Every MMA fan appreciates the technical side of the sport such as slick jiu-jitsu, dominant wrestling and flashy striking, however, nothing compares to the visual of a fighter landing a huge one-punch knockout.
Throughout the years in the UFC, there have been some fighters who have come along, and they have freakish power which not many other fighters have. This remains the case and, arguably, there are more heavy hitters right now in the sport of MMA than there ever have been.
Today, GIVEMESPORT goes through each UFC weight class, and names the hardest hitter in each division. Some names included in the rankings are huge stars such as Alex Pereira and Justin Gaethje whose power has catapulted them to UFC titles and there are also some names included who you may not have heard before.
Heavyweight – Derrick Lewis
MMA Record: 28-12-1 (23 KOs)
Whoever has been at the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division at any given time in the company’s history has always been given the moniker of ‘Baddest Man on the Planet,’ and despite Derrick Lewis never holding heavyweight gold, he has fought for the division’s top prize on two occasions and holds the record for most knockouts in the division’s history with a staggering 15 in 29 fights.
Lewis is one of the funniest fighters ever, but once he steps foot inside the Octagon, he is a powerful monster who can knock out any opponent with any shot he chooses, whether it is a light jab or one of his signature swinging overhand rights which puts his opponents out cold.
Light Heavyweight – Alex Pereira
MMA record: 11-2 (9 KOs)
Alex Pereira is the UFC’s hardest hitting champion right now. ‘Poatan’ returns to the Octagon on Saturday at UFC 307 against Khalil Rountree Jr and if successful, he will make it three light heavyweight title defences in just seven months which by today’s standards of activity in MMA, is unheard of.
The Brazilian’s devastating power, particularly in his left hand, is a huge reason as to why, despite being incredibly experienced in MMA, he has been able to take the sport by storm and get to the top of multiple UFC weight classes. Pereira’s most devastating KO so far in the UFC was his UFC 300 finish over Jamahal Hill where he put him out with a devastating left hook, leaving Hill on the ground with his eyes rolling back.
Middleweight – Joe Pyfer
MMA record: 13-3 (9 KOs)
The UFC middleweight division’s hardest hitter is proven to hit harder than one of the most terrifying heavyweight fighters ever, Francis Ngannou. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience earlier this year, Pyfer, after a video went viral of him breaking Ngannou’s punching power record at the UFC PI, explained how he punches so hard and it is a fascinating listen.
Even though many people have doubted the legitimacy of Pyfer’s record-breaking punching power, he has shown his freakish power so many times already in his UFC career in just five fights in the promotion, as well as two in Dana White’s Contender Series. The American most recently secured a brutal knockout win over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303 in just over one minute.
Welterweight – Joaquin Buckley
MMA record: 19-6 (13 KOs)
As well as Alex Pereira, Joaquin Buckley is another one of the UFC’s hardest hitters who is competing at UFC 307 this upcoming weekend. Buckley has the biggest fight of his career coming up against welterweight veteran Stephen Thompson and a victory will take him to a spot inside the division’s top 10.
Buckley is one of the most dynamic and entertaining fighters currently on the UFC roster and despite being a tremendously skilled martial artist, ‘New Mansa’ has the advantage of carrying a get-out-of-jail card in his freakish power as something he can rely on if he is getting behind in fights. As he gets higher and higher up in the UFC’s welterweight division, Buckley’s power could be the deciding factor between being a contender or a champion.
Lightweight – Justin Gaethje
MMA record: 25-5 (20 KOs)
If Justin Gaethje had secured a UFC contract a little bit earlier in his career, he would more than likely be the record holder for the most knockouts in the UFC lightweight division’s history. In fact, ‘The Highlight’ holds a knockout win over one of the joint record holders, Dustin Poirier.
Gaethje has knockout victories in six out of his eight UFC wins and, particularly in his fights against James Vick and Edson Barboza, he produced some of the most brutal knockouts in the division’s history. Gaethje has good technical skills, but with a lot of his bouts often turning into pure slug-fests, his one-shot knockout power is often the difference between him winning and losing.
Featherweight – Josh Emmett
MMA record: 19-4 (7 KOs)
After starting out his professional MMA career as a wrestling-based fighter who had brutal ground and pound, after devastatingly knocking out featherweight veteran Ricardo Lamas in 2017, Josh Emmett realised he had unbelievable power and started utilising it more.
Prior to his win over Lamas, Emmett had just three career wins via knockout in 13 fights, but since realising his power, he has put together three more knockout wins with three of those being some of the most brutal knockouts in UFC history. At UFC 296, Emmett slumped Bryce Mitchell out cold with one of the most devastating punches in UFC history, which left Mitchell shockingly twitching on the ground and unconscious for minutes.
Bantamweight – Deiveson Figueiredo
MMA record: 24-3-1 (9 KOs)
At UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi just over one month ago, Deiveson Figueiredo solidified himself as one of the hardest hitters in the UFC by being the first fighter ever to knock down Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. Vera has one of the best chins in MMA history and prior to his fight against Figueiredo, he had never been dropped before in 33 professional fights and the Brazilian may have been the one to finally crack the chin of the Ecuadorian, something which many MMA fans never thought would happen.
Figueiredo’s power is even more impressive when you take into consideration that in both of the divisions he’s competed in, flyweight and bantamweight, he has always been the smallest fighter in his division, standing at just five feet five inches tall. The Brazilian has always had great power, but he put a lot of fighters on notice when he brutally knocked out Joseph Benavidez with a huge right hand to win the UFC flyweight title.
Flyweight – Alexandre Pantoja
MMA record: 28-5 (8 KOs)
In a division where there are not a lot of knockout finishes, Alexandre Pantoja is a rare flyweight fighter who has significantly heavy hands. The well-rounded Brazilian UFC flyweight champion mixes his martial arts incredibly well and relies a lot on his power to knock his opponents down and jump on submissions.
Pantoja’s most notable knockout during his UFC run so far is his victory in 2019 over Matt Schnell where he caught the American with a glancing right hand during a fight brawl, leaving him face-planted on the Octagon canvas.
Women’s Bantamweight – Kayla Harrison
MMA record: 17-1 (6 KOs)
In just one fight in the UFC, Kayla Harrison is already just one knockout victory away from becoming the joint record holder for most knockouts in UFC women’s bantamweight history. Harrison completely dominated the PFL and, at UFC 300, finally made the jump across to the UFC and, in her debut, dominated former champion, Holly Holm.
Harrison, who transitioned to MMA after winning two Olympic gold medals in judo, is a complete powerhouse and has a physique that the UFC’s women’s division has never seen before. She is simply all muscle and this shows in her fighting style as she has an ability to ragdoll her opponents and put them out with strikes which is rare for women’s MMA.
Harrison is the third fighter to feature on this list who is fighting on the UFC 307 card on Saturday alongside Alex Pereira and Joaquin Buckley.
Women’s Flyweight/Strawweight – Jessica Andrade
MMA record: 26-13 (10 KOs)
As she regularly goes up and down between the UFC flyweight and strawweight divisions, Jessica Andrade can take the mantle of hardest hitter in both divisions. Two women in UFC history are complete standouts when it comes to knockouts and those two women are Andrade and her compatriot, the greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes who is now retired.
Standing at just five feet two inches tall, the Brazilian is a mini powerhouse and along with Nunes, is a rarity in the UFC as she is a woman with legitimate one-punch knockout power. Andrade has six knockout wins in her UFC career and is the only female in UFC history to put someone out cold with one punch. She did this in her victory over Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 228.
About Author
