Diego Sanchez looked like he had been struck with an axe. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
5. B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
UFC 107 “Penn vs. Sanchez”
Dec. 12, 2009 | Memphis, Tenn.
As strange as it may seem to newer fans, there was a time when Penn seemed utterly unstoppable for any opponent not named Georges St. Pierre. He made accomplished fighters like Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson and Kenny Florian look like rank amateurs, as he brutalized them from the opening bell en route to dominating finishes.
Coming into the fifth round, “The Nightmare” wore his perpetual scowl, along with a fair bit of damage. Penn busted him up a little bit more and stuffed a few more shots, and as Sanchez retreated toward the fence, the Hawaiian hit him with an ugly yet somehow perfect head kick. It was one of the few Penn ever threw, but it opened a cavernous gash on Sanchez’s forehead that led referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.
Sanchez has never been the same, with a 4-4 record -- and really, if there were any justice in the world, it would be 1-7 -- since Penn’s shin carved a furrow in his forehead.
Number 4 » Spurting Blood