The Top ten chins in MMA
Posted on March 15, 2010, 06:59 PM by Rory KernaghanThis list is composed of fighters who have the toughest chins of all time. The list is not completely made up of still active fighters.
10. Mark Hunt Although Hunt has not got the best record he has proved many times that he can take a beating. His only KO loss is to Melvin Manhoef, nothing to be ashamed of especially seeing as Hunt's chin has survived beatings from Fedor, Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva among others.
9. Patrick Cote - 'The Predator' has never been knocked out. His only TKO loss was due to an injured knee against Anderson Silva. He has faced Scott Smith, Drew Mcfedries, Kendell Grove and Chris Leben among others. In Cote's fight against Silva he was hit with knees, headkicks and even a superman punch, all of which looked no where near to knocking out 'The Predator'.
8. Jon Fitch - Fitch's only KO loss came to Wilson Gouveia in 2002. Fitch has faced Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez, Brock Larson and Akihiro Gono among others, all of which he beat. At UFC 87 GSP put the most savage of beat downs on Fitch, but Fitch was unrelenting getting up every time he was knocked down and absorbing huge amounts of punishment. GSP later said that Fitch reminded him of the Terminator.
7. Don Frye - In his day Frye took on the best and hardest hitting fighters on the planet. Although he has been knocked out, they were never easy. He took unreal punishment from James Thompson before the ref stopped it and his fight against Yoshihiro Takayama was an amazing display of Frye's chin, the two were in a hockey clinch and exchanging brutal head punches. Watch a few of Frye's fights and you will know why he got a spot on the list.
6. Heath Herring - 'The Texas Crazy Horse' has taken some of the most brutal beatings I have ever seen. Although he has dropped TKO losses one was a cut, one an injury,one doctors stoppage and one brutal body kick tko from Mirko Cro Cop. He took a brutal beatdown from Fedor before the doctor was forced to stop the fight and has never suffered a KO loss. His fight against Lesnar was fought with a broken orbital bone after the first punch and Herring suffered a terrible beating for the rest of the fight, this bout alone would earn Herring a place on the list.
5. Dan Henderson - 'Hendo' has never been KO'd or TKO'd. An incredible record seeing as he has faced 32 opponents including Anderson Silva, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Renato Sobral and Murilo Rua among many others. When Henderson faced Rich Franklin he took some big clean shots to the chin and shook them off. A UFC and Pride veteran, Henderson has proved many times that he can stand and bang with the best, impressive for a guy who is widely considered as one of the best wrestlers in the game.
4. Mauricio Rua - 'Shogun' earns his place on the list having only ever suffered a TKO loss via broken arm. His chin has been tested by Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Alistair Overeem, Evangelista Santos and many more without failing. Rua has only been dropped cleanly during his slugfest against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, when Nogueira landed a big clean right hook and Rua just got back up and continued like nothing happened. Truly a great chin.
3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - 'Big Nog' may not have the same chin as he did in the Pride days but the beatings he took in his prime are enough to land him the number 3 spot. He was beaten badly by Sylvia, took brutal headkicks from Cro Cop, was dropped on his head by Sapp and beat Dutch kickboxing giant Semmy Schilt. One of the best examples of Nog's chin was against Fedor in Pride where we saw Fedor ground and pound Nogueira's head with huge punches which would render most fighters out cold, but not Nogueira. Although he has suffered a TKO loss to Mir and most recently a KO loss to Velasquez, I feel Nogueira has an undoubtedly awesome chin bone.
