It was a historic year for the UFC as the promotion saw a total of 149 fights end by (T)KO in 2014.
We saw everything from high kicks and spinning back elbows to the more common counter straight rights and simple ground and pound stoppages.
Here is a look at what the UFC had to offer in the way of (T)KO’s in 2014.
Haven’t Seen That Before
The UFC has been around for more than 20 years, yet there are still new techniques making their way into the organization.
In 2011, the front kick made its presence felt on the faces of UFC legends Vitor Belfort and Randy Couture. In 2012 and 2013, the spinning wheel kick lifted the aforementioned Belfort, along with Junior Dos Santos and Edson Barboza, to “Of the Night” bonuses.
One of the most spectacular knockouts to occur in 2014 was the result of a technique not uncommon in MMA, but one that has yet to result in a clean 1-hit knockout inside of the octagon.
Dong Hyun Kim landed the perfect spinning elbow just as John Hathaway lunged forward with an elbow of his own. Hathaway was sent right to the canvas, while the crowd in China stood in awe.
Check The Time
You don’t have to be a great mathematician or the smartest MMA fan to know that the later a fight goes on, the lesser chance that a knockout will occur.
Taking a look at the following chart, we see that in 2014 a considerable amount of knockouts occurred at the beginning and the end of the first round. The trend decreases as the fight goes on, with small spikes within the middle of the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
(The chart only includes (T)KO’s within the first 15 minutes of a fight as there were only 3 knockouts that occurred after three rounds)
I’ll Be Late For That
As mentioned above, the chart does not account for the three knockouts that occurred outside of the first three rounds of a fight. One of those knockouts was courtesy of Michael Bisping, who overwhelmed Cung Le to get the stoppage by strikes 55 seconds into the 4th round.
The other two knockouts were both 5th round TKO victories for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. T.J. Dillashaw not only pulled off the upset of the year against Renan Barao, but also pulled off the two latest knockout stoppages in 2014 at 2:26 and 2:20 of the 5th round, the latter against Joe Sotto in his first title defense.
Finished Before It Started
Ronda Rousey can add “Quickest Knockout of 2014” to her already impressive MMA resume. It took the Women’s Bantamweight Champion only 16 seconds to dispatch of her opponent Alexis Davis.
Even though Rousey started her career as the “Queen of Armbars”, this finish showed that exchanging with the most dominate woman fighter in the world might not be the best idea.
Injury Woes Leading to TKO’s
As with any contact sport, the risk on injuries is high while competing at the highest level. Although this year was plagued by injuries outside of competition, it also saw a handful of fights end in strange injuries.
Carlos Condit tore his ACL while being taken down by Tyron Woodley, leading to a TKO stoppage minutes into the 2nd round. Jamie Varner broke an ankle against James Krause that resulted in Krause being awarded with a stoppage victory.
In the final event of the year, and perhaps the oddest injury, Antônio dos Santos dislocated a finger during a striking exchange with Daniel Sarafian, waving off his own fight.
Emotional Knockout of the Year
Although odd sounding, it was hard not to shed a tear after one of the most sensational and satisfying knockout finishes of the year.
Josh Samman had his entire world tore apart after suffering both the sudden loss of his girlfriend and a hamstring injury that kept him from competing. What followed was a long road to recovery for the middleweight, both physically and mentally.
When Samman landed a perfectly timed head kick to the dome of Eddie Gordon, a relief rushed over him, all before Gordon could hit the ground.
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