Sherdog’s Knockout of the Year

Here are 12 other KOs/TKOs from 2008 that only the victims will have difficulty remembering:

• Jeremy Stephens KO Rafael dos Anjos, UFC 91, Nov. 15. “Lil Heathen” overcomes a two-round deficit to crush the Brazilian with a Mortal Kombat-grade uppercut.

• Rory Markham KO Brodie Farber, UFC Fight Night 14, July 19. A blistering head kick keeps the welterweight gunslinger’s reputation alive and well.

• L.C. Davis KO Rafael Dias, IFL New Jersey, April 4. In the second-to-last IFL event, Davis hits a brutal head kick that landed with the stiffest of smacks.

• Alessio Sakara KO Joe Vedepo, UFC Fight Night 15, Sept. 17. Sakara kicks the UFC newcomer in the head with such force that it seemed to knock him out twice. Vedepo’s lights seemingly went out, came on again for a second and went out again as he hit the deck.

• Eddie Alvarez TKO Tatsuya Kawajiri, Dream 5, July 21. In one of the best fights of the year, Alvarez cements his status as an elite lightweight by slugging with the heavy-handed Kawajiri until one of them dropped. The only reason this wasn’t a KO was because the referee insisted Alvarez pursue the spent Kawajiri with unanswered hammerfists.

• Andrei Arlovski KO Ben Rothwell, Affliction “Banned,” July 19. Arlovski’s high-level boxing training under Freddie Roach had hardcore MMA fans abuzz, and this tour de force deconstruction of Ben Rothwell proved why. A series of precision strikes, including a leaping knee that sent droplets of blood flying onto a nearby camera lens, ended with a series of punches not to be forgotten.

• Seth Petruzelli TKO Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, EliteXC “Heat,” Oct. 4. Perhaps never before has such a weak-looking punch had such vast implications. Petruzelli landed a short right on the button that left Slice a sitting duck for some parting shots. The finish on primetime network television dropped jaws and, one “StandGate” scandal later, the fortunes of an entire MMA company.

• Josh Barnett KO Pedro Rizzo, Affliction “Banned,” July 19. How do you avenge a haunting seven-year-old knockout loss? Get your conqueror in the ring again and do the exact same thing to him. Intelligent footwork set up this monstrous right hook KO for “The Babyface Assassin” over the Brazilian who had turned his lights out all the way back at UFC 30.

• Anderson Silva KO James Irvin, UFC Fight Night 14, July 19. Silva adds to his formidable aura by vaporizing Irvin with a straight right one minute into his UFC debut at 205 pounds.

• Melvin Manhoef KO Mark Hunt, K-1 Dynamite, Dec. 31. Manhoef gave up 100 pounds in the fight, and took it at the last minute when Jerome LeBanner pulled out. Manhoef put out Hunt's lights in 18 seconds, a shocking scene considering Hunt's reputation for an infallible chin.

• Anthony Johnson KO Kevin Burns, Ultimate Fighter Finale, Dec. 13. In the first meeting between these two, a July fight that ended unjustly after several pokes to the eye by Burns, left fans feeling unsatisfied, Johnson made sure it didn't happen again in the rematch. In the third, Johnson landed the last great head kick of 2008 in a year chock full of them, catching Burns square on the jaw and putting two great KOs under his belt during 2008.

• Tyler Bryan NC Shawn Parker, Legends of Fighting 25, May 16. No matter how many times you see it, it’s difficult to grasp how two men can land knockout punches in the same spot at the same instant. But that’s exactly what happened on this card in Indianapolis, which saw guest referee Shonie Carter react as he would if he were watching the fight on his living room couch.