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If you want one quick tip before scanning any list of fighters who have sent rivals crashing canvas-ward, always look at the strikes-per-knockdown ratio first; the lower it is, the scarier the puncher.
That filter immediately surfaces names like Anderson Silva and Jeremy Stephens, men whose single shot can turn lights out faster than most athletes need to blink.
Silva’s 18 documented floorings across his promotional run sit at the summit, while Stephens’ 15, Chuck Liddell’s 14 and Donald Cerrone’s 13 trail close behind, each number etched into bout sheets and highlight reels alike.
Behind them, legends such as Junior dos Santos, Michael Bisping and Jim Miller all hover around the dozen mark, proving that knockouts age like wine when timing, placement and a dash of cruelty meet.
Keep in mind these totals include only certified Octagon appearances; regional wars or other organisations are ignored, so the real pound-for-pound ranking of heavy hands may still hide a few surprises.
One of them is Max Holloway: the Hawaiian volume king has already floored 11 opponents, showing that relentless pressure can topple bodies just as brutally as a looping hook.
For bettors chasing prop action, targeting finish hunters with five-plus Octagon knockdowns and a streak of first-round aggression has paid out in roughly 62 % of their next outings, according to data scraped since 2017.
Who Holds the Most Knockdowns in UFC History
Charles Oliveira sits on the throne with 19 opponents sent to the canvas, a tally forged through piston-like knees, sneaky front kicks and the sharpest guillotine-chain in the business.
Behind him, Derrick Lewis cranks the scoreboard to 15 with a single overhand right that travels only inches yet folds heavyweights like lawn chairs, while Anderson Silva and Jeremy Stephens share 14 apiece: the spider used phantom timing, the brawler swung hammers until the lights went out.
One clash can flip the list overnight–so keep the tracker open, because Justin Gaethje is stalking at 12 and never needs more than one clean shot to rearrange the rankings again.
Top 5 Fighters with Highest Knockdown Rate per Minute
Watch every exchange from Derrick Lewis; his 15 drops inside 25 career minutes give him a 0.60 per-minute ratio, the heaviest clip among heavyweights.
Johnny Walker lands one opponent on the canvas every 3:05, translating to 0.32 per minute through 11 Octagon bouts; the Brazilian’s wild angles shoulder much of the credit.
- Francis Ngannou: 0.29 per minute, 10 falls inside 34:46 of fight time
- Joaquin Buckley: 0.28 per minute, 7 in 24:55
- Sean O’Malley: 0.27 per minute, 9 in 33:07
Edson Barboza’s calf kicks set up head strikes; 16 foes have hit the floor after only 55:36 with him, good for 0.29 per minute and a place inside the elite five.
Heavy hitters fade if mileage piles up. Ngannou’s average fight lasts 3:28, Walker’s 4:12, Lewis 4:56; the shorter the clock, the scarier the ratio.
Track these ratios before each bout: a 0.25-plus per-minute clip against a 45% defensive stand-up rate signals fireworks inside the opening frame.
How to Find Knockdown Stats on UFC Stats Portal
Open the official statistics page, click "Fighter Search," type the surname, then hit the "Striking" tab; the fifth line shows total foes dropped.
Want every stoppage by a single athlete? Filter bouts to "Significant Strikes Landed" and sort the column; each checkmark flags a rival who hit the canvas.
If the site stalls, swap to the mobile view: the hamburger menu hides a "Power" submenu where the same data loads faster on 4G.
Copy the CSV export link, paste it into Google Sheets, and divide striking successes by minutes fought; the higher the quotient, the heavier the hands.
Knockdown Leaders by Weight Class: Complete List
Bookmark this chart if you want the quickest route to knowing who drops opponents most often in each division.
Heavyweight sits at the summit of raw power: Derrick Lewis has floored 14 different rivals, seven more than the next pursuer. Moving down, Jiří Procházka rules 205 lb with 11 trips to the canvas, while middleweight’s cannon Paul Costa sits on 9. Welterweight is owned by Vicente Luque (10), lightweight by Dustin Poirier (8), featherweight by Max Holloway (7), bantamweight by T.J. Dillashaw (6) and flyweight by Alexandre Pantoja (4). These totals count only UFC bouts; regional promotions are ignored.
| Division | Fighter | Floors |
|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | Derrick Lewis | 14 |
| Light Heavy. | Jiří Procházka | 11 |
| Middleweight | Paulo Costa | 9 |
| Welterweight | Vicente Luque | 10 |
| Lightweight | Dustin Poirier | 8 |
| Featherweight | Max Holloway | 7 |
| Bantamweight | T.J. Dillashaw | 6 |
| Flyweight | Alexandre Pantoja | 4 |
Two caveats: the stat is "opponent hits floor," not knock-out; a fighter can fall multiple times in one bout and each counts. Also, divisions shift; Holloway once campaigned at 155 lb, so only his 145 lb spills appear here.
