Joe Silva and the UFC matchmaking team are usually right on the money when it comes to putting on competitive fights, but the tilt between Fabricio Werdum and Mike Russow and UFC 147 was absolutely one-sided.
Werdum imposed his will on his overmatched opponent, as it took him just 120 seconds to find his range and establish a striking advantage. 120 seconds into the fight, Russow's face was already busted up and Werdum floored him just seconds later to earn the victory.
Here's a look at the rest of the top five biggest mismatches in UFC history:
2) Randy Couture vs James Toney: For years, the UFC had been flirting with the idea of bringing a legitimate boxer into the octagon to test their skills against an MMA legend. When they couldn't get Floyd Mayweather, they eventually settled for James Toney, a significant downgrade from the aforementioned boxing champ.
Toney was a true beast in the boxing arena in the 1990s, but he was a 42-year-old on the downside of his career by the time he made his MMA debut in 2010 at UFC 118.
He looked like a fish out of water when Randy Couture took him to the mat in the first round, and the latter earned an easy arm-triangle choke at 3:19 of the opening stanza.
3) Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin: Forrest Griffin has a great sense of humor, but he'll never be able to live down his performance in 2009 against Anderson Silva. Griffin was knocked out at the 3:23 mark of the first-round, and was so embarrassed by his performance that he immediately ran out of the ring and into the dressing room.
"I tried to punch him and he literally moved his head out of the way and looked at me like I was stupid for doing it," Griffin said of his fight against the Brazilian legend. "He looked at me like 'Why would you do such a stupid thing?' He looked at me like 'Did you really think you were going to hit me?'"
4) "Tank" Abbott vs John Matua: When John Matua stepped into the cage with "Tank" Abbott at UFC 6 in 1995, little did he know that he was moments away from suffering one of the most brutal knockout losses in UFC history. Abbott came out swinging and needed just 20 seconds to knock Matua unconscious.
5) Gerard Gordeau vs Teila Tuli: Looking back, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to put an experienced Savate World Heavyweight Champion up against a sumo wrestler who had never competed in a MMA-style event.
Gordeau landed a head kick flush to Tuli's face in the opening seconds of their bout at UFC 1 in 1993, and the fight was called to a stop after the ref saw that the sumo wrestler was dazed and unable to continue.
Tuli was kicked so hard that his tooth flew out of his mouth and went flying into the crowd, bringing an end to the first fight in UFC history. Tuli would never appear in another MMA bout following the loss.
What are the biggest mismatches in UFC history? Let me know in the comments.
Eric Holden is a lifelong UFC fan and supporter of the sport of mixed martial arts. Follow him on Twitter @ericholden.
