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For any MMA fighter, debuting in the UFC is one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking things possible, with experienced champions from other organizations even speaking about suffering from the dreaded ‘octagon shock’.
While most fighters struggle to produce their best in their UFC debuts, there have been a handful of notable exceptions, with some bursting onto the scene and producing knockouts moments after arriving at the big show.
Sometimes these fighters went onto greatness in the promotion, while others simply faded into the ether. However, their debut knockouts mean that they’ll probably never be completely forgotten.
Here are five debutants who wasted no time in delivering a knockout.
#5. Chidi Njoukani vs. Marc-Andre Barriault – UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland
The most recent entry on this list went down this past weekend at the UFC’s latest Fight Night event. It provided fans with one of the best knockouts thus far in 2022.
When the promotion inked middleweight Chidi Njokuani to a deal, not many fans were all that excited. ‘Chidi Bang Bang’ had been considered a hot prospect at one stage, but that was a long time ago. While the striker had done decently for himself in Bellator MMA, he’d hardly set the world alight.
So when he was matched with the tough Marc-Andre Barriault, a fighter who’d never been finished before, in his octagon debut, it seemed highly likely that a fight lasting the distance would be the most likely result.
However, Njokuani had other ideas entirely. After testing his range with a couple of kicks, he quickly flicked a jab into the face of his Canadian opponent. He then followed with a brutal right haymaker that sent him crashing to the ground.
Moments later, the fight was over, as Njokuani pounced and hammered ‘Power Bar’ with punches that forced referee Herb Dean to step in.
The whole fight took just 16 seconds, as it appeared the debutant was moving on a totally different time plane than his more octagon-tested opponent. If Njokuani had felt any nerves coming into the bout at all, he certainly didn’t show them.
#4. Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague – UFC 102
Todd Duffee was already widely considered as one of the heavyweight division’s top prospects when he was signed by the UFC in mid-2009. With that in mind, plenty of eyes were on his octagon debut against Tim Hague despite it being placed on the preliminary card.
Duffee only had five professional fights to his name, but his reputation in training camps was widely formidable. His last fight prior to entering the octagon saw him beat PRIDE veteran Assuerio Silva badly.
Nobody could’ve foreseen the impact he’d have in his debut on the big stage, though. Hague was a huge opponent, with a UFC victory over Pat Barry under his belt, but Duffee didn’t seem to care about that. He showed it by refusing to touch gloves.
Seconds later, the fight was over. Duffee slipped a sloppy shot from ‘The Thrashing Machine’ and hit him with a stiff jab that dropped him hard. From there, he quickly pounced and finished him off with a series of brutal punches.
The fight lasted just seven seconds, making it amongst the fastest knockouts in UFC history. Duffee had sealed his spot as a major rising star, even if injuries and various other issues in the years that followed meant that he was never quite able to fulfil that early promise.
#3. David Terrell vs. Matt Lindland – UFC 49
Without a champion since the departure of Murilo Bustamante, the UFC’s middleweight division was in dire need of a shot in the arm in mid-2004. That shot, in the form of a violent knockout, came from a surprising place: an octagon debutant who had more of a reputation as a grappler than a striker.
David Terrell was widely recognized as one of the best grapplers on the planet when he was signed by the promotion. He’d submitted the likes of Dean Lister and Ricardo Almeida and had never had a point scored on him in a jiu-jitsu competition.
However, when he was matched against Matt Lindland, the top-ranked 185lber in the promotion at the time, for his octagon debut, it seemed like the odds were stacked against him.
It took ‘The Soul Assassin’ just 24 seconds to turn those odds on their head. Never a technically-skilled striker, Lindland came out with his hands a little too low and Terrell rushed him, missing with his first punch but then connecting with his second, a clean left hook.
‘The Law’ was sent down to the canvas and before he had any chance to recover, Terrell was on him, bouncing his head off the mat with a series of nasty punches that knocked him silly.
A star was made in an instant and with the less-marketable Lindland finally out of the picture, the UFC immediately re-introduced the middleweight title.
Although Terrell would fall to Evan Tanner in that title bout and would only fight once more in the octagon, it’s probably fair to credit him with saving the division in a lot of ways.
#2. Mark Weir vs. Eugene Jackson – UFC 38
Modern-day UFC fans have probably never heard the name Mark Weir. To be honest, it’s hardly surprising. After all, ‘The Wizard’ fought just three times in the octagon and has been retired from MMA since 2013.
However, Weir’s debut with the promotion saw him deliver a knockout for the ages. Surprisingly enough, it still ranks as the fastest knockout in the middleweight division nearly 20 years later.
Fighting out of Gloucester, England, Weir was booked as part of the main card on the UFC’s first visit to the UK in the summer of 2002. He was matched with Eugene Jackson, who’d first debuted in the octagon back in 1999.
‘The Wolf’ was naturally considered a clear favorite in the bout, but Weir looked confident. He also owned a sizeable reach advantage, something he intended to use.
Sure enough, when the fight began, ‘The Wizard’ surprised Jackson with a wild axe kick aimed at his head. The kick missed but threw Jackson off enough for Weir to follow with a short right hand to the jaw. It knocked the veteran down and Weir quickly followed up and knocked him senseless.
The knockout took just 10 seconds. While Weir’s subsequent two losses in the octagon soon left him outside the promotion looking in, his debut victory found its way onto the UFC’s highlight reels for years afterwards.
#1. Ryan Jimmo vs. Anthony Perosh – UFC 149
When the UFC signed Ryan Jimmo to a contract in 2012, many MMA fans let out a sigh of frustration. ‘The Big Deal’ was seen as a hugely talented fighter, but his run of decision wins in Canada’s MFC promotion had also gained him the reputation as someone hugely dull to watch.
That reputation meant few fans expected much from his octagon debut against veteran Anthony Perosh. It came as no surprise to see the fight placed on the preliminary portion of a less-than-stacked pay-per-view card.
However, Jimmo stunned everyone with his performance, as he needed just seven seconds to take out ‘The Hippo’, setting a UFC record in the light heavyweight division in the process.
The fight began with a touch of gloves, but after that, ‘The Big Deal’ wasted no time. He stepped forward, found his range and leveled Perosh with a right hand that knocked him silly before he even hit the deck.
When Jimmo celebrated by performing the viral ‘robot dance’, it seemed like a star had been born in the most unlikely of circumstances. While he was unable to make it to the top of the promotion before his untimely death in 2016, his debut knockout remains one of the best in UFC history.