2. Quinton Jackson Rampage has taken some of the most horrible and famous beatings in MMA history. Having only two TKO losses and one KO loss is impressive considering he has had 37 fights and competed in Pride and the UFC. One TKO loss came to Mauricio Rua who had to repeatedly knee Jackson to the face and soccer kick the downed fighter's head before the ref stepped in. His only KO loss comes to Wanderlei Silva who landed a huge right hook and some Muay Thai knees leaving Jackson out cold between the ropes and bleeding on the mat. Perhaps the best proof of Jackson's durability, ironically, comes from his second TKO loss which was against Wanderlei Silva. This was in Pride 2003 where we saw Silva land around 14 knees clean to Jackson's head before the ref stepped in to end the horrific beating. To say Jackson has a poor chin due these losses is like saying someone has weak bones because bullets can break them.
1. Fedor Emelianenko - 'The Last Emperor' has taken some big hits and faced some serious knock out artists. In a mixed martial arts career that spans 32 fights and 10 years Fedor has never been knocked out. His only TKO loss was due to a cut. Fedor suffered a broken nose from the first minute of the fight with Brett Rogers and suffered some heavy ground and pound before Fedor blasted Rogers out of the park, he took a huge suplex from Randleman in Pride which saw Fedor dropped on his head from a big height before he submitted the ex UFC champ, Fedor took some big shots from Arlovski before knocking out 'The Pitbull' mid-air with an overhand punch. During Fedor's fight with Kazuyuki Fujita, in Pride, Fujita landed a huge overhand right clean on Fedor's temple, most fighters would be knocked out cold, Fedor was wobbled but hung on to win by submission after landing some heavy strikes of his own. I think his chin is proven in 32 fights, although some fighters have hurt Fedor, none have knocked him out.
Honorable mention goes to Anderson Silva (hasn't been hit enough to judge), Forrest Griffin, Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva.
I understand that many people may not agree with my list but it is just an opinion.
Comments
nice list. However i think that Shogun should def be in front of rampage. Rampage has been tko'd/ko'd several times while shogun never has.
but shogun hasn't take like a million knees to the chin from wanderlei
I feel like you should have added this to the fedor section 'not only has he never been KO'd, he's never been KNOCKED DOWN in a fight' .. the closest thing to a knockdown from a punch was fujita when fedor did his little woopity doo and caught his balance and clinched... fedor = the best nobody can say otherwise.
Good list agree with most and hey look u didnt wiki the livin shitt outta this one! GJ!
Yawn!
What does fedors nuts taste like?
i think dan henderson should be ranked higher maybe number 1 or 2 but great list!!
Nick Diaz comes to mind, it says MMA not just UFC & Diego Sanchez, both of which have never been finished.
what about jay leno???!!
bahahahahah true ! he is definitely the number one chin
dats a HUGE CHIN!!!! (DUCE BIGALOW)
i think hendo should be moved up to 2, but other than that, great list
Yea Dans pretty granite like also.
i agree hendos chin is the best chin i think!
Rampage said he got his hands/fist hurt by hendersons chin in their fight at UFC 75!
and hes never been KO , TKO ever!
and John Fitch should be higher too!
Rampage has a good chin but all those tko , ko losses,he makes
top 10 but not no.2!
nice list, i personally would have put Dan Henderson at 1, he took Wanderlei's, Ramapage's, Anderson's, Yvel's and Belfort's best hits and did not get ko'd, and btw u prolly gonna get a lot of hate for putting Fedor number one lol
yeh dude i know just like my p4p list but hey thats life
great list i dont agree with rampage on that list and big nog should of been second and handerson should of been third but a good list and i guessed fedor was the number1 be 4 i read it.....u should do one on whos got the best stand up or best bbj in mma
big nog 2nd?? the guy got ktfo in 2 of his last 3 fights!! staph or no staph he got ktfo!!
What about Cabbage Carreira? I've never seen anyone take shots like that guy. Sylvia and Arlovski hit him over and over and over with their best shots and it never even phased him. I know he's not much of a fighter but he has the hardest chin I've ever seen.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Cabbage definitely.
Have to agree there PwnSaw, Cabbage seems like a freak of nature.
