5 UFC stars who had their iron chins cracked

#4. Diego Sanchez – former UFC lightweight contender

Once renowned for his toughness, Diego Sanchez saw his chin betray him in his later years

Fighters with a Mexican or Latino background are often renowned for their toughness. Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez was no exception to that rule.

In his early days, ‘The Nightmare’ would seemingly will his way to victories over his opponents. His incredible mental toughness even allowed him to beat more talented foes at times.

While Sanchez was never able to claim UFC gold, even as his career approached its twilight, his legendary toughness remained. Quite how he survived his fights with BJ Penn, Martin Kampmann and Gilbert Melendez is anyone’s guess considering the punishment he absorbed.

Unfortunately, even a fighter as tough as ‘The Nightmare’ was unable to take that much punishment forever.

Despite coming into the fight off the back of a win, Sanchez suffered his first TKO loss at UFC 200. More worryingly, it came against Joe Lauzon, a fighter hardly known for being a concussive puncher.

‘The Nightmare’ then suffered bad knockouts at the hands of Al Iaquinta and Matt Brown, proving that his once-iron chin had been cracked for good.

While he did survive for a little longer in the UFC, he was no longer renowned for his toughness. His career with the promotion eventually ended in late 2020.

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#3. Anderson Silva – former UFC middleweight champion

Anderson Silva's chin began to fail him as his UFC career went on

Over a period of seven years, legendary UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva became renowned as one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the octagon.

‘The Spider’ had otherworldly striking skills, a highly underrated grappling game, and excellent cardio. However, perhaps the most underrated facet of his skillset was his extreme toughness.

Silva’s iron chin made him capable of absorbing unbelievable amounts of punishment. Fans would often see him drop his hands to take clean punches to the jaw without even flinching.

His 2010 title defense against Chael Sonnen, for instance, saw him take a five-round beating before somehow coming back to win with a triangle choke. Remarkably, he barely looked worse for wear.

That all changed when Silva faced Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in his 11th title defense. After attempting to draw Weidman in with his trademark taunting, Silva was caught with a heavy left hand – and knocked out for the first time in his career.

Simply put, ‘The Spider’ was never the same again. While many fans blame the leg injury he suffered in his rematch with Weidman for his career slide, the truth is that his chin was gone after that first fight.

He was badly hurt by Weidman prior to the leg break in their rematch. He was later badly rocked by the likes of Michael Bisping, Derek Brunson and Israel Adesanya, and ended his UFC career being knocked out by Uriah Hall.

‘The Spider’ therefore remains a perfect example of a fighter who saw his iron chin thoroughly cracked.