Even if they claim to be a sporting nut, ask people who Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, Anthony Pettis, or George St Pierre are, and unless you are asking a small minority, you will probably be met by blank responses. That however could be about to change. The sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the fastest growing sport, not just in the UK, but worldwide, with gyms, academy's, and organisations opening at a rapid rate.
No longer do people have to decide whether they would like to take up boxing, karate, judo, or wrestling; instead they can practice a variety of disciplines across the board and all under the same banner. The rise of the sport can be seen in no greater example than the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the sport. In 2006 just over 650 fans turned out to see an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, fast forward 5 years and 55'000 turned out to watch UFC 129 at the Bell Centre in Toronto, Canada.
And don't be fooled by the title. This is one of the most regulated sports out there, with a much safer track record than say boxing, although with any contact sport injuries can happen, as was widely documented this past weekend when perhaps the greatest fighter in the sports history Anderson 'The Spider' Silva devastatingly broke his leg in his title fight against Chris Weidman.
So having just celebrated 20 years of fight action, UFC have put together their top 20 knockouts that you can view below.