Top ten toughest chins in MMA

[jhell]

Top Ten Toughest Chins in MMA
by RJ Clifford

Somewhat long, but very interesting read.

We all know the fighters that can hit hard, but what about the guys on the receiving end? A strong chin is one of the greatest assets a fighter can have and one of the only assets no BJJ, wrestling or boxing class can teach. Getting hit a lot does not take you off this list. On the contrary if a fighter never gets hit, we never see his chin (see Anderson Silva). This is all about the fighters that take the punches, knees, kicks and stomps right to the brain, and yet somehow, they just won’t go to sleep.

10. Takanori Gomi (Never been KO’d or TKO’d, fights better the more he is hit)
“The Fireball Kid” kicks off this list as a powerful knockout artist in his own right, more likely testing the chin of his opponents rather than receiving punishment. The last Pride lightweight champion has never been knocked out, but does leave himself open for submissions after taking a pounding. Against BJ Penn and Nick Diaz, he weathered his opponents’ striking attacks, but allowed submissions to sneak in after the damage was done. He is also known to strike with more ferocity when he has eaten some punches. After being on the losing end of a striking war with Luiz Azeredo, it took only two punches from the Japanese slugger to put the Chute Boxe veteran away.

9. Jeremy Horn (Amazing recovery, taken over 1,000 hits to the head)
The seasoned MMA veteran has over 100 documented, and I emphasize documented, fights under his belt being on the receiving end of only two TKO’s by the fists of Matt Lindland and Chuck Liddell. As if going the distance with Gilbert Yvel, Falaniko Vitale and Anderson Silva was not enough, he choked out Chuck Liddell in their first meeting. He went toe to toe with “The Iceman” for four rounds in their rematch before taking so many head shots the fight had to be called because he could no longer see. Even though he has taken more shots to the head than probably any other fighter in history, he has never been knocked unconscious.

8. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (Amazing recovery, taken over 1,000 hits to the head)
While he has been stopped six times from strikes, the Hilo, Hawaii native always lasts longer than he should have in his losses, thanks to his granite chin. Few have faced as many power punchers as Cabbage including Tim Sylvia, David “Tank” Abbott, Andrei Arlovski, Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Even while taking the biggest shots from some of the biggest guys in MMA, it is usually his corner or the ref who gives up on him before his consciousness does.

7. Nick Diaz (Fights better the more he is hit, cuts easy)
MMA resident Bad Boy, the Cesar Gracie black belt has a knack for slugging it out with recognized strikers. He knocked out Robbie Lawler, went the distance with Joe Riggs and finished Takanori Gomi. He grows more dangerous the more bloody and beaten up he becomes, a style that fits nicely with his me-against-the-world mentality. He slugged it out with Gomi for two rounds before finishing the Pride champ and went punch for punch with pro boxer KJ Noons, eventually losing due to a cut over his eye. Even when his face takes a beating, he stays alert and keeps on fighting.

6. BJ Penn
Hawaii’s favorite fighter, Penn is one of the most well-rounded combatants in the game with a solid chin rounding out his skills. Never afraid of a challenge, “The Prodigy” routinely goes up in weight against bigger guys and stronger punchers. Nearly impossible to finish, only Matt Hughes holds a stoppage victory over the UFC lightweight champion when Penn’s lungs gave out in the third round of their second fight. He has faced dangerous punchers like Takanori Gomi, Duane Ludwig and Jens Pulver (twice) without being fazed once in those fights. Few can make that claim.

5. Dan Henderson (Never been ko’d or tko’d)
Simply put, Henderson fought Wanderlei Silva (twice), Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva without getting knocked out! Silva recently submitted him and “Rampage” out-pointed him, but no one questions the grit of this scrappy Olympic wrestler. Almost completely abandoning his wrestling roots, Henderson has turned into a slugging machine willing to stand toe to toe with seasoned, veteran strikers, a strategy that could not work for anyone with less of a chin.

4. Fedor Emelianenko (cuts easily)
The reigning king of MMA has squared off against some of the world’s best kickboxers like Semmy Schilt, Mark Hunt and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. If there was a list of the top heavyweight strikers in the game, Fedor would have fought almost all of them. And no one has been able to defeat the heavyweight champ or even come close. Ironically, Japanese wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita came the closest to finishing him. His only “loss” came by way of a cut inflicted by Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by a “controversial” strike that Fedor still claims was illegal.

