It’s that time of the year.  The time when you look back and try to recollect the best performances of 2009.  This will be a three part series, with best knockouts, submissions and the fights of the year.  I’ll begin with the knockouts.  I’m not going to put any extra weight to star power here, a knockout is a knockout, no matter who pulls it off.  Whether it is a title shot or a preliminary match in some po-dunk promotion, it’s all about the highlight reel for me.  Here are my best 10 knockouts for 2009 in MMA.

Videos are available if I could find them on youtube.  To me these are simply the top ten knockouts of 2009, no need to tarnish one fighter’s feats by ranking it higher or lower than another’s.

Matt Hammil blasts Mark Munoz – UFC 96

No one saw this coming.  Hammil is a ferocious competitor and one of the best stories in MMA as he is the only fighter who is deaf.  While he had primarily used his exceptional wrestling to gain victories in the UFC before, I believe this was the first head kick he had ever attempted and BOY was it a doozy.  Mark Munoz was out the second he made contact.

Fedor Emelianenko crushes Andrei Arlovski – Affliction: Day of Reckoning

Andrei Arlovski is no joke, but Fedor made him the butt of many after his performance on January 24th.  Arlovski to this point had used his superb boxing to keep Emelianenko at bay.  Just when he thought he had gained an advantage, Fedor was backing into the corner after a body shot, Arlovski went for a flying knee.  In a tremendous reversal, Fedor punched Arlovski right down the pipe in mid-air and he was out before he hit the ground.  This performance proved to the US fans just how impressive Fedor really is.

Yahir Reyes spinning backfist KO Estevan Payan – Bellator 6

I’ve already reported that Bellator is a very impressive upstart promotion, 2009 was their debut season and they didn’t disappoint.  Yahir Reyes put himself on the map with his absolutely beautiful spinning backfirst KO of Estevan Payan in the semi-finals of the Bellator featherweight tournament.  He may have lost the title shot to Joe Soto a month later, but he won our hearts with his performance here.

Dan Hornbuckle drops Akhiro Gono – Sengoku 9

Dan Hornbuckle had a fantastic 2009, and his head kick knockout of Akhiro Gono capped it off in spectacular fashion.  Both fighters were putting on a show when Hornbuckle grabbed Gono’s leg and then clobbered him with a brutal head kick.  Gono was out immediately and was stiff before he hit the ground.

Lyoto Machida creams Rashad Evans – UFC 98

I apologize for not having the video for this one so I just posted what Rashad looked like afterwards, the UFC is rather protective of their property and they block most youtube clips.  Dana White’s video blog is here if you want to see the end of the fight from his perspective.  What made this performance even more impressive was the fact that it was a title fight.  Evans had the light heavyweight belt and Machida absolutely clobbered him in a devastating one sided blowout.  It ended in highlight reel fashion after Evans had been dropped three times, he was put down for good in the middle of the second round by some beautiful Machida punches.

Dennis Siver Spinning Back Kicks – UFC 93, UFC 105

Yes, Dennis Siver is on here for both knockouts, and both were the exact same way.  Winning via spinning back kick to the body is incredibly, incredibly rare, and Siver did it twice in 2009.  In an absolutely tremendous display of technical striking, he put down Nate Mohr via SBK at UFC 93 in the third round and he KO’d Paul Kelly with a spinning back kick at UFC 105.  I apologizer for not finding the videos again, but I do have the gifs, so they will have to do.

Vitor Belfort demolishes Matt Lindland – Affliction: Day of Reckoning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiETcFxbLrg&feature=related skip to 1:10 minutes for the goods.

This was just plain nasty.  Matt Lindland is an accomplished MMA fighter and wrestler but Vitor Belfort made him look horrendous in this incredibly short first round knockout.   Belfort dropped Lindland with a beautiful left hook counter and then put him out of his misery with some of the fastest ground and pound I’ve ever seen.  Belfort showed his killer instinct here.

Marius Zaromskis head kicks Jason High – Dream 10: Welterweight Grand Prix Final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msVYRU6jf54 skip to 3:15 for the KO

Marius Zaromskis also had a banner year in 2009.  In the course of winning the first Dream 10 welterweight title, he had back to back to back headkick knockout victories.  This one was the prettiest against an accomplished MMA fighter in Jason High.  Zaromskis gained some serious notoriety with his performance and he will be fighting Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce welterweight title in 2010.

Jose Aldo KO’s Cub Swanson in 8 seconds – WEC 41

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Grj5LGEh1A&feature=player_embedded

Jose Aldo earned a title shot at 145 for this performance.  In a matter of 8 seconds, Aldo dropped Swanson with a beautiful double flying knee and landed three viscous left hands on the ground before the referee could stop the fight.  Aldo went on to win the WEC featherweight title later in the year in another masterful effort against Mike Brown.

Dan Henderson shuts Michael Bisping’s mouth – UFC 100

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlPZS4LzaR4&feature=player_embedded#

On the biggest card in MMA history, Dan Henderson had a knockout for the ages.  He dropped Michael Bisping with an amazing ducking right hook and then landed a flying elbow for good measure.  Bisping had been talking a ton of smack before this fight and Henderson said that’s why he hit him again.  It may not have been the most sportsman-like move, but it was definitely one of the best of 2009.