Marlon Vera and 4 other great head-kick KOs in the UFC

#4. Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm, UFC 239

Holly Holm is not known for her knockout power. In fact, the former UFC women's bantamweight champion undercuts her own punching power by fighting from a pull-counter stance without using any pull-counters.

Furthermore, when jabbing, she does not jab with her step, instead jabbing after stepping in. Thus, her punches are often more like shoves, as if she's pushing her opponents with her fists.

Holm, however, does possess incredible power in her kicks, especially her left high kick, which she used to dethrone Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. Unfortunately, when she faced Amanda Nunes for the title at UFC 239, it was Holm who was on the receiving end of a head kick knockout.

Four minutes into the first round, Holm had keyed in on Nunes' jab, one of the Brazilian great's most effective weapons. To mitigate this, Holm opted to side-kick Nunes' lead knee as she stepped in to jab.

What 'The Preacher's Daughter' didn't know was that 'The Lioness' was well-prepared. Holm's counter to opponents stepping in has always been side-kicking the lead knee, a staple of Jackson Wink MMA.

Unfortunately, when side-kicking the lead knee, Holm launches herself sideward as she thrusts her foot into her foe's knee, granting the kick more power but simultaneously exposing her upper-body to counters.

So, when she lifted her leg to kick Nunes' knee, it was instead Nunes' shin that smashed into her face as Nunes counter-kicked her while Holm had one foot off the mat with no balance. Holm was floored by a Nunes high kick. Badly hurt, and after four follow-up punches from Nunes, the fight was called.

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#3. Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye, UFC 238

In many people's minds, Valentina Shevchenko's matchup with Jessica Eye at UFC 238 was a foregone conclusion. Shevchenko was a highly successful bantamweight, only ever losing to Amanda Nunes—the greatest female fighter of all time—and Liz Carmouche due to a cut in a fight she was dominating.

Jessica Eye, however, was not nearly as successful, having gone 1-5-1 before making her flyweight debut.

By then, 'Bullet' was the reigning flyweight champion and 'Evil Eye' would be her first title defense after the divisional newcomer had amassed a 3-fight win streak. The result was a dominant win for Shevchenko, however, no one could have expected the knockout that punctuated her victory.

After conditioning Eye to expect her thunderous body kicks for the better part of the 1st round, Shevchenko opened the second round with two hard kicks to Eye's midsection.

When she raised her leg for the third time, teasing another body kick, her foe dropped her arms to either block or catch Shevchenko's kick. Alas, 'Bullet' did not throw a third kick to the midsection, instead clambering her leg higher to whip her shin into Eye's exposed head, immediately knocking her unconscious.

No one will ever forget the image of Jessica Eye lying on the mat with her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her legs quaking, and her feet curled inward.

Shevchenko's head kick was so violent in its results that she was even asked in the post-fight press conference if she felt a level of concern for Eye upon seeing how badly she had hurt her foe.