Paul Gallen vs Mark Hunt fight: Super Samoan’s 12 greatest Knockouts ranked

What is Paul Gallen up against next Wednesday when he takes on the Super Samoan? Check out Mark Hunt’s greatest KOs.

Special mention: KO3 Peter Graham (February 24, 2001. Melbourne, Australia)

Ranking Mark Hunt knockouts is like being asked to choose between your children – they’re all so bloody awesome, and it really is wrong to leave anyone out.

But still, we have.

Which goes a long way to proving how fantastic his Dirty Dozen is.

Take, for example, the cracking uppercut Hunt used to KO Australian tough Peter ‘The Chief’ Graham way back in the early noughts.

Good enough to ice one of this country’s hardest men. But still, not quite enough to sit among his twelve best.

Importantly, the Graham KO was also the win that catapulted Hunt into that year’s K-1 World Grand Prix, which he would win and begin his path to superstardom.

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The Dirty Dozen: Ranking Mark Hunt’s 12 greatest KOs. Picture: Richard Dobson

12. KO3 Stefan Leko (December 17, 2002. Tokyo, Japan)

Long before his reign as a cult UFC heavyweight, Mark ‘Super Samoan’ Hunt made a living icing the world’s baddest kickboxers.

Like this K-1 moment from almost 20 years ago — a bombing left hook which struck Germany’s Stefan Leko with all the force of, say, a shovel to your temple.

After being left sprawled on the canvas, Leko then sat up, nodded as if to confirm his consciousness, stood, returned to the corner, turned, rubbed his nose with a red glove … then collapsed again.

11. TKO2 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (May 5, 2006. Osaka, Japan)

During his chaotic run with Japanese MMA company Pride, Hunt was the type of megastar who earned big bucks, fought before 60,000 fans and had toy figurines made in his likeness.

And it was because of violent efforts like this one against Kosaka, who was finished via a knee to the melon then thunderous overhand right.

This win also topped out Hunt’s famed run of five straight Pride wins, which also included the scalps of killers like Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva.

10. KO3 Yosuke Nishijima (February 26, 2006. Saitama, Japan)

Another win from his famed time in Pride, this wonderful finish also comes via his signature walk off KO.

After dropping Nishijima with a devastating right hand, Hunt then stood momentarily over his victim before casually turning and strolling away like he were ducking out for cigarettes and milk.

09. TKO4 Derrick Lewis (June 11, 2017. Auckland, New Zealand)

Dubbed The Black Beast, Derrick Lewis was carrying a run of six straight wins and the most fearsome of reputations when he jetted into Auckland for this UFC headliner.

Yet Hunto?

Well, he wasn’t only coming off consecutive UFC losses — against Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar – but after this showdown would go on to lose three more.

None of which seemed to trouble the Sydneysider this particular afternoon however as he rocked, then stopped the Black Beast with a flurry of devastating punches and elbows. The spectacular finish remains his most recent win as a fighter.

08. KO2 Chris Tuchscherer (February 27, 2011. Sydney, Australia)

Call it the uppercut that sparked a Hunto revival.

After going five long years without a win – and with UFC president Dana White offering $400,000 to quit his contract and go anywhere else – the Super Samoan instead went and caused chaos at UFC 127.

Apart from bludgeoning Tuchscherer so badly in the first round his bleached hair turned red, the Sydneysider then sent his hometown crowd into raptures in the second — with his first UFC ‘walk off’ KO.

More than dropping the American with a devastating right uppercut, Hunt then turned and — as has become his signature — walked away as the carcass of Brock Lesnar’s training partner fell to earth.

Asked by this journalist afterwards how he planned to celebrate, Hunt replied: “I’m going home to mow the lawn”.

Legend.

07. TKO1 Cheick Kongo (February 26, 2012. Saitama, Japan)

Despite coming into UFC 144 as an underdog, Hunt needed little more than two minutes to drop Kongo with a flurry of right hands before then doubling down with a couple more as he lay on the canvas.

Officially, the fastest win of his UFC career.

06. KO1 Hiromi Amada (June 16, 2001. Melbourne, Australia)

What gets you with this one, undoubtedly, is the sound.

Like the crack of a whip. Or a gunshot.

Thwack.

While not the biggest name to ever be knocked unconscious by Hunt, Amada’s morphing from feared Japanese slugger into white chalk outline remains one of his most spectacular finishes.

Competing in the K-1 World Grand Prix, Hunt finished this one with a devastating right hook that sounded even more awesome than it looked. A thundering snap so intense — and we’re not making this up — it caused one of the Japanese commentators to scream.

05. KO2 Jerome Le Banner (December 8, 2001. Tokyo, Japan.)

Here, truly, was the night Mark Hunt arrived.

On his way to claiming the prestigious K-1 World Grand Prix championship, the then 27-year-old earned a stunning KO win over Jerome Le Banner in the quarterfinals.

Boasting black belts in karate, judo and bad intentions, the Frenchman would engage Hunt four times throughout his career and win three – two of which went to decision.

But not this night.

Instead, Hunt unloaded a stunning flurry of punches – the last of which violently wobbled le Banner’s head in a pulsating burst of movement before he dropped.

Mark Hunt delivers the knock out punch against Frank Mir at Brisbane in 2006. Picture: Getty Images.

04. TKO1 Antonio Silva (November 15, 2015. Melbourne, Australia)

Together, these two heavyweights own 25 minutes of bloody mayhem that just happens to double as one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

But that isn’t this bout.

No, two years after warring to a brutal draw in Brisbane, Hunt quickly destroyed the Brazilian legend dubbed Bigfoot – finishing his rival with a big right hand and then a couple more shots on the ground.

Better, the win came before some 56,000 delirious fans at UFC 193 in Melbourne, the same card where American megastar Ronda Rousey was sensationally kayoed by Holly Holm.

03. KO1 Frank Mir (March 20, 2016. Brisbane, Australia)

Best part of this KO?
Apart from the devastating right hand that would drop Mir, it has to be the way Hunt walked away shaking his head – almost as if asking himself ‘why the bloody hell would anyone fight me?’.

Still, his greatest walk off KO this ain’t.

No, that’s coming up.

Regardless, it’s important to understand that sometime after Mir recovered, he also popped for having used performance-enhancing drugs. Not that it helped any.

“By far the hardest punch I’ve ever received,” the former UFC champ would later concede, which is no small thing considering his opponents include a murderer’s row of men like Daniel Cormier, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Mirko Cro Cop, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, even Fedor Emelianenko.

02. KO2 Roy Nelson (September 20, 2014. Saitama, Japan)

American favourite Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson arrived at this Japanese headliner having never once been knocked out in 10 years of fighting.

Yet you know what he also brought?

A tendency to drop his head, which not only lowered the big unit’s vision but also made him ripe for a thundering uppercut.

Which is exactly what Hunt found in the second, sending Big Country for his first ever visit to the land of wind and ghosts via a brutal right hand that was eventually crowned the UFC’s greatest knockout of 2014.

Unsurprisingly, it was also a walk off KO.

01. TKO3 Stefan Struve (March 3, 2013. Saitama, Japan)

Here was a fight that appeared to be lifted straight out of a video game.

Same deal the finish.

Despite giving away 35cm to the tallest fighter on the UFC roster — and looking as if he would need a step ladder to land any serious damage — Hunt still went and triumphed with a left hook so severe it didn’t simply fell the Dutchman or break his jaw … but fire a dislodged tooth into his cheek.

And, yes, after delivering said blow, which later saw Struve not only requiring surgery, but a titanium plate, big Hunto simply turned and walked away.

Beautiful.