5 of the greatest front kick knockouts in UFC history

#4. Magomed Ankalaev vs. Dalcha Lungiambula – UFC Fight Night 163

Magomed Ankalaev's front kick knockout of Dalcha Lungiambula was incredibly brutal

Magomed Ankalaev is widely recognized as one of the UFC’s fastest-rising stars at 205lbs. Currently ranked at #6 in the light-heavyweight division, the Dagestani is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak.

However, while his biggest win thus far came over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 267, his most memorable remains his knockout of Dalcha Lungiambula at UFC Fight Night 163 in Moscow in late 2019.

By the time this fight went into the third round, it was pretty clear that Ankalaev was on his way to a comfortable victory. He’d dominated the first two rounds, using his striking to take the first before taking Lungiambula down to damage him with elbows in the second.

That round had been so one-sided that many fans expected Lungiambula’s corner to stop proceedings before the third, but instead, they let their fighter continue. It proved to be a bad decision.

Ankalaev came out into the third smelling blood, and after landing a right hand, he threw a front kick to the chin – literally from nowhere – that froze Lungiambula in his tracks. A huge right hand followed to send the South African to the ground, and no more follow-up shots were needed.

In terms of sheer explosiveness, this one may well have been the most brutal front kick we’d ever seen in the octagon, so fans should expect to see much more of it as Ankalaev continues to climb the ladder.

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#3. Travis Browne vs. Alistair Overeem – UFC Fight Night 26

Travis Browne surprised everyone with his dexterity when he used a front kick to knock out Alistair Overeem

In the early going, the heavyweight battle between UFC title contenders Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem appeared to be going only one way.

Overeem – who was coming off a devastating knockout loss to Antonio Silva – clearly wanted to send a message and came out as aggressive as UFC fans had ever seen him before. The former K-1 champion backed Browne up, and when he hurt him with a shot to the body, the fight appeared to be over.

‘The Reem’ poured on the punishment, hitting Browne with knee after knee to the midsection, and it looked inevitable that a stoppage was coming as the latter could barely defend himself.

Incredibly though, referee Mario Yamasaki allowed proceedings to continue, and somehow, Browne escaped the punishment and managed to create some distance by throwing a front kick.

Suddenly, it looked like Overeem had spent the entirety of his gas tank in trying to take Browne out early, and as he lumbered forward, ‘Hapa’ threw the front kick again, grazing the Dutchman’s jaw.

Overeem failed to pick up on the cue, and made the error of stepping in again – and so Browne simply repeated the technique, this time connecting perfectly and knocking ‘The Reem’ to his back, before diving on him with a pair of hammer fists to finish him off.

Not only was this one of the best comebacks in UFC heavyweight history, but it was also one of the best front kick knockouts too. It was hugely impressive to see a true heavyweight like Browne show off such dexterity to throw the strike.