10.
Brian Kelleher
- Hunter Azur (Featherweight)
Tournament:
UFC Fight Night 171 |
Method:
left side
Date and venue
: May 13, Jacksonville (USA)
One of the most active fighters of the promotion in 2020 opens the ranking of the best knockouts of the year in the UFC according to RT.
Despite the pandemic, Brian Kelleher had four fights, and in January he is ready to return to the octagon again.
Moreover, he won all his victories ahead of schedule, and the most striking of them was obtained in a duel with Hunter Azur.
Kelleher hardly approached the battle as a favorite.
An unbeaten streak of eight fights spoke for the undefeated Azura, and Kelleher not only missed the whole of 2019, but also suffered two early defeats in 2018.
However, such alignments did not affect Brian's mood in the least, who knocked Hunter down in the second round.
The cannon hook with the leading hand decided everything.
The finishing off was unnecessary.
9.
Mario Bautista
- Myles Jones (bantamweight)
Tournament:
UFC 247
|
Method:
knee jumping
Date and place:
February 8, Houston (USA)
Jumping knee knockouts are classics in mixed martial arts.
A year ago, a similar technique revived Jorge Masvidal's career and made him a mixed martial arts star.
First, he allowed the fighter to lead a major tournament in New York and win the title of "toughest bastard" (BMF), and then compete for the belt in welterweight.
In 2020, Mario Bautista tried to repeat this.
This is not to say that the knockout performed by the bantamweight fighter turned out to be as bright.
Unlike Masvidal, Bautista did not manage to "knock out" the opponent outright, and finishing the fight required finishing.
Nonetheless, Mario's punch was effective enough to be one of RT's best of the year.
8.
Randy Costa
- Jornie Newson (Bantamweight)
Tournament:
UFC Vegas 11
|
Method:
Left High Kick
Date and place:
September 19, Las Vegas (USA)
In eighth place is another representative of the lightest weight.
In April 2019, Randy Costa made an unsuccessful debut in the UFC, losing ahead of schedule to not the strongest opponent in the person of Brandon Davis.
But over the next 17 months, he made significant progress and was fully rehabilitated for this failure.
The American took the upper hand twice ahead of schedule, and his victory over Jornie Newson is especially noteworthy.
The fight lasted only 41 seconds.
A solidly superior counterpart in anthropometry, Costa put pressure on Newson, and the sudden change of stance completely baffled him.
Jornie was not ready for Randy's trick and missed a powerful left high-kick, and his fall resembled a knockout in the battle between Kevin Lee and Gregor Gillespie.
True, then this allowed the lightweight to take second place.
7.
Sean O'Malley
- Eddie Wineland (Bantamweight)
Tournament:
UFC 250
|
Method:
right straight
Date and place:
June 6, Las Vegas (USA)
The young American bantamweight fighter became one of the main newsmakers of the first half of 2020.
O'Malley not only won two striking victories, but did it in an extremely effective manner, thanks to which many were in a hurry to name him the new Conor McGregor.
First, he dealt with Jose Quiñones, and then sent in a deep knockout of ex-contender for the title Eddie Wineland.
The young talent took only 114 seconds to put an end to the confrontation with the veteran.
All this time, he demonstrated total superiority over the enemy, and then playfully sent him to the floor.
Sean showed that he would throw an uppercut, but instead landed a direct right hand.
Eddie was caught off guard and unable to react.
Nevertheless, so far this success has remained the last for O'Malley.
In August, he was injured in a duel with Marlon Vera and has not performed since then.
6.
Corey Sandhagen
- Marlon Moraes (Bantamweight)
Tournament:
UFC Fight Island 5
|
Method:
spinning
wil kick
Date and venue:
October 11, Abu Dhabi (UAE)
One line higher is Corey Sandhagen's memorable roundhouse kick.
In October, he forced ex-bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes to surrender and rehabilitated for a defeat to Aljamein Sterling.
Already at the beginning of the second round, he caught the opponent by surprise and won the 13th victory in his career.
It is worth noting that Sandhagen's blow could well have been much higher in the rating, if not for one "but".
For all the beauty of performance, spinning
Wil kick turned out to be not the most accented and only casually touched Moraes' head.
It was for this reason that the knockout was not clean, and Corey needed a finishing move.
A similar element was performed much more effectively by Stephen Thompson in a duel with Jake Ellenberger and Vitor Belfort in a battle with Luke Rockhold.
Cory sandhagen just messed up Marlon Moraes with a spinning heel kick!
# ufc # UFCFightIsland5 # ufcfightisland # fightisland # ufcvegas # UFCFightnightpic.twitter.com / 3fkXsojVUO
- happy ฏ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ (@punjabipac) October 11, 2020
5.
Beneil Dariush
- Scott Holtzman (lightweight)
Tournament:
UFC Vegas 6
|
Method:
spinning backfist
Date and place:
August 8, Las Vegas (USA)
In 2020, Beneil Dariush can be considered one of the kings of knockouts.
The Iranian-American fighter took over Drakkar Klose and Scott Holtzman, and both times he did it not only ahead of schedule, but also very beautifully.
