Sherdog’s Top 10: Heaviest Hitters

2. Anthony Johnson

The late “Rumble” Johnson is the runner-up here, including two first-place votes. Out of his 23 career victories, 17, or 74%, ended by knockout, as well as 59% of all his completed fights, even more impressive considering his high level of competition throughout. Johnson is well known for the titanic power in his right hand, perhaps more than any other fighter on this list, putting opponent after opponent to sleep. However, his left hand had legitimate knockout power as well, making him another rare two-fisted knockout striker. This was made even more terrifying in his prime by fantastic hand-speed, among the best in the decision, as even some of the best fighters in the world were powerless to stop Johnson from knocking them out early. Oh, and lest we forget, Johnson had an outstanding, deadly head kick, one responsible for an impressive three different victims; Kevin Burns, Charlie Brenneman and Jake Rosholt.

While killing himself to make welterweight, Johnson scored some impressive knockouts: the aforementioned ones of Burns and Brenneman, as well as a brutal pasting of Luigi Fioravanti and an iconic 41-second beating of Yoshiyuki Yoshida where he used his hapless foe as an oversized heavy bag. However, it's at light heavyweight that he truly became the terror of the MMA world, administering a 44-second knockout to Brazilian legend and excellent boxer Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, a first-round knockout of then world-class striker and elite contender Alexander Gustafsson, destroying another outstanding kickboxer in Jimi Manuwa early in the second round, annihilating future Bellator champ-champ Ryan Bader in 1:26, and perhaps most impressively, defeating future UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds, a man who, in his last MMA fight, survived 25 minutes of brutal blows delivered by a big puncher in Jamahal Hill. Sadly, Johnson himself never became a champion and died at the very young age of 38, though his exploits in MMA will be remembered for many years to come.

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