Fighters ramped up the violence and style in November, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the top five UFC knockouts of the month.
Heavyweight champion Jon Jones retained his title in spectacular fashion, hopefuls earned UFC contracts with beautiful brutality while cold-blooded contenders made serious noise.
Check out the month’s best knockouts:
Honourable Mentions:
Homecoming King
New York’s own Ramiz Brahimaj had a dream homecoming at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, knocking out Mickey Gall, who made a name for himself by beating WWE star CM Punk a few years ago, with a right hook in round two.
Savage Show-Stopper
Carlos Prates maximised his maiden main event by face-planting Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 100, bouncing a brutal left hook off the top of the veteran’s head in the first round to record his fourth knockout in as many fights in 2024 and break into the welterweight top 15.
The Mountain Tiger Pounces
Zhang “The Mountain Tiger” Mingyang made quick work of Octagon newcomer Ozzy Diaz in UFC Macau’s main card opener, catching him with a beautiful step-in elbow and adding the finishing touches on the ground.
Out Cold
Dustin Stoltzfus and Marc-Andre Barriault didn’t play any games at UFC Edmonton. The pair went full kill-or-be-killed mode, and Stoltzfus was the last man standing as he slept the Canadian in front of his home crowd.
5: Dropping Bombs
Oban Elliott scored this brutal knockout on the UFC 309 prelims, dropping Bassil Hafez with an overhand right and raining down punches to separate him from his senses in the final round.
4: Punching His Ticket
DongHun Choi punched his ticket to a UFC contract by folding up Kiru Sahota with a devastating right hook in the first round of the Road to UFC flyweight final at UFC Macau.
3: Top Spin
Muslim Salikhov showed why he’s known as “The King of Kung Fu” when he produced this phenomenal spinning wheel kick to stop Song Kenan at UFC Macau.
2: Simply The Best
Jon Jones produced a flawless display as he systematically destroyed Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 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.
1: Scary Scenes
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. Feng was incapacitated for several minutes and eventually stretchered out of the Octagon.