Both of the athlete's punches deserved to be in the top 10, but RT opted for a beautiful roundhouse punch (spinning backfist), so beloved by the first Russian Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko.
By the end of the first round, Dariush managed to inflict considerable damage on Holtzman, but he remained very dangerous.
Despite the huge difference in the number of strikes (on the eve of the decisive hit, it was 35 - 9 in favor of Beneil), Scott continued to go forward.
However, being overly charged with the fight led to the fact that he was on the floor just 22 seconds before the end of the five-minute.
The lightweight veteran read the actions of his counterpart and drew the line under this confrontation with a crushing backfist.
Beneil Dariush vs Scott Holtzman
August 8th 2020
UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Oleinik pic.twitter.com/OscXoxxSyG
- OG_Trillmatic (@OTrillmatic) September 1, 2020
4.
Herbert Burns
- Nate Landwehr (featherweight)
Tournament:
UFC Fight Night 166
|
Method:
clinch knee blow
Date and place:
January 25, Raleigh (USA)
A step away from the top three, a magnificent knee kick performed by Herbert Burns stopped.
The younger brother of the second number in the welterweight rating still cannot boast of such successes, but in terms of bright early victories it does not lag behind the star relative.
One of these he won at the January tournament in Raleigh, where he dealt with Nate Landwehr - the future opponents of Movsar Evloyev.
Burns Jr. is best known for his grappling skills.
He has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has won eight times with painful and choke holds.
But this time, he demonstrated that he is also good at Muay Thai.
In just a couple of seconds, Herbert got a couple of weighty uppercuts at the net, but quickly got his bearings and knocked into Landwehr's head with his knee.
For the Brazilian, this victory by knockout was the first and currently the only one in his career.
3.
Jordan Levitt
- Matt Wyman (lightweight)
Tournament:
UFC Vegas 16
|
Method:
spinning backfist
Date and venue:
December 5, Las Vegas (USA)
The three winners are opened by a unique knockout performed by Jordan Levitt.
In the entire history of the UFC, only 11 times the battle ended after a successful throw by one of the fighters, and in December this happened in the 12th.
Already in the first seconds of the fight, Jordan Levitt tore Matt Wyman off the ground, carried him to the net, and then with all his might hit the floor.
The opponent was unconscious, and the judge had no choice but to stop the fight.
Thus, Levitt stood on a par with such legendary fighters as ex-champions Frank Shamrock, Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz, as well as lightweight Rustam Khabilov.
In 2012, a Russian in a similar style defeated Vince Pichel.
Already in the middle of the first round, he threw his counterpart on the canvas, after which he made a finishing move.
Although it was already superfluous.
Jordan Leavitt (-450 ML) with a slam KO (+950 to win by KO) at # UFCVegas16pic.twitter.com / REXvcBqjhr
- Barstool Sportsbook (@BSSportsbook) December 6, 2020
2.
Cody Garbrandt
- Raphael Assuncao (Bantamweight)
Tournament:
UFC 250
|
Method:
right swing
Date and place:
June 6, Las Vegas (USA)
On the eve of the UFC anniversary tournament, Cody Garbrandt was in an extremely difficult situation.
The ex-bantamweight champion has suffered three defeats in a row and has already been written off by many.
The fight with Rafael Assunsao was supposed to either announce his full return to the number of contenders for the belt, or put an end to his prospects in the division.
By the way, at that moment the fighter himself repeatedly announced his intention to go down to the category below.
However, at the decisive moment, Garbrandt not only won the victory, but also did it extremely beautifully.
Over the course of two rounds, he acted prudently and outplayed Assunsao in all respects, and a second before the end of the second five-minute he took advantage of the opponent's slight relaxation.
Rafael went forward adventurously and got caught on a sweeping blow from the right.
The knockout turned out to be so difficult that after the end of the battle, the Brazilian could not sit on the chair and was forced to come to his senses on the ground.
1.
Joaquin Buckley
- Impa Kasanganai (middleweight)
Tournament:
UFC Fight Island 5
|
Method:
Jumping Spin Kick
Date and venue:
October 11, Abu Dhabi (UAE)
The most striking knockout of 2020 is definitely a masterpiece by Joaquin Buckley.
His phenomenal kick against Impa Kasanganai made a splash in October, and UFC President Dana White even wondered if this is the greatest early victory in mixed martial arts history.
It is worth noting that White really had reason to say this.
During the existence of MMA, fans have witnessed the most beautiful knockouts after kicks.
Suffice it to recall the legendary spinning kick performed by Edson Barbosa or the front kick of Anderson Silva in a duel with Vitor Belfort.
However, the Buckley case is different in that Joaquin did not prepare his blow like his colleagues.
Kasanganai blocked his first attempt and put him in a difficult position.
But the American was not taken aback and not only secured his first victory in the UFC, but also became a hero of all kinds of highlights for a long time.
How about THAT knockout from EVERY angle !?
😱
Joaquin Buckley is back at # UFC255 this Saturday!
pic.twitter.com/Fx1eZZO1dv
- UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) November 19, 2020