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

#2. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193

Before UFC 193, Ronda Rousey was on top of the world. At the time, she was MMA's biggest crossover star, making cameos in movies, appearing on talk shows, and serving as a magnetic presence for an untapped market of women who never cared for MMA prior. She was undefeated and well into her reign as the UFC women's bantamweight champion.

Meanwhile, Holly Holm was a relative unknown to all but the hardcore fanbase. A former world champion boxer who had plied her trade in kickboxing, Holm was also an undefeated MMA fighter.

However, so were Bethe Correia and Sara McMann until they locked horns with Rousey. Many regarded Holm as merely another lamb prepared for slaughter. But at UFC 193, 'The Preacher's Daughter' truly shocked the world.

Rousey, who possessed poor lateral footwork, found herself incapable of consistently closing the distance on her foe. Instead, she chased her in a straight line while Holm easily circled back into open space, shuffling from side to side and misdirecting Rousey while Rousey ran herself into Holm's counterpunches with her chin exposed.

Holm stunned, outstruck, and outclassed 'Rowdy' in such a lopsided manner that there seemed no way Rousey could win.

By the start of the second round, Rousey was gasping for air, exhausted from chasing and eating constant counterpunches in the previous round. After dropping Rousey with a straight left, Holm pounced on her foe as 'Rowdy' tried to get back to her feet, flattening her with a left kick to the head.

Rousey would not stand back up again, and Holm captured UFC gold in what remains one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.

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#1. Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz, UFC on ESPN 41

Until his recent UFC run, Dominick Cruz was virtually impossible to land clean strikes against. The former UFC bantamweight champion was an ever-elusive presence who caused his opponents to miss most of their strikes, frustrating them into sloppiness due to his stance-switching and dipping lateral head movements.

By constantly switching stances, Cruz changed the alignment of his opponent's strikes, and by dipping his head at an angle as he exits exchanges, he evades most punches. However, Cruz's style is not without its drawbacks.

He often crosses his feet during his bouts, an inadvisable action as crossing one's feet places the fighter in a vulnerable position with no solid footing from which to properly absorb punches.

Furthermore, Cruz's habit of tripling his jab causes him to lead with his head, while his tendency to exaggeratedly dip his head in either his right or left sides exposes him to strikes with wider arcs.

A combination of these habits led to the knockdowns he suffered against Cody Garbrandt and Pedro Munhoz, and the TKO loss he suffered against Henry Cejudo. Against 'Chito', the results were even more brutal.

After conditioning Cruz to dip his head deep on the inside of his right cross, Vera faked a right cross, fooling Cruz into dipping his head deep into a massive left kick to the head. It shattered the former champion's nose as he immediately fell unconscious.