As with the double KO and the “lawn chair” KO, we were the first to discover the “falling tree” KO before it began to spread across the MMA blogosphere faster than the Motaba virus. Today’s case study comes to us from the Mohawk Valley Community College Gym in Utica, NY of all places, at an event dubbed “CNY Battle Ground 5.” According to the ticket purchasing site, the event saw “MMA fighters from around the state square off in the cage,” because as we all know, MMA is kinda sorta legal in New York.

Although the heavy gloves, head gear, and shin pads lead us to believe this was some sort of kickboxing exhibition, the extra gear does make the eight second knockout seem all the more impressive. The man behind the vicious, Cro Copian head kick is Bob Reese, otherwise known the baddest man to ever walk out to a Rihanna song. Come on Bob, throw on some Chris Brown if you want to do some REAL damage.

-J. Jones

Props to MiddleEasy for the video

Merry Christmas from all of us at Cage Potato. For those of you who celebrate, we hope you have better plans for the holiday than getting trashed and watching the return of that other winter sport, like at least one member of the Cage Potato staff plans on doing. You know, maybe you can talk to your family or friends today. Or exchange gifts. Whatever works for you.

(Props to ShockBlastMedia for the vid. KO comes at 1:36) 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Dan Lauzon; his last run in the UFC saw him get Toby-Imada’d by Cole Miller and outpointed in a snoozefest by TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero. All of this came amidst a falling out with his older brother, UFC lightweight contender Joe Lauzon, who spoke out about Dan’s lack of motivation and desire to train. Well, it seems that Dan has finally begun to heed the advice of his big bro, because he’s rattled off four consecutive wins, all by stoppage, since being released by Zuffa over a year ago. Or, it could just be that he’s fighting people way, way below his level, as is the case in the above video.

Or no longer feels anything, for that matter. Props to MiddleEasy for the video.

It’s Sunday afternoon. Most of you were too busy with UFC 135 to even bother watching Bellator 51 last night. Today, you’re probably too busy with your religious practices to spend time reading a full recap, so I’ll make this quick for you.

For those of you who don’t even have the time to watch that video, damn. Let me first ask you what it’s like to have responsibilities. Let’s also say that Joe Warren will not become Bellator’s first multiple weight class title holder any time soon. Forty year old Bellator newcomer Alexis Vila delivered a left hook that zombified Warren just over one minute into the fight. Look on the bright side, Joe: After getting knocked out like that, you have that featherweight title defense against Patricio Freire to look forward to.

Full results, courtesy of MMAJunkie, after the jump.

Sucker Punch Knock Out – Watch more Funny Videos

After following everything MMA for the last few years we’ve seen some pretty egregious sucker punch knockouts.  These violations of stated rules, good sportsmanship, and the social contract itself seem to pop up every now and then, and sometimes you can’t help but wonder how some of these people have stayed out of prison long enough to become MMA fighters.  But this one…it’s unbelievable.  We don’t know who these guys are, but by the look of it they appear to be fighting for some kind of belt in a cage that’s only slightly larger than a phone booth.  After a nose-to-nose staredown, the fighter with the Chuck-hawk gets the bright idea to blow his opponent a kiss.  What he didn’t know was that he was blowing that kiss to a complete sociopath.

So what makes this worse than sucker punches of the past, like Heath Herring’s swipe at Yoshihiro Nakao?  We’re glad you asked…

While aimlessly cruising Wikipedia last night, I learned that Keith Jardine‘s first loss came in his third pro fight back in February 2002, against MMA ironman Travis Wiuff in the quarterfinals of an Extreme Challenge eight-man heavyweight tournament in Iowa. Coincidentally, it was Wiuff’s third fight as well, and it took Diesel just six seconds to claim a victory via straight-right directly on Jardine’s off-button. The video is above, and the action starts at the 2:18 mark. Wiuff would go on to lose to Mike Radnov in the semis, while Radnov lost to tournament-winner Ben Rothwell in the finals.

Following the Wiuff fight, Jardine went on a 6-0-1 run, joined the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, and quickly found himself in marquee fights against Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, and Quinton Jackson. This Saturday, he’ll take on Thiago Silva at UFC 102. If you believe in streaks, then the Dean of Mean has this one wrapped up. And of course, if he ever decides to walk out to the cage as Techno Viking, he’ll be unstoppable.

Brutal Flying Knee KO at Bellator XI – Watch more Funny Videos

Lyman Good became Bellator‘s first welterweight champion on Friday night, scoring a quick TKO victory over Omar De La Cruz at Bellator XI in Uncasille, Connecticut. The Tiger Schulmann MMA product needed just 1:23 to take De La Cruz down and slug his way to a referee stoppage, collecting a $100,000 check in the process.

But the event’s real star was Good’s rookie teammate Nick Pace, who KTFO’d Collin Tebo with a flying knee to the jaw, then knocked his mouthpiece out with a follow-up right hand; the video is above. Not sure how we feel about his weird hip-grinding at the end, but Pace could be a fighter to watch. Full results from the card are here. Video of the Good/De La Cruz stoppage is after the jump.