3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Never been ko’d or tko’d, amazing recovery, fights better the more he is hit)
While not at the top of the list, Nogueira puts the structural integrity of his chin on display more than any other fighter. Consistently taking a beating in the early rounds of fights only to finish his opponent by submission later on, the UFC heavyweight champion has taken the best shots by some of the hardest hitters in the sport. He shrugged off head kicks by “Cro Cop”, ate ground and pound bombs by Fedor and took a kick by Heath Herring that should have knocked his head into the tenth row.

2. Mark Hunt (Never been ko’d or tko’d)
K-1 and Pride veteran Mark Hunt has never been knocked out, knocked down or even fazed for that matter in MMA competition. The New Zealand native made a name for himself in the K-1 kickboxing circuit, then won over MMA fans with his head of granite. He took the best shots from Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop” and pro boxer Yosuke Nishijima. Who can forget the epic bout when Hunt ate one of “Cro Cop’s” lethal head kicks right to the temple, then shrugged it off like it was nothing?

1. Kazuyuki Fujita (Amazing recovery)
Mr. Iron Jaw himself! His skull is so thick that no strike can faze him, literally. X-rays prove his skull has a density and thickness greater than the average human head, a human-punching bag that punches back. After Ken Shamrock gave Fujita his best shots before quitting, the Japanese fighter fought his way through an army of heavy-handed strikers before succumbing to Wanderlei Silva, who delivered a plethora of punches, knees, kicks and soccer kicks to his massive cranium prompting the ref to call the fight. Fujita immediately stood up and walked to his corner like nothing had happened.

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[Repenter]

excellent list. some of these guys are just unbelievable. you can beat mark hunt in the temples all day with a baseball bat and he'll keep laughing at you. personally, i would have put nog at #1 for his ability to be run over by a truck (literally and figuratively) and still pull out the win, but great nonetheless.

[valheruking]

Hunt has a better chin than Fujita imo

[LebenTysonTank]

Cabbage has been KOd by Tank and Bigfoot...Leben has only been KOd by Anderson Silva,and THAT was a shit storm of strikes not one punch. Leben deserves to be on the list instead of Cabbage.

[leedogg900]

its a good list but jeremy horn doesnt deserve to be on that list.

anderson silva does

[Terrance]

Hunt has the best chin. Who else could take a high kick from Mirko without even stumbling???!!! And if his body was built good and ripped then he probably wouldn't have lost to Sammy Schilt. Unbelievable chin/skull of Mark Hunt.

[UFC Fann]

Wish Jon Fitch was on there seeing that beating he took from GSP for 5 rounds...lol

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by valheruking

Hunt has a better chin than Fujita imo

In your opinion, and anyone else's with a brain lol

Hunt has the best chin in MMA hands down.



Don't get me wrong, Fujita has a jaw/head of steel. The guy took shots from Cro Cop & Wanderlei (more impressive than Shamrock obviously) and didn't get KO'd, but Hunt for sure.

This list is far from perfect IMO. Vitor Belfort took shots dead on the jaw from Chuck and wasn't KO'd, he was barely even rocked. He has a better chin than Gomi, Diaz, Penn, Horn, and Henderson.

Nog didn't shrug off a headkick from Cro Cop. He blocked it, but it still got through and managed to knock him off his feet. It was FAR from a clean shot and he still didn't "shrug it off". Herring's clean headkick almost KO'd Nog.. Cro Cop would have for sure. Not a good example. Saying he lived to tell the tale after Herring's kick would have been more fitting.

He brings up a lot of stupid and skewed facts, like B.J. not getting phased by Gomi. Well, considering B.J. never got caught by Gomi, why does that matter?

Just because someone survives against a striker, it doesn't mean their jaw was tested. They have to take a shot and just keep moving forward like nothing happened or at least take the shot and still be in the fight.

His only “loss” came by way of a cut inflicted by Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by a “controversial” strike that Fedor still claims was illegal.

A. Fedor hasn't really said much about it at all
B. It isn't claimed to be illegal, it WAS illegal.



I am sorry to pick apart an article, but come on...

[carbondioxide830]

horn? how about putting someone like leben who's actually had some toe to toe brawls and never been ko'ed w/ the exception of the the beating he took by the number one p4p fighter in the world. i think nog should be number one w/ hunt being number 2. fujita at number three and cabbage number 4.

[BigBanda]

They need to switch Fujita with Hunt. He's been hit silly at times and still nothing. Just see Cro Cop deliver a LHK to Hunts head and still be conscious...