UFC 131: Dos Santos, Carwin and the Top 25 Heavyweight Strikers in MMA History

At UFC 131, two of the best heavyweight strikers in the sport will meet to determine the top contender in the weight division. In what promises to be a stand-up war, Shane Carwin's power will meet Junior Dos Santos' speed and technique.

As both fighters continue to pile up knockouts on their records, Dos Santos and Carwin have climbed their way into the conversation of greatest heavyweight strikers in the history of MMA. If the winner of their fight at UFC 131 scores another knockout, they could see themselves very near the top of the heap when it comes to all-time heavyweight strikers.

Based on power, technique and MMA accomplishments, let's take a look at how the greatest heavyweight strikers in MMA history stack up against one another.

25. Roy Nelson

Despite coming from a jiu-jitsu background, a majority of Roy Nelson's wins have come by way of knockout, including a brutal knockout of Brendan Schaub, who is quickly making a case to be mentioned on this list in the near future.

Equally as impressive as his punching power has been Nelson's ability to absorb punishment. At UFC 117, Nelson took a beating from Dos Santos, but he was able to survive and go the distance with the dangerous striker.

24. Bobby Hoffman

Bobby Hoffman's career hasn't been nearly as impressive or illustrious as most of the other fighters on this list, but he is deserving of mention for his striking prowess.

More than 40 fights into his MMA career, Hoffman had never been knocked out, while he had knocked out nearly half of the opponents he defeated, which included knockout wins over Alistair Overeem and Ricco Rodriguez.

23. Shane Del Rosario

A former WBC Muay Thai Heavyweight World Champion, Shane del Rosario has not had the opportunity to face other elite heavyweights yet during his younf career, but he has already proven that his striking background translates well in MMA with eight knockout wins in 11 fights.

While del Rosario's accomplishments don't quite stack up with the rest of the fighters on this list, his abilities suggest that it will only be a matter of time until the knockouts he has been piling up start to include bigger names.

22. Pat Barry

Formerly a kickboxer for organizations such as K-1, Pat Barry brings a dangerous combination of speed and power when he steps into the Octagon.

The addition of a ground game has been a problem for Barry in MMA, but he has been able to finish five of the six opponents he has defeated. The only fighter Barry defeated who he wasn't able to finish, Joey Beltran, displayed a ridiculous amount of toughness to be able to take the bout to a decision.

21. Randy Couture

Obviously, Randy Couture is a much more accomplished grappler than he is a striker. However, Couture was no slouch on his feet either.

Within the first ten seconds of a fight against Tim Sylvia, Couture recorded a knockdown of the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Couture might not have been a great striker from distance, but his dirty boxing played a part in several wins "The Natural" picked up throughout his career.

20. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Like Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is much more well known for his ground game than his striking. However, Nogueira developed solid boxing technique to compliment his historically granite chin, which has to be at least slightly factored into a fighter's overall striking game.

In his first 37 professional fights, Nogueira had never been knocked out. However, Nogueira does only have two knockouts in his 32 career victories.

19. Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett hasn't excelled in striking by any means, but he has faced elite competition on a consistent basis throughout his career and held his own on his feet.

In 34 professional fights, Barnett has only been knocked out once, by Pedro Rizzo, to whom he returned the favor while with Affliction in 2008.

18. Andrei Arlovski

If this list was purely based on the offensive aspect of striking, Andrei Arlovski might be much closer to the top of the heap, as 11 of his 15 professional wins have come by knockout.

However, Arlovski's striking defense and his chin have been big weaknesses throughout his career, having been knocked out in seven of his nine losses.

17. Tim Sylvia

At this point, it is getting hard to remember the time when Sylvia was considered one of the best heavyweights in the world and a dangerous striker.

However, Sylvia used to be on the delivering side of beatdowns such as the one he recently suffered against Abe Wagner.

During his career, Sylvia has earned knockout victories over fighters like Andrei Arlovski and Ricco Rodriguez. Of Sylvia's 28 career wins, 18 have come by way of knockout.

16. Mark Hunt

Prior to his recently broken six fight losing streak, Mark Hunt actually had an impressive MMA record of 5-1 and appeared to be on his way to an impressive showing in the 2006 Pride Openweight Grand Prix.

Still, Hunt, the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, holds two wins that make him irreplaceable on this list. In back-to-back fights, Hunt out-struck Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Filipovic en route to two upset victories.

15. Semmy Schilt

A multiple-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, Semmy Schilt is arguably the most accomplished striker to compete in MMA. However, is success in kickboxing didn't translate well in MMA.

Not only was Schilt unable to keep fights standing when he fought elite competition, but he was knocked out by Sergei Kharitonov and Gilbert Yvel.

