(Props: MMA TKO…again)

When we heard that Dennis Siver received UFC 105′s Knockout of the Night bonus instead of Andre Winner, who appeared to have seriously affected Roli Delgado’s future consumption of solid foods with that blistering right hand, we were a little taken aback.  But okay, we thought, in all fairness, we hadn’t seen Siver’s knockout.  Winner’s was clearly a brainstem adjustor of the first class variety, but maybe, just maybe, Siver’s was so spectacular that it made Winner look like he’d barely squeaked by.  It’s possible, right?

Possible, yes.  True, no.  The UFC has posted a soundless version of the Siver-Kelly fight on their website, and while Siver does deliver an impressive spinning back kick to the ribs that effectively sucks all of Kelly’s fighting spirit out of him, the finish itself comes a few moments later and is fairly unremarkable.  Obviously, Siver’s being rewarded for that kick, and it was something to behold.  But it didn’t technically knock Kelly out, it just sent him down the path toward the TKO finish.  So how, exactly, does that equal KO of the Night? 

That’s not to say that Siver wasn’t deserving of some extra cash for his finish, and he definitely fought a tougher opponent than Winner.  But as long as we’re rewarding people for knockouts, we might as well reward the guy who turned his opponent into a lifeless blow-up doll with a single punch.