5 most prolific knockout artists in UFC history

#4 Anderson Silva – 11 knockouts in the UFC

Anderson Silva will always be recognised as one of the greatest strikers in UFC history

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is widely recognized as one of the greatest strikers in UFC and MMA history, so it should come as no surprise to find him on this list of prolific knockout artists.

Silva – who reeled off a ridiculous 16 wins in a row in the UFC from his debut in 2006 to his eventual title loss to Chris Weidman in 2013 – was basically unstoppable in his prime, and his list of victims remains highly impressive.

The iron-chinned Chris Leben – who at the time seemed impossible to even hurt, let alone knock out – was his first, as Silva took him out with a series of ruthless strikes in less than a minute.

And from there, ‘The Spider’ knocked out Rich Franklin to become the UFC middleweight champion, and then reeled off further KO or TKO wins over Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, Franklin in a rematch and James Irvin.

A pair of dull decision wins over Thales Leites and Demian Maia dented Silva’s reputation at one stage, but even they sandwiched arguably his greatest knockout – his Muhammad Ali-esque finish of Forrest Griffin.

And after that, Silva went onto knock out Vitor Belfort, Yushin Okami, Chael Sonnen and Stephan Bonnar, all in highlight reel fashion.

Anderson Silva front kick KO on Vitor Belfort pic.twitter.com/xWmhNfzRZc

— MMA GOD (@The_MMA_God) June 17, 2020

Silva’s loss to Weidman essentially signaled the end of an era, and ‘The Spider’ would only win one more fight in the UFC – a controversial decision over Derek Brunson in 2017.

Still, his legacy will always be intact, and his reputation as one of the UFC’s most prolific knockout artists will likely never fade.

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#3 Matt Brown – 12 knockouts in the UFC

Matt Brown is surprisingly one of the UFC's most prolific knockout artists

Arguably the most unlikely name on this list is welterweight Matt Brown. ‘The Immortal’, who emerged in the UFC following an appearance on the 7th season of The Ultimate Fighter, has 12 UFC knockouts to his name, and it’s conceivable that he could still add more, too.

Brown debuted in the octagon with a knockout of Matt Arroyo, but despite gaining a reputation for remarkably exciting fights, it never looked like he’d develop into a UFC title contender.

By the end of 2011, his overall record with the promotion was 5-5, and despite having three knockouts to his name, he was probably close to being cut from the roster.

However, Brown turned things around as 2012 began. He started the year with a knockout win over Chris Cope, and went on to reel off seven wins in a row – including knockouts of Mike Swick, Erick Silva and Jordan Mein – to put himself in line for a potential title shot.

That shot unfortunately never came due to back-to-back losses to Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks, but in the years that have followed, Brown has continued to be one of the UFC’s most reliable knockout artists.

And with his last three wins – including one in June – coming by KO, there’s every chance that he could end up at the top of this list when all is said and done.

OUT OF NOWHERE 🤯@IamTheImmortal only needed one shot at #UFCVegas29 pic.twitter.com/52yWQ8WJxc

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 19, 2021