Derrick Lewis, Doo Ho Choi and the Hardest Hitters in the UFC Right Now
Fans of the knockout have some things to look forward to this weekend.
First, on Friday, you have UFC Fight Night 102 going down from Albany, New York. In that main event, you have heavyweight Shamil Abdurakhimov taking on Derrick Lewis. All they have is 21 knockouts between them.
Then, on Saturday, you have UFC 206. Maybe headliners Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway aren't what you think of when you think of big-time KO artists, but they are pretty dynamic strikers in their own right. But if that's still not enough for you, why don't you cast your eyes a few spots downward on the card? Occupying the third slot of the UFC 206 pay-per-view is a cracking featherweight matchup between Cub Swanson and a young man known as the Korean Superboy, also known as Mr. Doo Ho Choi. Don't let the boyish looks fool you: Choi is one of the most potent knockout artists on the UFC roster today.
The whole thing got us to thinking: Who are the heaviest hitters in the UFC right now? To honor Lewis and Choi and all the big swingers out there, this is a ranking of the top five hardest punchers in the company today. They are ranked based on number of knockouts and just plain old power compared with their peers.
Honorable Mentions
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Listed in no particular order:
— Alistair Overeem
— John Dodson
— Francisco Rivera
— Junior dos Santos
— Cody Garbrandt
— Roy Nelson
— Conor McGregor
— Robbie Lawler
— Cain Velasquez
— Francis Ngannou
— Nikita Krylov
— Tyron Woodley
5. Doo Ho Choi
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Choi may be the sleeper pick on this list. Some people might even still view him as a novelty.
No more, I say!
Underneath the mop top and the lopsided smile is a 25-year-old human wrecking machine in the UFC featherweight division.
In Choi's 15-1 record as a pro, 12 of those victories have come by way of the knockout. Each and every one of his three UFC contests has ended with the other guy looking up at the lights. In his last two, he has garnered a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Some guys just have the power. Choi combines it with precision, to be certain, but make no mistake: When the Korean Superboy was born, someone touched his right arm and put a mighty thunderbolt in there.
4. John Lineker
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Before at flyweight and now at bantamweight, there's no harder hitter than John Lineker.
In his 29-7 pro record, 13 victories came by knockout.
The sheer confidence, dare I say joy, with which he fires those haymakers is something to behold. He just wings bombs. He is a "Just Bleed" special. Except that he can fell you with one shot, oftentimes making his outings rather bloodless.
He certainly doesn't have the classic tools of the lightest-weight fighters, the movement and quickness and so on that have become hallmarks of greats like Demetrious Johnson or Dominick Cruz. But who cares? Let the little guy throw his hands of stone and let Joe Rogan sort 'em out.
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3. Derrick Lewis
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It hurts just watching Derrick Lewis hit another person. But it does validate my own professional, non-MMA-fighting choices. Inspiring!
Back in the day, when prime Shaquille O'Neal posted up on you, it was sometimes described like a tree falling on you. It can't be that different when Lewis punches you. Maybe more like the log that crushed the imperial walker.
That and his Twitter account—let's never forget about his amazing, so very NSFW Twitter account—have made the Houstonian a popular commodity among hardcore fans. Hence his place atop this televised card. Whether you call him "The Black Beast" or "Swangin' 'n Bangin'," you have to respect his knockout power, which has netted him 14 of his 16 professional wins, and would probably be 15 of 16 if Roy Nelson didn't have the chin of a Revolutionary War-era battleship.
2. Anthony Johnson
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His knockout power combined with technique probably make Anthony "Rumble" Johnson the most feared striker in any UFC weight class today—at least until the first round is over.
Yeah, Johnson has a tendency to gas. That's why he doesn't appear on the "Deepest Gas Tanks" ranking, which is not real. When it comes to power striking, no one's more fearsome.
Note his last six fights. Five of them were wins—the only loss came when Daniel Cormier was able to weather that first-round storm. All five of those victories were knockouts. Four of those knockouts happened in the first round. To polish off Jimi Manuwa, Johnson needed 28 seconds into round two. Come on, Rumble. Stop slipping.
1. Mark Hunt
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Hail the conquering hero.
No one packs one-punch power like the former K-1 striker Mark Hunt. The master of the walk-off KO is still getting it done at 42 years of age. His record is really getting up there, with nine knockouts coloring his 12-11-1 MMA record.
Of the last five fights he's won, all of them were by knockout.
Sometimes, you have to take the "pound-for-pound" descriptor out of the equation. This is one of those times. The devastating strength in Hunt's fists simply can't be compared to anyone else in the UFC today.
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