Dan Henderson and the 25 Heaviest Hitters in MMA Today

Some fighters have it, most don't. The ability to put an opponent away with a single punch can be just as valuable of a skill as any.

With such small gloves, we see a lot of knockouts in MMA but the fighters on this list would knock their opponents senseless with a Super Hulk Smash 'Em glove on.

While some of the fighters on this list prefer the old fashioned punch, others have branched out and have chosen to utilize their kicks, knees and elbows to deal devastating damage to their opponents.

Whatever weapon the fighter chooses, their opponents must create a gameplan to avoid these heavy hitters and their special weapons.

Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo is not only one of the most explosive strikers in MMA, he's also one of the heaviest-hitting fighters too.

Capable of ending the fight at any moment with a variety of strikes, Aldo has made being the UFC featherweight champion look easy after running through his past challengers.

If Aldo isn't knocking his opponents out, he's usually chopping away at their legs with some quick and powerful Muay-Thai style kicks.

Aldo was able to stifle Chad Mendes' takedown attempts and managed to end the bout in the final seconds with a huge knee to the head.

Melvin Guillard

Melvin Guillard may have hit a rough patch in his career, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he has some serious power in his hands.

"The Young Assassin" has a career full of knockouts with 19 of his 29 wins coming via KO.

Before dropping his last two bouts, Guillard had won five straight, with three of them coming by way of KO. By training with "The Blackzillians", Guillard will likely return to his high-octane style we saw before his move to Greg Jackson's.

Arthur Guseinov

A relative unknown in the United States, Arthur Guseinov made headlines by utilizing a nasty spinning back fist to KO Tyson Jeffries.

It was no doubt Guseinov's most impressive KO to date, but hardly his first. The Russian-born fighter won his first seven bouts by KO. Except for one, all of his KO's have come inside the opening frame.

Guseinov attempted to repeat his spinning back fist KO in his last bout, but eventually secured a heel hook to force the tapout at 50 seconds of the first round.

Brian Stann

Brian Stann's championship quest may have hit a speed bump with his loss to Chael Sonnen, but UFC fans shouldn't be questioning his ability to finish an opponent in an instant.

Stann began his career by KO'ing his first six opponents with two of them coming in under a minute. He also floored Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago in consecutive fights.

The former marine will have a chance to redeem himself and showcase his striking technique when he faces off against Alessio Sakara at the UFC on Fuel 2 event in April.

Pat Barry

Pat Barry has a modest MMA record at 7-4, but six of those wins have come by knockout. Barry brought his K-1 level striking to MMA and won his first four professional bouts via KO.

What makes Barry's KO record even more impressive is that two of them have come from leg kicks.

Barry's ground game hasn't evolved enough to make him a serious contender, but he can still put on entertaining bouts and is a threat to KO anyone he goes up against.

Mark Hunt

Stop the presses, Mark Hunt has won three-straight fights in the UFC. He's also looked very impressive in his recent bouts.

Hunt has stopped Cheick Kongo and Chris Tuchscherer recently and finally achieved a winning record in MMA again.

The former K-1 champion has always had incredible knockout power, but just hasn't managed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. It looks like Hunt has finally found his game and has gone from UFC nuisance to UFC fan favorite.

Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort not only has some of the quickest hands in MMA, he also has some serious power. Prior to his bout with Anderson Silva, Belfort had KO'd three-straight opponents.

The Brazilian will likely go down as one of the best strikers in MMA given the manner in which he's defeated some top names in the sport. Belfort put himself on the MMA map with a huge victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil in 1998.

Of Belfort's 21 career victories, 14 of them have come via KO.

Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez ran through the heavyweight division en route to winning the title in 2010.

Velasquez notched KO wins against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell before knocking Brock Lesnar senseless to win the UFC heavyweight title. Velasquez has some of most diverse striking in the division but his ground and pound may be more impressive than his standup.

Having the ability to trade punches or use his wrestling, Velasquez is a tough matchup for anyone in the UFC.

Jeremy Stephens

Jeremy Stephens may become the "Chris Lytle" of the lightweight division. Every time he seems to get a little momentum, Stephens loses it. That doesn't take away from the fact that Stephens is one of the heaviest hitters in the lightweight division.

Stephens began his career by going 10-1 with eight of those victories by way of KO. "Little Heathen" has finished notable names like Cole Miller, Rafael dos Anjos and Marcus Davis.

The lightweight star will have the chance to get back into the win column when he faces off against Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fuel 3 in May.

Quinton Jackson

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson doesn't have a KO win to his credit in recent years, but there's no denying the power in his hands.

His critics will argue that Jackson hasn't knocked anyone out since Wanderlei Silva, but that's more a result of his opponents game-planning to avoid a striking exchange with the former champion. "Rampage" showed he still has dangerous power when he knocked down Rashad Evans after being worked over for nearly two-and-a-half rounds.

Although possessing knockout power in his hands, Jackson looked absolutely awful in his performance against Ryan Bader at UFC 144. Jackson placed the blame on an injury and has vowed to come back better than ever.

Paul Daley

Paul Daley's nickname suits him perfectly. "Semtex" has dynamite in his hands.

Daley may not make the 170-pound weight limit, but the results inside the cage don't lie. Daley has 20 KO victories throughout his career. Many of those knockouts have come via Daley's left hook which has dropped guys like Martin Kampmann and Scott Smith.

The British fighter was busy in 2011, fighting five times in multiple organizations. He will have the chance to add another fighter to his list of KO victims when he takes on Kazuo Misaki at Strikeforce 39.

Jon Jones

Besides running through much of the top contenders in the light heavyweight division, Jon Jones has shown to have vicious strikes.

Jones has shown great versatility by utilizing some heavy kicks and punches to keep his opponents off balance. If Jones' opponent thinks they're safe on the ground, think again; the UFC champion also has some devastating ground and pound.

