In the crazy world of mixed martial arts, the pre-fight hype plays a large part in the big picture. From the trash talk to the heated press conference and the stare-off at the weigh-ins and all the way to the fighter’s walkouts and introductions, the sport wouldn’t be the same without these ceremonial acts.
But in MMA, hours of hype could strangely lead up to a fight that ends in a handful of seconds. We’ve seen this phenomenon occurring on several occasions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with a fighter making short work of his opponent.
So which were the shortest fights in UFC history? Who holds the record for the fastest knockout in the organization? And what about the fastest submission victory.
It’s time to find out.
Fastest UFC Fights Ever
In the table below, we’ll list the the fastest 22 fights UFC history.
Ranking | Fighter | Opponent | Event | Date | Outcome | Fight Duration |
1 | Jorge Masvidal | Ben Askren | UFC 239 | July 6, 2019 | KO | 0:05 |
2 | Terrace McKinney | Matt Frevola | UFC 263 | June 12, 2021 | KO | 0:07 |
= | Todd Duffee | Tim Hague | UFC 102 | August 29, 2009 | KO | 0:07 |
= | Chan Sung Jung | Mark Hommick | UFC 140 | December 10, 2011 | KO | 0:07 |
= | Ryan Jimmo | Anthony Perosh | UFC 149 | July 21, 2012 | KO | 0:07 |
6 | Leon Edwards | Seth Baczynski | UFC Fight Night 64 | April 11, 2015 | KO | 0:08 |
= | Don Frye | Thomas Ramirez | UFC 8 | February 16, 1996 | KO | 0:08 |
= | James Irvin | Houston Alexander | UFC Fight Night 13 | April 2, 2008 | TKO | 0:08 |
= | Makwan Amirkhani | Andy Ogle | UFC on Fox 14 | January 24, 2015 | TKO | 0:08 |
10 | Jairzinho Rozenstruik | Allen Crowder | UFC Fight Night 154 | June 22, 2019 | KO | 0:09 |
= | Gray Maynard | Joe Veres | UFC Fight Night 11 | September 19, 2009 | KO | 0:09 |
= | Oleg Taktarov | Anthony Macias | UFC 6 | July 14, 1995 | Submission | 0:09 |
13 | Mark Weir | Eugene Jackson | UFC 38 | July 13, 2002 | KO | 0:10 |
14 | Duane Ludwig | Jonathan Goulet | UFC Fight Night 3 | January 16, 2006 | KO | 0:11 |
= | B.J. Penn | Caol Uno | UFC 34 | November 2, 2001 | KO | 0:11 |
16 | Walt Harris | Alexey Oliynik | UFC on ESPN 4 | July 20, 2019 | KO | 0:12 |
= | Rob Emerson | Manvel Gamburyan | UFC 87 | August 9, 2008 | KO | 0:12 |
= | Johny Henricks | Jon Fitch | UFC 141 | December 30, 2011 | KO | 0:12 |
19 | Anthony Johnson | Chad Reiner | UFC Fight Night 10 | June 12, 2007 | KO | 0:13 |
= | Anthony Johnson | Glover Teixeira | UFC 202 | August 20, 2016 | KO | 0:13 |
= | Gary Goodridge | Paul Herrera | UFC 8 | February 16, 1996 | KO | 0:13 |
= | Conor McGregor | José Aldo | UFC 194 | December 12, 2015 | KO | 0:13 |
Shortest Ever UFC Fight
The shortest fight ever in UFC history took place on July 6, 2019, when Jorge Masvidal knocked out Ben Askren in just five seconds at UFC 239.
Usually, the first few seconds of a fight is reserved for the touching gloves, but after all the trash talk that preceded this welterweight bout, both fighters headed straight to business.
For Askren, wrestling is his bread and butter, thus, he immediately tried to take his opponent down, surging forward with his head down. Unfortunately for the former Bellator champion, Masvidal had anticipated this move, and punished him with a devastating flying knee to the head that spelled Askren’s first UFC loss.
Fastest Ever UFC Submissions [Top 6]
As we can notice from the table above, the majority of the shortest fights in UFC history ended with KO/TKO. That’s because submissions require a bit more time to apply and force the opponent to tap.
Nevertheless, UFC fans still witnessed some shockingly swift submission finishes throughout the organization’s history.
So let’s take a look at the six fastest submission ever in the UFC.
Ranking | Fighter | Opponent | Event | Date | Submission | Fight Duration |
1 | Oleg Taktaro | Anthony Macias | UFC 6 | July 14, 1995 | Guillotine choke | 0:09 |
2 | Joe Charles | Kevin Rosier | UFC 4 | December 16, 1994 | Armbar | 0:14 |
= | Ronda Rousey | Cat Zingano | UFC 184 | February 28, 2015 | Straight armbar | 0:14 |
= | Justin Martin | Eric Martin | UFC 12 | February 7, 1997 | Heel hook | 0:14 |
5 | Marcus Aurelio | Ryan Roberts | UFC Fight Night 13 | April 2, 2008 | Armbar | 0:16 |
= | Franck Shamrock | Kevin Jackson | UFC Japan | December 21, 1997 | Armbar | 0:16 |