5 UFC stars who had their iron chins cracked

#2. Donald Cerrone – UFC welterweight contender

Years of wars in the UFC have finally caught up with Donald Cerrone

When he debuted in the UFC in early 2011, three things marked Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone as a genuine superstar.

Firstly, his willingness to fight any opponent at any time. Secondly, his willingness to throw caution to the wind and put on wildly exciting fights. Thirdly, his unbelievable toughness, made possible by a granite chin.

Unfortunately, while ‘Cowboy’ is still willing to face any foe in the octagon and still seems willing to throw caution to the wind, his once-iron chin appears to be cracked for good.

Cerrone was once able to withstand a ludicrous amount of punishment. He famously bounced back from a horrendous knockdown to beat Melvin Guillard, one of the most concussive punchers in UFC history. He also repeated the feat against fighters like Edson Barboza and Eddie Alvarez.

However, more recently, it seems like the years of wars have finally caught up with ‘Cowboy’.

We saw the first signs of this back in 2017, when he suffered shock TKO defeats at the hands of future UFC welterweight title challengers Jorge Masvidal and Darren Till.

While he’s won a number of fights since then, it’s painfully clear that his chin isn’t what it once was. This was demonstrated in his bad TKO losses to Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.

Most recently, he was stopped by journeyman Alex Morono, a fighter whose best shots he surely would’ve absorbed a few years ago.

If the UFC journey is truly over for ‘Cowboy’, it’s safe to say that the downward spiral began when his iron chin was cracked.

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#1. Chuck Liddell – former UFC light heavyweight champion

Chuck Liddell ended his UFC tenure with a string of knockout losses after his chin was cracked

Arguably the best example of a fighter who had his iron chin cracked remains the legendary Chuck Liddell, who held the UFC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007.

‘The Iceman’ was renowned for his knockout power and his ability to take out even the toughest opponents. He was equally well-known for a truly astonishing chin too.

Liddell’s game was all about counterpunching, but unlike someone like Anderson Silva, he didn’t really rely on his reflexes and speed to avoid big shots from his opponents. Instead, ‘The Iceman’ would simply eat their best punches before returning fire with devastating effect.

In the early part of his career, this served him incredibly well. He came from behind to defeat opponents such as Alistair Overeem, Guy Mezger and Vitor Belfort, and his only losses came on the ground.

However, once ‘Rampage’ Jackson became the first man to knock him out with a standing punch – taking his UFC light heavyweight title in the process – it all went downhill.

Liddell was able to turn back the clock in a win over Wanderlei Silva, but he then suffered seriously bad knockout losses to Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua and Rich Franklin. Seemingly, his once-iron chin had turned into paper.

Those losses forced ‘The Iceman’ into retirement – and an ill-advised return in 2018 showed that his chin had not regained its iron nature. He suffered another bad KO loss, this time at the hands of old rival Tito Ortiz.