He will get a chance to showcase his devastating power when he takes on former teammate Rashad Evans at UFC 145.

Antonio Silva

More known for his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, Antonio Silva also owns some vicious ground and pound as well.

Silva devastated Mike Kyle and then put one of the worst beatdowns ever witnessed on MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. He's also one of only two men to ever knock out "Cabbage" Correira.

"Bigfoot" was rumored to be facing Cain Velasquez in his UFC debut, but those plans fell through and we now will await for his arrival to the UFC's Octagon.

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos has destroyed virtually everyone put in front of her thus far in her career.

Her last five fights have all ended via KO (even though her last win was overturned to a NC). "Cyborg" also owns a KO victory over Gina Carano and mutilated Jan Finney's face en route to a second-round stoppage.

Santos' MMA future is up in the air following a positive steroid test which, could see the loss of one of the most dominating forces in women's MMA history.

Jake Ellenberger

Jake Ellenberger's ascension to the top of the welterweight ladder went largely unnoticed until he flattened Jake Shields last September.

If fans were watching, they witnessed some excellent top game coupled with thunderous strikes. Ellenberger has won four of his last six bouts via KO.

After defeating Diego Sanchez, Ellenberger could very well be in line for a title shot depending how the UFC welterweight title picture turns out.

Cheick Kongo

Although his recent title aspirations were dropped by the hands of Mark Hunt, Cheick Kongo remains among one of the most powerful strikers in MMA.

Kongo owns 10 knockouts in his 17 wins. His bout against Pat Barry not only showed Kongo's heart, but also his ability to land a KO strike at any moment. He even managed to rock former champion Cain Velasquez in their matchup.

The future remains uncertain for Kongo, who will have to choose if he wants to make another run at the UFC title or simply put on entertaining bouts.

Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler is on the downside of his MMA career, but his knockout power hasn't escaped the former EliteXC middleweight champion.

Of Lawler's 19 career wins, an astonishing 16 of them have come via KO. Lawler had lost two-straight bouts, but got back on track with a flying knee to end Adlan Amagov's night.

"Ruthless" won't be challenging for the UFC title anytime soon, but opponents have to always be aware of Lawler's knockout power in his hands.

Junior dos Santos

You don't win Knockout of the Night three times by accident. Junior dos Santos won those awards by displaying the scary power in his hands.

One of the premier strikers in the heavyweight division, dos Santos has won via KO in 10 of his 14 bouts. Names that have been knocked out by dos Santos include Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve and most recently, Cain Velasquez.

The UFC heavyweight champion will have a chance to declare himself the division's best striker when he defends the title against Alistair Overeem.

Hector Lombard

The king of the middleweight mountain in Bellator, Hector Lombard has produced some of most vicious knockouts in MMA history.

Lombard's KO of Falaniko Vitale was a brutal example of the power he possesses. Of Lombard's last eight bouts, six have ended with a KO.

The Bellator champion was last seen at Bellator 58 when he ran through South Africa's Trevor Prangley.

Anderson Silva

Some fighters are credited with world-class level striking. Anderson Silva's striking is simply out of this world.

Silva has made a run through the UFC like we've never seen, which includes impressive KO wins against the likes of Chris Leben, Rich Franklin (twice), Forrest Griffin and his recent highlight reel KOs against Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort.

The middleweight champion will have a chance to finally shut his rival up when Silva faces off against Chael Sonnen sometime this year.

Alistair Overeem

The top contender for the UFC heavyweight title, Alistair Overeem, has been on a tear by winning his past 10 bouts. In those 10 fights, Overeem has had his hand raised following a KO on four occasions.

The former K-1 champion has devastating power not only in his hands but also in his knees and legs. Overeem showcased his raw power by nearly finishing Brock Lesnar with a body kick and dropping Todd Duffee with a thunderous knee.

Overeem will get a chance to add another title to his resume when he takes on Junior dos Santos later in 2012.

Mark Munoz

Sidelined with an injury, Mark Munoz will be forced to wait for his opportunity to get a UFC middleweight title shot. With his impressive ground and pound, it won't be a long wait.

Munoz owns some of the most dangerous ground and pound in MMA today. He throws incredibly strong hooks and saps the will out of his opponent. Munoz's power translates to his stand-up punches as well which is evident by his knockout/knockdown of CB Dollaway.

"The Filipino Wrecking Machine" will look to get back into high gear after returning from surgery.

Shane Carwin

Shane Carwin doesn't have the biggest gas tank, but he definitely has one of the heaviest punches in the division.

Over half (seven) of his total victories have come as a result of a KO. Although not his UFC debut, his KO against Gabriel Gonzaga effectively put Carwin into title contention.

Carwin will be out until sometime later this year as a result of having back surgery.

Melvin Manhoef

Melvin Manhoef won't land on any pound-for-pound rankings. Unless of course we are talking about the heaviest hitters in all of MMA.

The Dutch kickboxer owns an incredible 27 knockouts during his long career. He's hit a snag in the road with three-straight losses in MMA, but if we wondered if Manhoef still had power, check out his bout with Robbie Lawler.

Manhoef is an extremely powerful striker who's always one strike away from victory.

Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson and his patented "H-Bomb" have made quick work of many of his opponents. Henderson has a career full of highlights, but there's no doubting his KOs of Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva are at the top of the list.

Henderson's heavy hands aren't dangerous on the feet either; evident by his KO victory over Renato Sobral.

In his last bout, Henderson dropped Mauricio "Shogun" Rua numerous times, but was unable to put away the MMA legend. Even without a flashy finish, the fight will go down as one of the best fights in MMA history.

Look for Hendo to be "in the mix" for a title at either 205 pounds or possibly 185 pounds.