5 of the craziest finishes in UFC history
The UFC has seen plenty of fights finish in cool ways over its 25-year history – from Conor McGregor’s famous one-punch knockout of Jose Aldo to Forrest Griffin upsetting the odds to choke out PRIDE champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
Sometimes though, a fight can throw up a finish so crazy, so unexpected, that it leaves the MMA fanbase talking about it for years to come. I’m talking inexplicable comebacks, sudden turnarounds, and even endings that leave the referee in charge baffled.
Here are 5 of the craziest fight finishes in UFC history.
#1 Yair Rodriguez vs. Chan Sung Jung – UFC Fight Night 139 – 11/10/2018
I had to start with this one really as it only happened last week and yet it’ll probably be talked about for the next 25 years of UFC history.
When Frankie Edgar dropped out of his scheduled main event against ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung, only to be replaced with Mexican wildman Yair Rodriguez, everyone figured we’d get some fireworks. They just didn’t realise how insane those fireworks would be.
Main eventing the UFC’s 25th-anniversary show from the city that it all began – Denver, Colorado – Rodriguez and Jung went to war, throwing everything they had at one another for 25 minutes straight.
But despite a hot start to the fight with his flashy kicks, it appeared that Rodriguez was behind going into the final round.
Most fans had Jung ahead and the judges had the fight at 39-37, 39-37 and 38-38, essentially leaving Rodriguez needing a finish to win.
As the seconds ticked away on the clock, it didn’t look like he would get it – especially when he and Jung both raised their hands in camaraderie right before the ten-second clapper sounded.
And then it happened. Jung rushed forward for one last attack; Rodriguez ducked, and hit him with a no-look upward elbow to the jaw, turning his lights out literally one second before the final buzzer sounded.
It was the definition of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and instantly made a distinctly average 25th-anniversary show into one that nobody will ever forget. It was an unbelievably crazy finish.