Ten Most Shocking Moments in MMA History

Read Time:8 Minute, 24 Second

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a very unpredictable sport. Due to the variety of ways one can achieve victory and the various matchups of styles, it’s often difficult to predict which opponent will come out on top. Still, there are favorites and underdogs for a reason, and more often than not, the odds favorite wins the fight. You can also look at MMA rankings to try to predict fights. Whatever your methodology, you will sometimes be surprised, or even shocked, by the outcome. I’ve compiled a list of ten MMA moments that made me jump out of my seat; most, though not all of these, were betting upsets.

Randy Couture def Tim Sylvia – UFC 68

After Randy Couture lost his trilogy bout with Chuck Liddell, with tears in his eyes, he announced his retirement from the sport. This retirement didn’t last long, as only a year later, Couture made his return to the UFC’s heavyweight division, where he was immediately awarded a title shot against then-champion Tim Sylvia. The younger, and much bigger, Sylvia was a moderate (-235) favorite in the bout.

When Couture knocked Sylvia down with the very first punch thrown, the crowd went wild. Couture pitched a shutout, scoring 50-45 on all three judges’ scorecards. This is the only fight on the list that didn’t end in a thundering finish – instead, it ended with the crowd counting down the final seconds of the battle as Randy controlled Sylvia on the ground. Couture had gotten his hand raised and at 43 years old became the oldest champion in UFC history, a record that has not been surpassed to this day.

Cheick Kongo def Pat Barry – UFC Live 4

UFC Live: Kongo vs Barry (also knowns as UFC on Versus 4) was a Fight known as a battle of kickboxers: Cheick Kongo vs Pat Barry. It promised to be an electric striking bout, and it did not fail to deliver. After Barry knocked down Kongo in the middle of the first round and was battering him on the ground, many thought the fight should have been stopped. However, the referee, Dan Miragliotta, allowed the bout to continue. Miraculously, Cheick Kongo made his weight back to his feet and landed a knockdown blow of his own, which turned out to turn Barry’s lights out. Crazy fight to say the least; you can watch it for yourself here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O51K0mlKk1o

BJ Penn def Matt Hughes (1) – UFC 46

When 25-year-old BJ Penn (6-1-1 at the time) returned to the UFC after a triumphant win over Pride’s Takanori Gomi in ‘Rumble on the Rock‘, the former two time lightweight contender found his two-time position dissolved by the organization. For moving up in weight, he was rewarded with an instant title shot over the dominant defending champion at the time, Matt Hughes. Hughes was on a 13-win streak, which included such standouts as Sean Sherk, Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai, Carlos Newton, and Frank Trigg.

Due to the large gap in experience and the fact that Penn was moving up in weight, Matt Hughes went into the fight as the moderate (-240) favorite. However, Penn was able to out-strike Hughes as well as control him on the ground, eventually locking in a rear-naked choke and securing a submission in the very first round. Though Penn walked away with the welterweight title, he relinquished it after the fight and walked away from the UFC, eventually to return more than two years later, losing to Georges St. Pierre in his comeback bout.

Kevin Randleman def Mirko Cro-Cop – Pride FC Total Elimination 2004

Former UFC heavyweight champion, the late Kevin Randleman, was an amazing athlete. At the time of Pride’s 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix, Randleman was bouncing between Pride’s Middleweight (99kg) and Heavyweight divisions. In the opening round of theGrandn Prix, Kevin drew Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ Filipovic as his opponent.

Though Randleman was the more experienced fighter, Cro-Cop was considered a significant favorite (odds not available) headed into this fight. The feared kickboxer and ex-Croatian soldier has made a transition from the K-1 ring to MMA, where he only lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at the time of the fight. In a typical wrestler-vs-striker matchup, everyone expected Randleman to attempt a ground-and-pound heavy strategy. However, after Mirko defended the initial takedown attempt, Randleman floored him with a left hook, scoring a big upset and advancing on to the next round of the Gran Prix.

