5 UFC stars who made their fights look like video games

#4. Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia – UFC 95

Nate Marquardt unleashed his inner Tekken character with his combination to put away WIlson Gouveia

The UFC 95 event saw another video game-esque contest.

One common feature of fighting video games will often see a character unleash a multi-strike combination on their opponent, landing kicks, punches and knees with stunning accuracy without missing a beat.

Naturally, these kind of combinations are less likely to happen in the world of the UFC. For starters, one shot can send a fighter down in the octagon, meaning multi-strike combinations aren’t often needed.

More importantly, though, most UFC fighters simply aren’t capable of chaining combinations together like video game characters. That’s no slight on them, pulling such things off is a tough ask, after all.

However, the combination delivered by former UFC middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt to opponent Wilson Gouveia at UFC 95 appeared to have come straight out of a video game. It was so wild that it almost didn’t seem real.

The fight had gone into the third round. While it was clear that Marquardt had an advantage standing, he couldn’t quite find the right shot to put his Brazilian foe away.

With just under two minutes remaining, that changed. Gouveia walked into a flying knee from ‘Nate the Great’, who then went into overdrive, somehow landing two left head kicks, a right head kick directly into a spinning backfist, a pair of right hands and finally a pair of knees to put his opponent away.

The combination was absolutely ridiculous, as Marquardt literally landed nine clean strikes in a row, all chained together beautifully. Despite ‘Nate the Great’ picking up a total of nine finishes in his UFC career, this one was easily the best.

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#3. Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi – UFC Fight Night 75

Uriah Hall channelled his favourite video game characters in his wild win over Gegard Mousasi

Prior to his UFC debut in 2013, Uriah Hall admitted in various interviews that his fighting style was somewhat inspired by the famous video game Tekken. According to ‘Prime Time’, he’d play the game for hours and then attempt to replicate the moves he’d seen in his real-life training.

This style meant that Hall made an impact even before his official UFC debut, knocking out the unfortunate Adam Cella during his run on TUF 17 with a wicked spinning back kick that left Cella completely unconscious. However, ‘Prime Time’ was never able to replicate his Tekken-style moves in the UFC proper, instead largely flattering to deceive.

That changed when he faced perennial UFC middleweight title contender Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 75 in 2015. Coming into the fight as a major underdog, Hall found himself being dominated during the first round of the clash, fighting off a variety of submissions rather than utilizing his own offense.

He clearly knew something needed to change in the second round and so before Mousasi could even attempt an attack, ‘Prime Time’ flew out of his corner and landed a jumping spinning back kick to the face.

The shot staggered Mousasi badly, making him an open target for Hall’s next strike, a picture-perfect flying knee. The shot was enough to drop ‘The Dreamcatcher’. From there, Hall pounced on him to finish him off.

‘Prime Time’ would never quite live up to his athletic potential following this clash, but it remains his best highlight reel moment in the UFC. As he’d probably hoped, it felt like a Tekken game coming to life.