Sherdog’s Top 10: Heaviest Hitters

10. Jiri Prochazka

Prochazka is a unique inclusion. He only appeared on a single list, mine, but I had him first overall, which, due to the nature of voting, allowed him to just barely crack the top 10. Of Prochazka's 29 career victories, 25 ended with him knocking out his opponent, for an absurd 86.2 % knockout rate. If one expands that to include Prochazka's three losses and one draw, he has a 76% career knockout rate. The first is the third highest such figure of anyone on this list, and the second is the highest. Prochazka's ability to generate power from bizarre, unorthodox angles is uncanny, and only rivaled by the top fighter on this list, though I don't believe even he can match the Czech. There are blows that Prochazka lands that don't look like they should hurt much, and likely wouldn't from virtually any other fighter on the planet. Yet, the effect of Prochazka landing them is the opponent slumped over, snoring. Unlike some heavy hitters, Prochazka’s power isn't solely relegated to his hands, though he has legitimate knockout power in both fists, a rare quality. Prochazka has also attained knockouts through head kicks, flying knees, and perhaps most impressively, a crazy spinning back elbow to flatline Dominick Reyes, one of the most amazing finishes I've seen.

Prochazka's power is so immense that it can penetrate the most powerful of chins. Volkan Oezdemir is known for having an iron chin, taking shots from huge hitters like Reyes, Aleksander Rakic and Anthony Smith with seemingly no effect—not even being stunned. Oezdemir had never been knocked out on his feet either, with a TKO loss to Daniel Cormier being due to ground-and-pound when he was unable to escape. Against Prochazka, not only was Oezdemir hurt, not only was he knocked out for the first and only time in his career, but he was out cold for over a minute. Truly, an incredible, daunting level of power. I also highly urge all MMA fans to check out Prochazka's ferocious knockouts in Rizin Fighting Federation prior to him joining the UFC, which are too numerous to list.

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