Fedor Emelianenko def Kevin Randleman – Pride FC Critical Countdown 2004

After defeating Cro-Cop, Kevin Randleman went on to face the Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the Gran Prix semi-finals. Once again, Randleman was a slight underdog (+180) to the champ. This time, Kevin didn’t manage to pull off an upset; what he did manage to do was launch Fedor through the air with an amazing suplex. Emelianenko seemingly landed directly on his head and neck, leaving the spectators wondering how he wasn’t paralyzed. Only seconds later, the Russian fighter managed to reverse position and make Randleman tap out with a kimura. Talk about shocking!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUR4cr5M_gc

Holly Holm def Ronda Rousey – UFC 193

This fight was one of the biggest odds-upset upsets on this list, and one of the biggest in the history of the sport. Coming into the fight, Holly Holm closed out as a (+900) underdog. In a striker-vs-grappler matchup, with the grappler coming in undefeated and having never gone the distance. Whereas Holm did not particularly impress in her first two UFC outings before getting a title shot, hence, not many gave her a chance. The former boxing champion Holm shocked the world and made history when she put Rousey to sleep with a head kick in Round 2. Rousey has only fought once more after this loss, while Holm went on to lose her Featherweight title to Meisha Tate in her very next fight.

Gabriel Gonzaga def Mirko Cro-Cop (1) – UFC 70

“Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.” – This was the saying commonly used to describe Mirko Filipovic’s devastating kicking power. When UFC purchased Pride FC in 2007, Cro-Cop, along with most of Pride’s biggest stars, made their way to the Octagon. Mirko didn’t look great in his first UFC fight against Eddie Sanchez; his performance was criticized despite scoring a first-round knockout. This was attributed to Cro-Cop not being used to fighting in the cage; the infamous ‘Octagon jitters’, etc.

In his second UFC fight, Filipovic took on then virtually unknown Gabriel Gonzaga. A hulking BJJ specialist, Gonzaga was equally apt to finish his opponents with strikes as well as submission holds. Gabriel was a heavy underdog (+500) heading into the fight. Perhaps we should have learned something about Cro-Cop and heavy-hitting grapplers from the Randleman fight. After taking Mirko down and attacking him with elbows, Gonzaga threw a head kick out of nowhere when the fight got back to the feet, knocking Cro-Cop out cold and leaving him in a twisted heap of limbs. No one expected the master of the head kick to be felled by his own most dangerous weapon. Cro-Cop extracted his revenge on Gonzaga in a rematch many years later.

Leon Edwards def Kamaru Usman (2) – UFC 278

Kamaru Usman was one of the UFC’s most dominant champions and a heavy favorite (-380) headed into his title defense against Leon Edwards. The pair met back in 2015, early in their UFC careers, with Usman securing an uneventful decision. This time around, he was on a streak of 15 UFC victories, and looking to tie Anderson Silva’s record of 16. Alas, this wasn’t meant to be. The first surprise of the fight took place in the very first round, when Edwards took Usman down and controlled him for most of the round.

Usman managed to turn the tables in the latter rounds and was well on his way to winning a comfortable decision. Then, as the fight was drawing to an end, “headshot, dead!” – as Edwards separated Kamaru from consciousness with a lightning-quick high kick. Though Edwards didn’t manage to hold on to the title for long, he did beat Usman by a decision in the trilogy.

Conor McGregor def Jose Aldo – UFC 194

Back in the days of WEC, Jose Aldo ruled the featherweight division with an iron fist. When Conor McGregor came along and received a title shot (which many fans felt was undeserved), Aldo was riding a streak of 18 consecutive victories, seven of them in the UFC, and all of those seven were successful title defenses. Despite the gap in top-level experience, the odds for this fight were actually very close, with Aldo only a slight favorite. Perhaps bookies and bettors saw something we did not, as Conor McGregor knocked out Aldo with a punch only 13 seconds into the very first round. McGregor failed to ever defend the title, moving up to capture the gold at lightweight, then pursuing a boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather. Meanwhile, Aldo has never returned to championship form, going 7-8 in the remainder of his UFC career before retiring.

Matt Serra def Georges St. Pierre (1) – UFC 69

An even bigger upset than Rousey vs Holm. This fight saw the old school legend Matt Serra earn a title shot by winning The Ultimate Fighter 4 tournament. Serra was a massive (+850) dog and accomplished the unimaginable when he caught GSP with a hook and followed up with ground-and-pound, causing St. Pierre to tap to strikes.

Matt Serra truly captured lightning in a bottle. He couldn’t repeat the feat, losing the welterweight title back to GSP in a rematch. Serra only fought another three times after, notably losing a controversial decision to Matt Hughes in his very next fight. St. Pierre, in the meantime, went on to defend the welterweight title nine times, a record not yet surpassed.