No kidding I was watching his fight with Tim Sylvia on UFC unleashed the other day and he hit him with about 15-20 shots that I thought for sure wouldve knocked anyone out - that guys definitely got some brain damage now
lol ya I dunno if I'd have Fedor as number one. Forrest Griffin could be on that list after some of the battles hes had, but hes been knocked out/ TKO'd a few times. What About MArcus DAvis? he only just got knocked out for first time in his last fight
forrest griffing has no chin and no heart he practically begged for mercy when he fought the spider
Did you happen to watch the first fight he had with Stephen Bonnar??? No heart.....are you kidding me, he single handedly jump started MMA with one fight all because he and Bonnar decided they would stand in front of each other and just throw hay makers. Other than the loss to Silva all of his fights have been wars.
Forrest Griffin used to have a great chin, it's just taken a few too many shots over the years
Is that you Dana White?
nice list, i remember chuck back in the day had a great chin.. if you watch rampage vs chuck back in pride when dana was promoting chuck, you will see that chuck had a great chin.. he took around 10 clean hits and still didn't get koed by rampage, too bad he gets dropped with one hit these days.
I think Hendo should be #1... personally
Anyone seen Wesley Correira's fights? He's definitely top 5.
absolutely
yeh theres a lot of fighters i would pick but only ten places to fill
true man, its been a while since I even thought of Cabbage
i agree im not a fan and i dont think he is a good fighter but that guy can take lots of punches
hendo #1 for sure... he's NEVER BEEN HURT
and what about BJ PENN?? i don't think he's ever been wobbly...
cmonnnn man
But when has BJ's chin really been tested? I mean you could put Machida up on that list if you put BJ or Anderson there, but they don't get hit much.
and also, doesn't it seem like rampage's chin has a reverse nature as opposed to most fighters? he got knocked out like 3 times in pride, now he doesn't get knocked out at all...
rampage got knocked out once, by wanderlei that dropped him into the ropes.
rua and the other wand fight was tko, check it out.
you tell em homeboy
there are TKO's on this list
Agreed about Heath. And I didn't know that horrible punch broke his eye-socket. I assume that was the punch that sent him tumbling across the octagon? That guy endured probably the single worst, most lopsided, beating out of anything I can think of in MMA... He was probably pissing blood the next day, and stuck in bed for a week with his ribs and organs are mashed up. And he never gave even the slightest hint that he was looking for a way out or that he wanted to quit.
Tough guy (Francis didn't withstand 1/100th what Heath was able to take).
yeah the first punch Lesnar threw smashed his eye socket and he went flying then Lesnar destroyed him, Heath is a tough dude
stop calling frank francis dude,u got a secret crush on him or something??
His name is Francisco, which is a lot closer to Francis than it is to Frank. So, stop crying.
There are a few guys that can be placed in the #1 spot, but there's also no reason why this list is inaccurate. Everybody has a different opinion.
I agree about Hendo...tough bastard!
Yeah... Really any objective best-chin list should have Cabbage. That guy was getting t'd off on by Tim, and Arlovski. The refs stop his fights because they don't want him to die, but he's standing and complaining despite the horrendous beatings.
Ben Rothwell as well maybe. Watch the fight with Cain, he wasn't even trying to block those punches. He was caught against the fence, in the process of standing up, one hand on the mat pushing himself up, and Cain was free to smash him in the face over and over. Clean, and as hard as he could. And Ben was shrugging them off.
Chris Leben? Don't be confused by the Anderson Silva fight when it comes to Chris's chin. Anderson landed how many knees and kicks and punches to Chris's head before he went down? All in quick succession.
Oh and what's his name?... One of Bas's last opponents, took the fight on notice when the roid-monkey was DQ'd. Ruben "warpath" Vilerial, something like that. Bas was almost apologizing to the guy for punching him in the face so hard. He tagged him over and over and couldn't phase the guy. He took him out with leg-kicks.
That guy has got a chin.
