The Top ten chins in MMA

This 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.