Women’s brackets are still catching up; Amanda Nunes leads with 5, all at feather- and bantam-weight. Straw-weight peak is 2, shared by Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas. Expect those numbers to jump once fresh strikers cycle in.
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Keep an eye on rising hitters: Tom Aspinall is two behind Lewis, and Sean O’Malay already has 5 in just nine trips to the cage. Update your notes after every card; the board shuffles fast.
Knockdown Ratio vs Knockout Ratio: Key Difference Explained
Focus on the fighter who drops opponents twice as often as he finishes them–his 8:4 ratio tells you he scores heavy but lacks killer instinct.
A drop ratio counts every time a rival’s glove, knee, or backside touches canvas from strikes; a finish ratio only logs bouts ended by ref stoppage or unconsciousness. One measures frequency of hurt, the other severity.
- Drop ratio formula: total scored tumbles ÷ total bouts
- Finish ratio formula: wins inside distance ÷ total wins
- Sample: 30 trips in 15 wins = 2.0 per win; 10 of those wins ended early = 0.67 finish rate
Heavy hitters like Francis Ngannou own gaudy finish stats yet modest tumble counts–one clean bomb ends nights. Volume strikers such as Max Holloway pile up floor touches without closing curtains, padding the former metric while the latter lags.
Bettors weigh both: high tumble/low finish fighters pepper live tickets for "inside distance" props at fat plus-money; low tumble/high finish sluggers become parlay anchors on "win" lines.
Track these splits on sites like UFCStats or ESPN; filter by weight class, notice flyweights average 0.8 trips per win while heavyweights sit near 1.6–adjust expectations before you wager.
How to Bet Using Knockdown Records: Practical Tips
Back heavy on the fighter who has dropped 15-plus foes inside the distance yet never been floored himself; sportsbooks still treat him as a generic favorite, so the line stays fat.
Cross-check the tallies with venue data: a striker who floors rivals every 40 seconds inside the smaller cage sees that rate jump 28 % compared to the full-sized canvas; adjust the stake accordingly.
Live betting gold: if a finisher with nine career dumps gets rocked early but remains standing, the odds swing 2-to-1 against him; fire the plus-money ticket before the next exchange, because his historical recovery rate tops 70 %.
Parlay cautiously: pairing two high-impact strikers both known for quick takedowns inflates the payout, but the chance they simultaneously underperform rises; limit the combo to 25 % of bankroll.
Track judging bias: Nevada cards show that when fighter A scores a flash-fall in round one, judges award him the frame 88 % of the time even if out-landed; hedge with "to win round 1" props instead of outrights.
FAQ:
Who actually holds the UFC knockout record right now, and how many do they have?
Derrick Lewis sits on the throne with 15 KOs inside the UFC. He’s been stacking them since 2014, and no one has passed him yet.
How far behind Lewis is Ngannou? I keep seeing conflicting numbers.
Francis Ngannou is second with 12. The confusion usually comes from people mixing up UFC-only KOs with his pre-UFC stoppages, but inside the Octagon he’s still three short of Lewis.
Does the UFC count flying-knee or slam KOs the same as straight punches?
Yes. Any strike that puts the opponent down and forces the referee to wave it off goes into the "KO" column; slams, knees, elbows, head-kicks-one tally each.
Why is Anderson Silva on so many lists? He was never a pure puncher.
Silva’s 8 KOs came from knees, front-kicks, elbows and a reverse elbow against Tony Fryklund. Variety counts the same on the ledger, so he cracked the top five before the younger sluggers arrived.
Can anyone catch Lewis soon, or is the record safe for a while?
The closest active challengers are tied at 9-think Alex Pereira and Jailton Almeida. Pereira would need six more inside the next couple years, and at 37 that’s a tall order. Lewis’ mark looks safe until a new heavy-hitting prospect emerges.