UFC 128 Fight Card: Jon Jones and the Most Dangerous Elbows in MMA

There's never enough that can be said about a good elbow in Mixed Martial Arts.

It's a fundamental science to the complex art of striking—almost everyone in the fight game either used an elbow previously in their fights or they still throw elbows at least once in a fight.

You can't really describe the feeling of it—you have to be the unlucky SOB on the receiving end to know how it feels, although it feels better to be the one dishing out the elbow.

What you are about to see are a select few of the men who are known for using it in one capacity or another—these are the men who have used their elbows in a manner that has done some sort of damage to their foes.

Just a bit of warning: everyone in this list has been mad enough to throw elbows at least one time in a fight, but not everyone has finished a fight with elbows. If some of these seem quizzical to you, then just know that the ability to use their elbows to finish fights wasn't a part of the criteria.

Oh yeah, and there's going to be some blood here; if you get woozy easily, you might want to get a glass of water now.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida

You may not think too much about Zenko now, but consider this fight against Akira Kikuchi from GCM Cage Force 4

Every fight stays standing, but from the time Yoshida and Kikuchi hit the ground, it's all Yoshida.

This fight opened up eyes around the MMA world, as it became evident that Yoshida's elbows were in fact dangerous once he got you on the ground.

Don't let his current three fight skid fool you into thinking otherwise.

Joseph Benavidez

Widely argued for the still-unofficial UFC Flyweight Championship title alongside Demetrious Johnson, you need only view a handful of fights in the WEC career of Benavidez to understand how dangerous his elbows are.

Don't believe that this Team Alpha Male maniac will cut you?

Ask Dominick Cruz or Miguel Torres.

Just because he's 0-2 against The Dominator doesn't mean he hasn't done damage to the champ.  If you view the fight they had at WEC 50, you'll see Joe and his own elbows doing some real damage to the champ.

Urijah Faber

Faber's game is more his submission than his striking, but he has been known to throw a few nasty elbows after taking down opponents.

Maybe it's a Team Alpha Male thing, because I know Chad Mendes and Benavidez have each been known to do it as well.

In any event, Faber's elbows, when landed, cause injury every time. Unless your name is Tyson Griffin, Mike Brown or Jose Aldo, you'll fall when he connects with the elbows—no matter what.

Gary Goodridge.

Goodridge is a big guy who might be known better for his stint in PRIDE than his brief UFC run, but the highlight of Big Daddy's early career came against Paul Herrera.

Who's Paul Herrera?

Exactly.

You'll find out why I say that after you watch Goodridge do what he does best.

(Author's Note: Herrera only fought once after this loss to Goodridge in a 2002 bout which he won by decision. He would end his MMA career at 1-1-0)

Anderson Silva

Everyone knows about Anderson Silva's status right now as far as fighters go, but one thing about his game that people sometimes forget is that is that he tends to knock out people with things you'd see in video games or comics.

The kick to Vitor Belfort, the "Spider-Web" Triangle-armbar combo on Chael Sonnen, the backstep-jab on Forrest Griffin—he's made all of that look like stuff that you'd actually learn in training.

Of course, he's also made good use of his elbows as well—remember how he got Travis Lutter to tap out?

That did happen, lest we forget, and it all started with Tony Fryklund...

Farnam Mirzai

Don't know who this guy is?

Well, don't worry about it--Mirzai is a Muay Thai fighter from Sweden who gets a special mention just because of this badass KO.

Actually, he gets mentioned for being one of the only guys on this list who landed an elbow with as much authority as the one in this video.

Have there been better? Sure, but there's nothing like a good spinning elbow to show the world just how lethal you can be on your feet.

Jon Jones

If this were an actual Top 8 or Top 10, Bones would still be one of the last guys you'd see on the list.

Seriously, the stuff he pulls in the cage is insane—especially the Superman Elbow he sent in Ryan Bader's direction at UFC 126.

To me, though, few highlights of Bones can top the Grecor-Roman-suplex-to-spinning-elbow combo he pulled on Bonnar at UFC 94.

There might be a reason why he falls short to Shogun at UFC 128, but there's also a reason why people talked about a fight with him and Shogun also.

UFC 128: Shogun Rua vs. Jon Jones: Results, News and More