Molly McCann and 4 other UFC fighters who've mastered the spinning elbow
In the UFC, nothing excites fans more than knockouts. With the breadth of tools at a fighter's disposal, knockouts come in a multitude of forms.
At times, an eager wrestler is intercepted by an uppercut or flying knee as they dive in for a telegraphed takedown. In other instances, an overzealous brawler lunges forward in a straight line, throwing a storm of looping punches before their foe hops backwards, pivots off at an angle, and counters them with a straight down the middle. Yet, there are other knockouts that are even more spectacular.
For example, few will ever forget Edson Barboza's spinning wheel kick knockout —the first of its kind in the UFC — against Terry Etim. Though as thrilling a strike as any, there are others worthy of similar recognition. In recent memory, the spinning elbow has emerged as a staple of UFC highlight reels.
The likes of Molly McCann and the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka are two fighters who have proven themselves experts of the spinning elbow. This list looks at McCann and four other fighters who have used the strike to great effect.
#5. Calvin Kattar
As a fighter, Calvin Kattar is best known for his boxing. He is the UFC featherweight division's resident expert when it comes to pocket exchanges. Despite his primary game consisting of a sharp jab and solid boxing fundamentals, Kattar is cerebral when it comes to creating openings for his counter-elbows.
SPINNING ELBOW 💥
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Perhaps his best performance to-date (at least when it comes to demonstrating the evolution of his elbow strikes) was his dominant win over then-rising contender Giga Chikadze. Kattar expertly combined his pull-counter with a spinning back elbow to great effect. 'The Boston Finisher' would either use the threat of his jab to draw out Chikadze's rear-hand counter or simply intercept his foe whenever the Georgian kickboxer stepped into range.
Regardless of what would prompt Chikadze into closing the distance, Kattar would retreat, forcing his opponent to overextend in a desperate bid to add extra inches of range to his rear hand. As his foe overextended, Kattar pulled back at the waist before turning on his heel and spinning into an elbow strike that repeatedly crashed into his opponent's face whenever he stepped in-range.