Greatest KO in UFC history? Watch Gabriel Gonzaga floor 'Cro Cop' in 2007

There have been plenty of candidates, but what was the best?

Was it Anderson Silva front-kicking Vitor Belfort to retain his middleweight title at UFC 126? Was it Quinton Jackson winning the light heavyweight title with a “Rampge”-like knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 71?

How about Lyoto Machida crumpling Rashad Evans at UFC 98, or James Irvin‘s flying knee to Terry Martin at UFC 54?

All contenders, for sure. But many would argue that Gabriel Gonzaga‘s head-kick knockout of Mirko Filipovic at UFC 70 in April 2007 tops them all.

Gonzaga came into the fight with three straight stoppage wins to start his UFC career, and the bout against “Cro Cop” was a title eliminator with the winner moving on to meet then-heavyweight champ Randy Couture.

That Gonzaga knocked out the PRIDE legend would have been good enough. But that he did it in the same fashion that “Cro Cop” made famous was fascinating MMA irony. “Cro Cop,” of course, was best known for his head kicks, moves that spawned the adage, “Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.” It’s possible that Filipovic never was the same after the Brazilian put him down with nine seconds left in the first round of their fight.

So what do you think? Was Gonzaga’s KO of “Cro Cop” the best knockout in UFC history? Check out the video above, then weigh in for yourself in the comments section.

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