5 times that UFC knockout artists got a taste of their own medicine

#4. Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou – UFC 218

Alistair Overeem suffered a devastating knockout at the hands of Francis Ngannou in 2017

While his best days were arguably behind him, in late 2017 Alistair Overeem was still considered one of the most feared knockout artists in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Not only had the Dutchman knocked out the likes of Junior dos Santos and Mark Hunt inside the octagon, but he’d also won the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix, making him one of the world’s best kickboxers. However, ‘The Reem’ was in for a seriously rude awakening when he was matched with up-and-coming knockout artist Francis Ngannou at UFC 218.

Ngannou debuted in the octagon in late 2015 and quickly cut a path of destruction through the division, taking out fighters like Curtis Blaydes and Andrei Arlovski. Overeem, however, was on another level to those fighters, and most fans expected him to give ‘The Predator’ his toughest test to date.

Incredibly, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. After a brief clinch was broken, the two big men exchanged punches and Ngannou caught Overeem with a left uppercut that practically took him off his feet, knocking him utterly senseless.

‘The Reem’ had suffered some knockouts earlier in his career, but none quite as scary as this one. It took him an age to come around after the blow and the replays made the uppercut look like a clip from an early Mortal Kombat game.

In the years that have followed, Ngannou has gone onto establish himself as the most terrifying knockout artist in the UFC, while Overeem struggled to regain the traction he had prior to the clash.

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#3. Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 232

Amanda Nunes gave Cris Cyborg a taste of her own medicine at UFC 232

There has never been a more feared knockout artist in the history of women’s MMA than Cris Cyborg. The hulking Brazilian first emerged in the late 2000’s in Strikeforce, where she rose to fame after stopping Gina Carano in violent fashion.

Often boasting a huge size advantage over her opponents, Cyborg’s brutal striking allowed her to stop the majority of her foes in violent fashion. That didn’t change when she made her way to the UFC in 2016.

Cyborg quickly took out the likes of Lina Lansberg, Tonya Evinger and Yana Kunitskaya, establishing herself as the UFC women’s featherweight champion in the process.

However, she finally met her match at UFC 232 in 2018 when she faced off with reigning UFC bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes. Few UFC fans were giving Nunes a chance, as the 'Lioness’ appeared to lack the size and power to threaten Cyborg.

In reality, that idea couldn’t have been further from the truth. Nunes not only enjoyed a speed advantage over her slightly larger foe, but it turned out she could easily match her for power, too.

When Cyborg attempted to blitz the 'Lioness’ with strikes, Nunes quickly fired back and hammered her foe with clean punches that knocked her down and then out cold.

It was not only the first time that Cyborg had lost a fight since her MMA debut in 2005, but it was the first and only time anyone had ever stopped her with strikes. To date this remains the only time Cyborg has had a taste of her own medicine.