10 MMA fighters who have never been knocked out

Image result for Roy Nelson iron chin
Some guys are just born with an iron chin.

In MMA, there have countless warriors who have stepped into the Octagon, put on wars and their bodies on the line. Throughout a fighter's career, you are bound to get rocked and will eventually fall, however, some are gifted with an iron chin.

Not many fighters go through their career without getting knocked out, so with that being said, here are ten fighters who have never been knocked out cold in their careers:


#10 Thales Leites

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Thales Leites has been fighting since 2003 and has been a part of 35 professional fights and we're sure there's more to come as he is still in the UFC. Leites' last fight was against Brad Tavares.

The Brazillian has fought some serious threats throughout his career in Sam Alvey, Gegard Mousasi, Michael Bisping, Tim Boetsch, Alessio Sakara, Anderson Silva, Drew McFedries, Nate Marquardt, and Martin Kampmann, who were all capable of knocking Leites out.

The Middleweight contender was knocked down three times in the UFC by Brad Tavares and was also dropped by Martin Kampmann and Tim Boetsch. However, he still had some life left to get right back up and see it through.

#9 Iuri Alcantar

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vs Frankie Saenz

Iuri Alcantara has been in the fighting game since 2003 and in 46 career fights, his first loss would be ruled a TKO due to an injury. Iuri is still very active in the UFC, where he is coming off an impressive first-round TKO against Joe Soto earlier this month.

In terms of dangerous opponents, Iuri has gone up against Luke Sanders, Brad Pickett, Jimmie Rivera, Urijah Faber, Ricardo Lamas, Francisco Trinaldo, Felipe Arantes, and Pedro Nobre. It's crazy to imagine an intact chin after such explosive bouts.

The Brazillian, though, has been hurt before and has found himself in many a tricky situation like in his fight against Luke Sanders when he was steamrolled in the first round. In round two, as it looked like a stoppage was coming soon, Iuri would pull off a kneebar out of nowhere and got the submission.

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#8 Tim Means

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vs Belal MuhammadStarting his MMA career in 2004, Means is known as a knockout artist and many might not have noticed that he has never lost a fight via a legit TKO. In 28 career fights, Means lost his third professional bout as a TKO but it was due to an injury.

Means has fought a couple heavy hitters in his career like Alex Garcia, Alex Oliveira (twice), Sabah Homasi, John Howard, Matt Brown, Danny Castillo, and Jorge Masvidal.

Means has only been dropped once in his career and that was in his first fight against Oliveira, proving Means is tough as nails.

#7 Gilbert Melendez

MMA Fi
vs Diego Sanchez

A sixteen-year career that started in 2002 with a total of 29 career fights, Melendez is the true definition of a fighter with an iron chin. The former Strikeforce Lightweight champion is a fan favorite known for his brawling style and what makes it even more impressive is that he's never been knocked out.

When you look at the level of competition Melendez has fought, his ability to stay up is quite remarkable Melendez has fought the likes of Edson Barboza, Diego Sanchez, Jeremy Stephans, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Jorge Masvidal, and Josh Thompson.

He has been dropped by Tatsuya Kawajiri and Sanchez while the "Hardest Hitter" Jeremy Stephens knocked Melendez down five times.

#6 Carlos Condit

Cage
vs Dan Hardy

Condit kickstarted his MMA career back in 2002 and has been in the game for over 16 years. The "Natural Born Killer" has never been knocked out in his career despite suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in his fight with Tyron Woodley.

Condit has fought at the highest level for quite some time now, fighting top-tier talents such as George St. Pierre, Tyron Woodley, Rory MacDonald, Dan Hardy, Robbie Lawler, Thiago Alves, Martin Kampmann, Johny Hendricks, and Nick Diaz.

The insanely creative American has been dropped twice by Jake Ellenberger and by Robbie Lawler but there's no shame in that. Condit is still active and is set to fight on April 14th against another knockout artist in Matt Brown.

#5 John Dodson

Enter captio
vs Demetrios Johnson

"The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 winner John Dodson has been fighting since 2004. In his 28 fights, Dodson has never been knocked out and to add to that, he has never been finished in any way.

The goofy Flyweight was on the top of the division and is now doing well since switching up to the bantamweight. The American has shared the cage with TJ Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, John Lineker, Demetrious Johnson, John Moraga, and Tim Elliott.

As entertaining as he is to watch, Dodson is as tough as they come.

#4 Anthony Johnson

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vs Daniel Cormier

Johnson is currently retired but a possible return is still on the cards for the 28-fight veteran. The intimidating Light Heavyweight lost by an injury ruled a TKO in 2008 when he suffered a horrible eye poke, forcing the referee to step in.

Johnson fought some guys who would are capable to knock anyone out like Glover Teixeira, Jimi Manuwa, Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson, Andrei Arlovski, Dan Hardy, Mike Kyler, and Vitor Belfort.

Johnson rarely gets dropped or even stunned as no one intends to stand and trade with the scary dude as you won't last long enough to even really get a punch in.

#3 Nik Lentz

Ent
vs Chad Mendes

With 38 fights since 2005, Lentz is a seasoned veteran who still manages to stay active every year.

The Lightweight has been an ardent student of Mixed Martial Arts for a while and has fought guys like Islam Makhachev, Danny Castillo, Chad Mendes, and Hacran Dias. Not as many heavy hitters as the others but still impressive regardless.

The reason why the American has managed to stay knockout-less is his ability to rarely get hit during a fight.

#2 Frankie Edgar

Enter
vs Jose Aldo

Edgar has been fighting since 2005 and is one of the greatest yet underrated fighters in MMA. In his 28 fights, Edgar has not had his lights taken out by a vicious onslaught.

Edgar has fought some of the most dangerous opponents you can think of in Yair Rodriguez, Jeremy Stephens, Jose Aldo, Gray Maynard, Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson, and BJ Penn but somehow has held his chin up with class.

Edgar is still a top caliber fighter and was set to challenge for the Featherweight title against Max Holloway. However, Edgar will fight Brian Ortega after Holloway suffered an untimely injury. Don't expect Edgar to get knocked out anytime soon as he still has a lot left in the tank.

#1 Pat Curran

Bel
vs Patricio Freire

Curran started his career later than the usual, making his MMA debut in 2008. With only ten years of fighting under his belt, Curran surprisingly has been in 30 fights including winning the Bellator featherweight title twice.

Curran has been with Bellator for the larger part of his career, facing off against guys like John Teixeira, Patricio Freire, Shahbulat Shamhalaev, Joe Warren, Luis Palomino, Marlon Sandro, and Eddie Alvarez.

The American is still going strong, is currently on a three-fight win streak and on the verge of attempting to capture the featherweight title for the third time.

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Edited by Lennard Surrao
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