despite the Cuban-American not winning a fight in the interim.

When it came to their rematch, then, many fans simply expected Usman to repeat the stifling gameplan he’d used to win the first fight. If the fight were to feature a brutal knockout, the general consensus was that Masvidal would be the fighter to deliver it.

Incredibly, though, that wasn’t the case. A far more confident Usman seemed happier to strike with ‘Gamebred’. After tagging him more than once, the second round saw him practically decapitate Masvidal with a truly vicious right hand.

The knockout stunned everyone and was easily as brutal as anything Masvidal himself had ever dished out in the octagon. Quite whether ‘Gamebred’ will be the same fighter afterwards is very much up in the air, but this definitely stands as one of the nastiest finishes suffered by a renowned knockout artist in the UFC.

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#3. Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman – UFC 162

Chris Weidman famously turned the tables on Anderson Silva in 2013 - and left the renowned knockout artist out cold

After capturing the UFC middleweight title from Rich Franklin in October 2006, Anderson Silva quickly went onto establish himself not just as a great champion, but perhaps the greatest fighter in the promotion’s history, full stop.

While ‘The Spider’ was excellent in all areas, though, he became most well-known for his striking. Most notable was his ability to knock his opponents out in a variety of creative and violent ways.

Nobody had seen a front-kick knockout until Silva unleashed one against Vitor Belfort, for instance. In addition, his finish of Forrest Griffin quickly garnered comparisons to Muhammad Ali.

Even as ‘The Spider’ aged after years of holding his title, it seemed unthinkable that an opponent could give him a taste of his own medicine. Sure, observers felt that someone could best him on the ground, but on the feet? Nobody appeared to stand a chance.

That all changed when Silva faced Chris Weidman at UFC 162. Primarily known for his wrestling and grappling, ‘The All-American’ was expected to look for takedowns against the champion. Indeed, he won the first round by doing just that.

Sensing that he needed to switch things up in the second round, Silva attempted to draw Weidman into a striking exchange by performing his trademark ‘clowning’. That basically saw him drop his hands and dance around in order to goad his foe in.

This time, though, the approach backfired horribly. Silva had always been used to being able to simply lean back to dodge his opponent’s shots. In this instance, his reflexes had slowed slightly and he underestimated Weidman’s reach.

The champion ate a flush left hook that dropped him hard. Weidman quickly followed with a series of shots that left him unconscious. To say that the audience were stunned would be an understatement.

Incredibly, Silva’s whole career went on a nosedive following the loss. He would win just one more fight in the octagon before retiring in 2020, making this one of the best examples of a knockout artist going down in brutal fashion.