For some fighters it is their signature move. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is known for his trademark slams. Other wrestlers like Matt Hughes take full advantage of this devastating tactic. Watching someone get knocked out via slam is by far one of the most exciting ways to see a fight end. It is extremely effective and if done right can put anyone to sleep.

While it isn’t common to see an MMA fight end in this fashion there have been some extraordinary fight ending slams in the history of the sport. Here we will discuss the top 5 devastating slams in the history of MMA. Some of these fight ending slams have forever been etched into the minds of those who witnessed their brutal power.

Here are the top 5 slams counting down from number five.

#5. Falaniko Vitale def. Matt Lindland: (video) Matt Lindland’s KO slam came in at number five for the simple fact of the irony involved. The fight was at UFC 43 "Meltdown" and Matt "The Law" Lindland was favored to win. The round started out with Lindland controlling Vitale and working hard for one of his signature takedowns. With just over three minutes left in the round, Lindland finally attempted to bully Vitale to the mat but stumbled and ended up landing on his back. The impact of the fall along with the added weight of Falaniko knocked Lindland out cold and Vitale landed a few more punches from mount before the ref jumped in to save "The Law".

The fact that Lindland knocked himself out with his own slam made this one of the most interesting fight endings ever in the UFC. It was an extremely hard loss for Matt to swallow at the time. Needless to say Lindland rebounded and defeated Vitale two UFC’s later at UFC 45 forcing Falaniko to tap via strikes. He proved that if it wasn’t for his own actions he could have easily went 2-0 against the Hawaiian.

#4. Frank Shamrock def. Igor Zinoviev: (video) Coming in at number four is a slam that most are sure to remember from the early days of the UFC. It involved "The Legend" and former UFC middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock, taking on Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 "Battle in the Bayou" back in 1998. This is surely one of the fastest KO slam victories ever in the sport of MMA. The fight only lasted a mere 22 seconds. Igor rushed Frank with a punch that missed and was scooped up by Shamrock and immediately slammed to the mat. The impact to Igor’s head immediately knocked him out cold. Frank landed one more devastating right hand to the unconscious Zinoviev and the fight was over.

Needless to say that was the last fight Igor Zinoviev ever competed in. The vicious slam delivered a career ending neck injury to Zinoviev who up until that bout was undefeated with four wins and two draws. It was a sad end to a blossoming mma career. Igor’s short career included wins over Enson Inoue and Mario Sperry. Ironically the Russian sambo fighter’s nickname was "Houdini".

#3. Matt Hughes def. Carlos Newton: (video) By far one of the greatest and most memorable knockout slams of all time happened when Matt Hughes first became the welterweight champion of the world at UFC 34 "High Voltage". It was an amazing fight with one of the craziest finishes the sport has ever seen. It happened towards the beginning of the second round when Hughes was caught in a deep Carlos Newton triangle choke. Hughes carried Carlos all the way across the ring while still in the choke and pushed him up against the cage. He then slammed Carlos on his head simultaneously knocking out Newton and himself. It took Matt a few seconds before he realized that he had won the fight and that the fight was over.

The stunning victory was the biggest win in Matt’s career and was the beginning of the most dominating welterweight championship reign in the history of the UFC. Hughes only lost the belt once and went on to defend his welterweight title an amazing seven times before a changing of the guards at UFC 65 when Georges St. Pierre took the title with a TKO victory.

#2. Fedor Emelianenko def. Kevin Randleman: (video) While number two on the list wasn’t a fight ending slam it is still one of the most devastating slams in the history of the sport. What is even more amazing is the fact that the slam victim came back to take the victory after what looked like the end for any normal human being. It happened at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 when Fedor took on wrestler, Kevin Randleman. At the beginning of the round Kevin took Fedor down. When Emelianenko scrambled to get back to his feet, Randleman ended up taking his back. He then unleashed what can only be described as a "Death Suplex" literally jumping into the air and suplexing Fedor right on his head and shoulders. It was the most explosive and brutal slam I have ever seen that actually didn’t end the fight.

Any other person would have literally been dead after that slam but not Emelianenko. Even "Rampage" who was commentating at the time couldn’t believe it. Unphased by the head slam of the century, Fedor came back to submit Kevin Randleman with a kimura at 1:33 of the 1st round and win the fight.

#1. Quinton Jackson def. Ricardo Arona: (video) I don’t think there is any arguing the fact that this slam is number one and if you have not seen it you are in for a treat. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is notorious for his spine wrenching slams and this slam is definitely his most memorable. This slam happened at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 during Jackson’s fight with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist, Ricardo Arona. Jackson had Arona on the ground and Ricardo was looking for a triangle or an armbar. As soon as Arona grabbed Jackson’s arm to look for the armbar, Rampage picked Arona up all the way above his head like he was a rag doll and slammed Arona down with the force of a mac truck. The force of the impact along with the collision of their heads instantly knocked out Arona who was then finished off with two brutal right hands.

The whiplash of the slam looked like it could have broken Ricardo’s neck, It was by far the most intense and vicious slam I have ever seen to this day in mixed martial arts. Despite the loss, Ricardo Arona went on the win four straight Pride fights including a huge decision win over Wanderlei Silva until losing to Mauricio Rua at Pride Final Conflict 2005. Jackson lost his next fight to Wanderlei Silva but went on to eventually capture the UFC light heavyweight title defeating Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 via TKO.

Runner Ups: I had a very hard time picking the number five slam. It was a very close decision between Vitale vs Lindland and CB Dollaway vs Chuck Pablo. While CB Dollaway’s slam was much more brutal, I went with Lindland only because he basically knocked himself out. If you haven’t seen Dollaway slamming Pablo you should definitely check that out.

Some other close runner ups were Quinton Jackson vs Masaaki Satake, and Cory Devela vs Joe Riggs (video). Cory Devela’s slam was a throw but it was extremely devastating causing more damage to Rigg’s already injured back.