1. Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef
Strikeforce “Miami”
Jan. 30, 2010 | Sunrise, Florida
He could barely stand, but Lawler had one good right hand left in him. The inside of his lead leg mangled by a series of vicious kicks, Lawler unleashed an overhand right on the unsuspecting Manhoef in a featured middleweight duel at the BankAtlantic Center. Home to the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers, the venue had witnessed its share of memorable mixed martial arts violence -- Seth Petruzelli on Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Benji Radach on Murilo Rua at EliteXC “Heat” in 2008 spring to mind -- but nothing there had approached the Lawler-Manhoef outcome in terms of intensity, drama and utter brutality. A shade more than three and a half minutes after the fight began, Manhoef lay on his back, that unsettling fifth-dimension stare etched across his face. Quickly surrounded by cageside medical personnel, Manhoef did not emerge from his slumber for several tense moments. The triumphant Lawler limped around the cage gingerly, his handiwork at his feet.
Sherdog’s Top 10 series is voted upon by a panel of Sherdog.com staff members and contributors: Jordan Breen, Tristen Critchfield, Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Eric Stinton, Jesse Denis, Todd Martin, Josh Stillman, Nick Grinups and Anthony Walker.