5 MMA fights that ended with pro-wrestling moves

#3 Sweet Chin Music – Louis Smolka vs. Richie Vaculik – UFC Fight Night 55 – 11/07/14

Countless numbers of different kicks have been used to finish MMA fights – we’ve seen straight-up head kicks (Mirko Cro Cop being the best), front kicks (Anderson Silva), crane kicks (Lyoto Machida), hook kicks (Shawn Jordan) and even crazy Van Damme-esque wheel kicks (Edson Barboza).

Unfortunately, though, the most famous kick in pro-wrestling – the superkick, AKA Sweet Chin Music – is rarely even thrown. That would all change in November 2014.

Hawaii’s Louis Smolka, coming in off a loss to Chris Cariaso, was two rounds in the hole against local Australian favourite Richie Vaculik. A member of the surfie gang the Bra Boys, Vaculik had been dominating Smolka both on the feet and on the ground.

Coming into the third round, it was clear that in order to win – and likely save his UFC career – Smolka was going to have to pull something very special out of the bag. And pull something out he did.

Having evidently watched his Shawn Michaels tapes prior to the fight, Smolka came out in the third round and connected hard with the first strike he threw – Sweet Chin Music, without the slap to the thigh. Vaculik hit the deck like he’d been shot and a few added punches on the ground sealed the deal and gave Smolka one of the coolest knockouts in UFC history.

We haven’t seen the superkick used in the UFC since as far as I can remember, but I’m surprised nobody else has tried to replicate this awesome move.