Top 5 strangest finishes in MMA
In a sport as wildly unpredictable as MMA, there's bound to be a few fights that leave you scratching your head wondering "what did I just watch?"
That was the case when amateur flyweight Mike Pantangco tapped out after clearly leading in his fight against Jeremy Rasner at Prison City Fight League. Pantangco later said he and his opponent weren't getting paid so he didn't want to cause him anymore harm than he already had.
Here are five other fights that ended in a fashion which pushed the bizarre boundaries - maybe not quite as heart-warming.
Tyler Bryan vs. Shawn Parker, LOF 25
A double knockout. Something generally saved for the fantasy realms of Street Fighter and Tekken, Tyler Bryan and Shawn Parker landed punches to the face at the exact same time and knocked themselves out cold.
The reaction from guest referee and former UFC fighter Shonie Carter is also pretty amazing.
Heath Herring vs. Yoshihiro Nakao, K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!!
Here's a tip: when you're about to fight a big angry heavyweight such as Heath Herring, it's probably not a good idea to try to kiss him on the lips when the referee is going over the fight rules.
Apparently no one gave Yoshihiro Nakao the memo.
Matt Makowski vs. Nick Serra, EliteXC Primetime
There's a reason this was Nick Serra's last professional MMA fight. The younger brother of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, Nick didn't exactly make the Serra name proud against Matt Makowski.
After getting beat up then trying to avoid Makowski, Serra was ultimately disqualified after he dropped to the mat and decided not to engage with his opponent at all.
The official decision? Disqualification because he wouldn't get up from the butt scoot.
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Aliev Makhmud, Pride 29
Kiyoshi Tamura is a respected Japanese MMA veteran with wins over Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba - this was Aliev Makhmud's first and only professional bout.
After taking an accidental kick to the groin, Makhmud fell flat on his stomach then sat in the corner for a while before getting up to fight again. When he did, he started flailing at his opponent and even tried a spinning back kick that failed miserably before his corner threw in the towel when he asked the referee to stop the fight.
Gray Maynard vs. Rob Emerson, The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale
Early in Gray Maynard's career, the perennial UFC lightweight title contender was involved in one of the weirdest finishes in the promotion's history when picked up and slammed Rob Emerson who tapped out with a rib injury.
The problem was Maynard lost consciousness during the slam when his head hit the mat, the fight was ruled a no contest after both fighters were unable to continue.