After the fight of Stephen Thompson vs Geoff Neal, the UFC has closed its books for the year 2020. There were a lot of UFC events that happened even though the pandemic happened. Dana White and his crew made the impossible, possible, and put in an effort to make the events happen.
Knockouts may be what the fans always want to see in a fight. It creates fireworks and defies logic sometimes. Although a good close fight that ends up in a decision is also entertaining since you get your money’s worth by watching all five rounds or a good submission can also be entertaining if well executed. The knockout, however, has its strength and unique in its own way since it can happen anytime, anywhere, and even in a split second.
We are gonna rank the top 5 best UFC knockouts for the year 2020, the criteria will be the uniqueness, brutality, and level of difficulty to execute the knockout.
5. Cody Garbrandt knocks out Raphael Assuncao with a well-timed overhand. Coming to the fight Gabrandt had a 3 fight skid where his back is against the ropes for being cut by the UFC. This was a much-needed win for Garbrandt Coincidentally, during the fight Garbrandt was also leaning on the fence of the Octagon, waiting for a counter.
It was a pretty good matchup for Cody Garbrandt since Assuncao was not known for his knockout power. The questionable flaw for Garbrandt prior to the fight was his instinct to always going for the finish, leaving him susceptible to counters. In the fight, he waited for Assuncao to bite in the last seconds of the round, where he threw an overhand that knocked Assuncao out cold as the round ends.
4. Beneil Dariush had two brutal finishes for the year. There was the comeback win against Drakkar Klose where he got clipped and wobbled a bit. He turned it around by engaging in a dog fight. He got the better of the exchange which led to a brutal knockout via punches. I have to give the second one better since it was much more difficult to do.
Beneil Dariush landed a well-timed spinning back attack that led Scott Holtzman lying on the floor unconscious. It was like a video game knockout plus due to no crowd, the sound of how it hit was scary.
3. Khaos Williams may have been an underdog in his last fights, but he proved the oddsmakers wrong twice. He had the phrase “Keep sleeping on me, and the doctor will wake you up”. It was a message that tells everyone to not overlook him and that he is the real deal. Following a fast knockout against Alex Morono.
He did it again against Abdul Razak Alhassan, where his opponent was a heavy favorite. He timed the leg kick and threw a counter punch that made his opponent stiffen his body. Williams carries a huge power. Sadly, he ended his year with a decision loss against Michel Pereira but his performance in his endurance was impressive considering he is power-oriented.
2. The best fighter in terms of achievement for the year might be Kevin Holland. He has been the most active fighter of the year with five fights and being undefeated. Four of those five fights ended in a stoppage. It was a super impressive year for Holland and someone the fans should tune in when he fights.
His last fight was fighting Ronaldo Souza who may be one of the most accomplished BJJ grapplers in the UFC. It was not wise to stay in the ground against Souza but Holland was in that situation, where he had his back on the ground. Holland was even talking to Souza while on the ground, which he surprised with a barrage of punches that knocked Souza out. It is not safe anywhere in the MMA game.
1. The knockout that tops the list might be too obvious. It is Joaquin Buckley’s spinning kick knockout that trended on all parts of the internet. After his devastating loss against Kevin Holland, Buckley was set to face Impa Kasanganay. He was the underdog in the fight.
The kick that landed was so brutal because of the level of difficulty. It was like an action movie that one can believe it was staged. The opponent also fell down the canvas very slow which was scary for a moment. Even Daniel Cormier said that the difficulty of landing the shot with such power given that small space to move was incredible.