Yeah Ruben Villareal that guy has a huge chin
yea warpath, the guy with long hair.. hes got a good chin also ;D he got hit with some clean shots i was thinking wtf how is he still standing..
I would put Hendo at #2, and move Rampage back to #5. Other than that great list..
I didn't know UFC had that many chinese fighters :P
I didn't know UFC had that many chinese fighters :P
I Think Big Nog is # 2
Cain Velasquez should get honorable mention.
Velasquez took a few shots from Kongo, but i havent seen him take too much damage in his other fights, you could say the same for Carwin he's only been tested by Gonzaga's right hand 3 times in row. ;)
Yeah and those Kongo punches were'nt the biggest shots he could be hit with. His recovery was certainly fantastic but his chi isn't proven yet.
I can't believe Hunt is #10.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2b2xaa.gif
velasquez should definitely be there,he tooked 2 big ass punch on the button from kongo and he was still able to put him down.
Why the heck is BJ Penn not on the list? This list sucks!
You're right. BJ Penn has an iron chin and hardly ever gets cut
Rampage said about Henderson's chin that it was his chin that hit back the hardest!
Personally I'd add Cabbage to the list and I think Hunt needs to be a lot higher on the list, Imo Hunt didn't really get KO'd by Mevlin he was just to fat to get up, but back in the day when Hunt fought CroCop and took a clean left head kick from CroCop in his prime and didn't even fall was crazy. That is the hardest hit you can take in mma and he just shock it off.
However Fedor is an obvious number 1, not that he get hit that often or that much but he has survived so many tough fights. He has also took a glancing kick to the temple by CroCop.
1. Fedor
2. Hendo
3. Big Nog
4. Hunt
5. Shogun
Hey what about Clay Guidia??? How punches he can take and never get ko?
he's in there too.
Noguiera, PERIOD until recently. Fedor hasn't been knocked out but he doesn't take too many truly hard shots either, his defense is too good and the last time i remember someone actually teeing off on him was...fujita? Who isn't known for his KO power.
He bleeds easily but jabs are NOT knockout punches, the bias is strong as usual. Rampage has a damn good chin cos he takes some crazy bombs, henderson too although i've seen rampage get punished far worse and keep standing. I can't remember shogun taking too many hard hits?
then watch some shogun fights, the list isn't biased its my opinion dude
and jabs are knockout punches when the guy throwing them weighs like 270lbs
Yea man, machida should definitely be on this list then, jabs are powershots after all if Fedor is on the recieving end.
Yea, that's why bob sapp has such awesome KO power!! Anyone who takes a jab from him MUST have a chin made of iron, ESPECIALLY Fedor!
Bret Rogers ****ed Arlovski 20 some seconds Arlovski bet two fighters who TKO Mir.Fedor is badest M F all Time
say wath you want
ok wath!
This list has some GREAT fighters on it, however, it's not a list i think any fighter should be happy to be on since you have to get hit so many times. The most technical fighters don't get hit that much ( Anderson Silva , The dragon, Royce Gracie etc..)
lyoto couldn't go in honorable mentions?
Other worthy mentions. Joachim Hansen (See Eddie Alvarez fight) and Gomi Takanori back in the day especially the Jens Pulver and that fight where he went mental and had to be pulled off. Hunt's KO to Melvin shocked me cuz before that I thought it was impossible to KO him. I saw Crocop death kick him at least 5 times in the head and there was no reaction. Then again Musashi did put him down with a kick a long time ago in K-1.
Penn should be high up on that list, I'll give Fedor no1, Quinten and Hendo are tough too. But penn has never been ko'd, hell Idon't even remember him being rocked in 9 yrs of fighting, despite eating some heavy direct hits. GSP dropped Fitch with the same punches that didnt drop penn.
Missing Rashad
bj penn i think has a great chin that can stand long periods of damage not that anyone will be given that kinda chance to tee off on the dude, i think he should be in the list and that hendo should possibly be number one