The best mixed martial arts fighters in the world used the ultimate proving ground in combat sports as a canvas on which to paint their masterpieces in blood.
New champions were crowned in spectacular fashion, others retained their gold in style while contenders enhanced their reputations and prospects made a name for themselves.
Without further ado, I give you my 10 best knockouts in the UFC this year:
10: French Fried
Fares Ziam finished Matt Frevola with one of the most devastating knees you’ll ever see in the third round of their clash at UFC Paris in September and landed two follow-up shots on the already unconscious veteran.
9: Headed Home Early
Esteban Ribovics and Terrance McKinney came out all guns blazing in their prelim fight in St Louis in May and it was Ribovics who reigned supreme as he murked McKinney with a devastating head kick inside 40 seconds.
8: Shine Bright Like A Diamond
The legendary Dustin Poirier went to war with “The God of War” himself Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299 in March and emerged as the last man standing. “The Diamond” felled the Frenchman, who’d been unbeaten in the UFC and had finished his last five opponents, with a tight right hook and concussive follow-up shot.
7: Dynamite Comes In Small Packages
Shi Ming became the first Road to UFC strawweight tournament winner with an unforgettable third-round head-kick knockout of Feng Xiaocan at UFC Macau in November. Feng was incapacitated for several minutes and eventually stretchered out of the Octagon.
6: Twist Of Fate
Jon Jones produced a flawless display as he systematically destroyed Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November to retain the heavyweight title. The greatest of all time, “Bones” finished the consensus best heavyweight ever in spectacular fashion in the third round, landing a textbook spinning back kick to Miocic’s body to leave him in a crumpled heap.
5: Human Tornado
Shara Magomedov had fight fans jumping out of their seats when he doubled up on spinning back fists to finish Armen Petrosyan in one of the most unique knockouts ever seen inside the Octagon at UFC 308 in October.
4: Doing The Unthinkable
Unbeaten featherweight champion Ilia Topuria vowed he would become the first man to knockout iron-chilled legend Max Holloway in their title fight at UFC 308 in October and he delivered on that promise, hurting the great Hawaiian with a big right hand before landing a picturesque left hook and follow-up hammer firsts to do the unthinkable in the third round.
3: Chama
Alex Pereira retained his light heavyweight title and put a definitive end to his rivalry with Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 in June. With some thinking his first victory over the Czech samurai came after a premature stoppage by the referee, “Poatan” left no doubt in the rematch. The Brazilian kickboxing savant dropped Prochazka at the end of the first round and connected with a clean left head kick at the start of the second to cement himself as the biggest star in mixed martial arts aside from Conor McGregor.
2: Air Strike
Making his promotional debut at UFC Vegas 87 in March, Vinicius Oliveira put himself on the map as he obliterated Bernardo Sopai with a picture-perfect flying knee.
1: The Ultimate Holy Sh*t Moment
In a BMF title fight he was soundly winning at UFC 300 in April, Max Holloway showed why he’s worthy of the distinction of being the baddest motherf**er in mixed martial arts by throwing caution to the wind and inviting Justin Gaethje to slug it out in the final 10 seconds. The fighting pride of Hawaii proceeded to blow the roof off the T-Mobile Arena by face-planting Gaethje to capture the title, bag an unprecedented $600,000 in performance bonuses and produce his ultimate highlight.
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