14. Cain Velasquez

Despite his wrestling background, Cain Velasquez has grown into a complete mixed martial artist with a dangerous striking game that still has room to improve.

Velasquez has finished eight of his nine opponents by knockout, but the one fighter he was unable to finish just so happens to be the next striker on this list.

13. Cheick Kongo

One of the most feared strikers in the heavyweight division, Cheick Kongo has knocked out nine of the 15 fighters he has defeated. Even in defeat, Kongo out-struck current UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez.

However, Kongo's chin has been exposed on more than one occasion, which keeps him just outside of the top ten heavyweight strikers in MMA history.

12. GIlbert Yvel

Gilbert Yvel is the only fighter to ever knock out Cheick Kongo, but his striking accomplishments go much deeper than that.

Yvel has also knocked out excellent strikers in Semmy Schilt and Pedro Rizzo. Incredibly, 31 of Yvel's 36 career wins have come by way of knockout.

11. Frank Mir

Frank Mir became known as a dangerous fighter on the ground after winning three of his first four UFC fights by submission. However, Mir can be equally as dangerous on his feet, as he has shown in many of his recent fights.

Mir was the first fighter to ever knockout Nogueira, and he also recently dominated Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson with his striking.

10. Pedro Rizzo

Rizzo may have been knocked out by a couple of the aforementioned fighters on this list, but those knockouts came recently, while Rizzo has been on the decline.

Rizzo has long been considered one of the more technical strikers in the heayweight division. Rizzo holds knockout victories over fighters such as Dan Severn, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski

9. Shane Carwin

Shane Carwin might be the most powerful striker in MMA history. Prior to his first career loss at the hands of Brock Lesnar, Carwin had finished all 12 of his previous opponents in under four minutes.

Seven of those 12 wins came by way of knockout, and one of those knockouts came in devastating fashion against a fellow elite striker in Mir.

8. Alistair Overeem

Some will say that Alistair Overeem deserves to be ranked higher due to his recently K-1 World Grand Prix title, but kickboxing is a completely different form of striking than that used in MMA.

Yes, Overeem has 14 excellent wins by knockout in MMA as well, but he has also shown weakness in his stand-up game with more than half of his losses coming by knockout.

7. Sergei Kharitonov

One of the more underrated fighters in MMA history, Sergei Kharitonov might actually benefit from focusng less on his striking.

Half of Kharitonov's 18 wins have come by knockout. A few of Kharitonov's knockout victims include Semmy Schilt, Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski. Kharitoonov was also knocked out by Overeem, but he avenged that loss with an even more brutal finish of his own.

6. Junior Dos Santos

Junior Dos Santos has quickly become recognized for having some of the best technical striking the heayweight division has ever seen.

In just 13 professional fights, Dos Santos has outclassed several other great stand-up fighters on their feet. Mirko Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel and Roy Nelson have all seen just how dangerous Dos Santos' striking can be.

5. Maurice Smith

An extremely successful kickboxer turned mixed martial artists, Maurice Smith is credited for being one of the innovators of striking in MMA.

Half of Smith's wins in MMA came by knockout, while he was never knocked out in his entire career. Smith's striking prowess earned him the UFC Heavyweight Championship at oone point in his career.

4. Bas Rutten

Although most of his career was spent fighting in the openweight division, Bas Rutten s more than deserving of this spot as one of the great heavyweight strikers of all time.

In addition to giving the MMA world the liver shot, Rutten was never knocked out in his 33 fight career.

3. Igor Vovchanchyn

Because of his early roots in MMA, Igor Vochanchyn wasn't afforeded the opportunity to go at it with some of the other great heayweight strikers during his prime, but that doesn't change how great he was in the stand-up.

Vochanchyn recorded an outstanding 29 career knockouts, while only being knocked out once in his entire 66 fight career, and that knockout loss came against Mirko Filipovic.

2. Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko was arguably never out-struck in his MMA career, so there is an argument for having him at the top of this list. Howeer, Emelianenko was so skilled on the ground that he didn't get the chance to showcase his striking quite as much as the lone fighter ranked above him.

Emelianenko has only lost two fights by way of knockout during his incredible career. Both of those knockouts were due to doctors stoppages, one because of an unfortunate cut in the first 20 seconds of a fight and the other due to eye swelling from punishment endured on the ground.

1. Mirko Filipovic

.Mirko Filipovic's UFC career hasn't helped the way he will be viewed after retirement, but "Cro Cop" remains the best striker in MMA history.

Search "Cro Cop" on YouTube and you will be provided with one of the best selections of highlight knockout reels in combat sports.

Filipovic has earned 20 of his 27 MMA wins through knockouts. Some of Filipovic's knockout wins include fights against Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Coleman and Wanderlei Silva.