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In the UFC, head kicks result in some of the most spectacular knockouts across the entire sport of MMA. Few sounds in combat sports are as thunderous as the seismic collision between a chin and a shin. However, head kicks are high-risk maneuvers, least of all because fighters have gotten better at parrying kicks and countering them.
They require more time, energy, and leverage than any other strike. This is why prolific kickers who have neglected to expand their footwork and learn to pivot at angles struggle against opponents who deprive them of the space and time they need to throw kicks effectively.
This is what led to the downfall of even very fast, powerful kickers like Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza. Thus, the most effective kickers who have emerged are the ones who create openings with their boxing.
Last weekend saw Marlon 'Chito' Vera defeat Dominick Cruz with a vicious head kick that smashed the former UFC bantamweight champion's nose into itself. In the spirit of Vera's impressive win, this list examines his head kick KO along with 4 other impressive knockouts of a similar variety.
#5. Kevin Lee vs. Gregor Gillespie, UFC 244
Although UFC 244 was headlined by Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, the true show-stealer was Kevin Lee's vicious knockout of the then undefeated wrestler Gregor Gillespie. At the time, Lee was making his return to the lightweight division after an unsuccessful welterweight debut against Rafael dos Anjos.
Gillespie, on the other hand, was an unbeaten phenom intent on capturing the first signature win of his career by besting a former UFC interim lightweight title challenger. The fight lasted little more than two minutes. Lee didn't deviate from his typical jab-right cross combination, immediately noticing Gillespie's intention of slipping on the inside of his right cross.
After ensuring Gillespie's reaction, Lee again threw the combination, hoping to trick Gillespie into slipping into the path of a left high kick as he sought to avoid the right cross. 'The Motown Phenom' was even more successful than he intended.
Gillespie was stunned by the right cross as he tried slipping inside, briefly freezing in place for a left high kick he never saw coming. The kick landed and Gillespie was unconscious before collapsing against the fence, no longer undefeated.
#4. Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm, UFC 239
Holly Holm is not known for her knockout power. In fact, the former UFC women's bantamweight champion undercuts her own punching power by fighting from a pull-counter stance without using any pull-counters.
Furthermore, when jabbing, she does not jab with her step, instead jabbing after stepping in. Thus, her punches are often more like shoves, as if she's pushing her opponents with her fists.
Holm, however, does possess incredible power in her kicks, especially her left high kick, which she used to dethrone Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. Unfortunately, when she faced Amanda Nunes for the title at UFC 239, it was Holm who was on the receiving end of a head kick knockout.
Four minutes into the first round, Holm had keyed in on Nunes' jab, one of the Brazilian great's most effective weapons. To mitigate this, Holm opted to side-kick Nunes' lead knee as she stepped in to jab.
What 'The Preacher's Daughter' didn't know was that 'The Lioness' was well-prepared. Holm's counter to opponents stepping in has always been side-kicking the lead knee, a staple of Jackson Wink MMA.
Unfortunately, when side-kicking the lead knee, Holm launches herself sideward as she thrusts her foot into her foe's knee, granting the kick more power but simultaneously exposing her upper-body to counters.
So, when she lifted her leg to kick Nunes' knee, it was instead Nunes' shin that smashed into her face as Nunes counter-kicked her while Holm had one foot off the mat with no balance. Holm was floored by a Nunes high kick. Badly hurt, and after four follow-up punches from Nunes, the fight was called.
#3. Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye, UFC 238
In many people's minds, Valentina Shevchenko's matchup with Jessica Eye at UFC 238 was a foregone conclusion. Shevchenko was a highly successful bantamweight, only ever losing to Amanda Nunes—the greatest female fighter of all time—and Liz Carmouche due to a cut in a fight she was dominating.
Jessica Eye, however, was not nearly as successful, having gone 1-5-1 before making her flyweight debut.
By then, 'Bullet' was the reigning flyweight champion and 'Evil Eye' would be her first title defense after the divisional newcomer had amassed a 3-fight win streak. The result was a dominant win for Shevchenko, however, no one could have expected the knockout that punctuated her victory.
After conditioning Eye to expect her thunderous body kicks for the better part of the 1st round, Shevchenko opened the second round with two hard kicks to Eye's midsection.
When she raised her leg for the third time, teasing another body kick, her foe dropped her arms to either block or catch Shevchenko's kick. Alas, 'Bullet' did not throw a third kick to the midsection, instead clambering her leg higher to whip her shin into Eye's exposed head, immediately knocking her unconscious.
No one will ever forget the image of Jessica Eye lying on the mat with her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her legs quaking, and her feet curled inward.
Shevchenko's head kick was so violent in its results that she was even asked in the post-fight press conference if she felt a level of concern for Eye upon seeing how badly she had hurt her foe.
#2. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193
Before UFC 193, Ronda Rousey was on top of the world. At the time, she was MMA's biggest crossover star, making cameos in movies, appearing on talk shows, and serving as a magnetic presence for an untapped market of women who never cared for MMA prior. She was undefeated and well into her reign as the UFC women's bantamweight champion.
Meanwhile, Holly Holm was a relative unknown to all but the hardcore fanbase. A former world champion boxer who had plied her trade in kickboxing, Holm was also an undefeated MMA fighter.
However, so were Bethe Correia and Sara McMann until they locked horns with Rousey. Many regarded Holm as merely another lamb prepared for slaughter. But at UFC 193, 'The Preacher's Daughter' truly shocked the world.
Rousey, who possessed poor lateral footwork, found herself incapable of consistently closing the distance on her foe. Instead, she chased her in a straight line while Holm easily circled back into open space, shuffling from side to side and misdirecting Rousey while Rousey ran herself into Holm's counterpunches with her chin exposed.
Holm stunned, outstruck, and outclassed 'Rowdy' in such a lopsided manner that there seemed no way Rousey could win.
By the start of the second round, Rousey was gasping for air, exhausted from chasing and eating constant counterpunches in the previous round. After dropping Rousey with a straight left, Holm pounced on her foe as 'Rowdy' tried to get back to her feet, flattening her with a left kick to the head.
Rousey would not stand back up again, and Holm captured UFC gold in what remains one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.
#1. Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz, UFC on ESPN 41
Until his recent UFC run, Dominick Cruz was virtually impossible to land clean strikes against. The former UFC bantamweight champion was an ever-elusive presence who caused his opponents to miss most of their strikes, frustrating them into sloppiness due to his stance-switching and dipping lateral head movements.
By constantly switching stances, Cruz changed the alignment of his opponent's strikes, and by dipping his head at an angle as he exits exchanges, he evades most punches. However, Cruz's style is not without its drawbacks.
He often crosses his feet during his bouts, an inadvisable action as crossing one's feet places the fighter in a vulnerable position with no solid footing from which to properly absorb punches.
Furthermore, Cruz's habit of tripling his jab causes him to lead with his head, while his tendency to exaggeratedly dip his head in either his right or left sides exposes him to strikes with wider arcs.
A combination of these habits led to the knockdowns he suffered against Cody Garbrandt and Pedro Munhoz, and the TKO loss he suffered against Henry Cejudo. Against 'Chito', the results were even more brutal.
After conditioning Cruz to dip his head deep on the inside of his right cross, Vera faked a right cross, fooling Cruz into dipping his head deep into a massive left kick to the head. It shattered the former champion's nose as he immediately fell unconscious.
