Top 5 UFC KOs of 2024 feat. Ilia Topuria's win over Max Holloway
The UFC was not lacking for excitement in 2024, with plenty of fights fulfilling fans in search of entertainment and explosive finishes. Yet, nothing captures the imagination of the MMA fandom quite like a knockout. While appreciation for submissions continues to grow, knockouts are different beasts entirely.
With several power-punching champions at the helm, knocking out everyone who dares step inside the octagon with them, the promotion has seen a multitude of nuclear finishes this year. However, it isn't just at the top-end of the sport that jaw-dropping knockouts took place.
Even the lower end, where prospects and journeymen meet, saw its fair share of memorable knockouts, and here are among the very best.
#5. Shi Ming vs. Feng Xiaocan, UFC Fight Night 248
UFC Fight Night 248 featured the promotion's return to China, with an event hosted in the city of Macau. On the preliminary card was a women's strawweight clash between betting favorite Feng Xiaocan and the unassuming Shi Ming under the Road to UFC Season 3 banner.
The winner would earn a contract with the promotion, and the first two rounds went Feng's way as expected. She was taller, rangier, and Shi struggled to close the distance without getting sniped on her way inside. In round three, though, she unleashed a head kick from the depths of hell.
Check out Shi Ming's knockout of Feng Xiaocan:
Shi faked a level change, duping Feng into dropping her hands and exposing her chin. A half-second later, Shi blasted Feng's head with a round kick, knocking her out cold and leaving her as stiff as a board. It was so brutal, in fact, that Feng was unconscious for minutes and was ultimately stretchered out of the octagon.
#4. Vinicius Oliveira vs. Bernardo Sopaj, UFC Fight Night 238
Vinicius Oliveira is a fighter of little renown, at least for now. But back in March, he scored one of the greatest knockouts of the year. In the prelims of a UFC Apex card, the Brazilian locked horns with Bernardo Sopaj, who proved a tough challenge to surmount in the opening round.
But by round two, Oliveira had found his groove, seizing the momentum of the bout. By round three, he seemed well on his way to a win, but he wasn't content with a decision. So, after stumbling Sopaj with a low kick and long left hook, Oliveira chased a hobbling Sopaj to the fence.
Check out Vinicius Oliveira's knockout of Bernardo Sopaj:
Once the opening presented itself, Oliveira pounced. He leaped into the air, pulverizing Sopaj's chin with a flying knee that caused his foe to slump against the cage in an unconscious heap. No follow-up blows were necessary, Sopaj was out cold before he ever hit the mat.
#3. Alex Pereira vs. Jiří Procházka, UFC 303
After Conor McGregor withdrew from his UFC 303 bout with Michael Chandler, the event needed another headliner. Fortunately, Alex Pereira stepped in to save the day, accepting a short-notice light heavyweight title defense against former foe Jiří Procházka, who he had TKO'd at UFC 295.
Unfortunately, his win was overshadowed by accusations of an early stoppage. The rematch, though, was not. Wise to Procházka's poor defensive striking, Pereira dismantled him for most of round one, before knocking him down badly with a check left hook in its dying seconds.
Check out Alex Pereira's TKO of Jiří Procházka:
While he survived the end of the round, the Czech star never fully recovered from it. Just 13 seconds into round two, 'Poatan' whipped out a left switch-kick that floored Procházka again. The Brazilian dove in with ground-and-pound, snapping his foe's top-ponytail before the referee spared Procházka from more punishment.
When the former 205-pound champion climbed to his feet, was completely out of it, nearly collapsing moments later if not for the referee and cage-side doctor.
#2. Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje, UFC 300
Max Holloway almost had a perfect year in 2024. That was due largely to his UFC 300 exploits. The former featherweight champion jumped a weight class to face then 'BMF' champion and lightweight power-puncher Justin Gaethje in a guaranteed action fight, and it was a scrap for the ages.
It was arguably Fight of the Year, and almost yielded its greatest knockout. For nearly five 25 minutes, both men went to war, with Holloway shattering Gaethje's nose with a spinning back-kick. As the fight wound down and 10 seconds remained, Holloway goaded Gaethje to the center of the cage.
Check out Max Holloway's knockout of Justin Gaethje:
Gaethje obliged and Holloway pointed to the ground, challenging him to a wild 10-second exchange. Gaethje, again, obliged, sealing his fate. Both men swung for the fences, with neither man landing clean until a devastating right hook from Holloway shut Gaethje's lights out with just one second left.
'The Highlight' fell like a chopped tree, and the T-Mobile Arena exploded as Holloway, at the 4:59 mark, snatched the latest knockout in the promotion's history.
#1. Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, UFC 308
While Max Holloway's knockout of Justin Gaethje was more spectacular, Ilia Topuria's knockout of him was greater. Up until UFC 308, 'Blessed' had never been knocked out. As a matter of fact, it's debatable whether he had ever even been knocked down.
Moreover, Holloway was dismissive of Topuria ahead of their featherweight title fight, believing that the Spaniard had caught Alexander Volkanovski in a moment of vulnerability and that Topuria was kept guarded away from him by the promotion until then. Topuria, though, vowed to become the first man to knock Holloway out.
Check out Ilia Topuria's knockout of Max Holloway:
Come fight night, he delivered. It was an even affair at first, with both men having moments. But with Topuria, it's a game of inches, and once he's done making his reads, it's only a matter of time. In round three, he rocked Holloway with a right cross, stumbling him toward the fence.
Thereafter, Topuria exploded forward, forcing a pocket boxing exchange where he reigns supreme. Holloway fought back, but a vicious left hook flattened him badly. Topuria jumped in with ground-and-pound and seconds later became the first person to ever crack Holloway's legendary chin, winning by knockout.