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A UFC event can give us many things. We could see three and five-round wars, painful and impressive submissions, broken bones, blood, and a whole lot more. But ultimately, everybody loves a knockout.
Nothing beats the feeling of seeing a KO come out of nowhere. The combination of our own excitement mixed with the screams of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier make for memorable moments like Rose Namajunas' knockout win over Zhang Weili at UFC 261.
We see shocking and unique knockouts every year. 2021 has been no different.
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As we reach the halfway point of the year, let's take a look at the five most brutal knockouts of 2021 so far...
#5 Sean O'Malley vs. Thomas Almeida - UFC 260
Sean O’Malley’s hype train has found its way back to the UFC tracks. There aren’t many superlatives that do justice for O’Malley’s performance at UFC 260.
Against an undoubtedly tough opponent in Thomas Almeida, “Sugar” displayed his speed, his power and his special style. He could have finished the bout in the first round after dropping the Brazilian with a head kick and a powerful left punch.
O'Malley started to walk away before realizing Mark Smith had no intention of stepping in, a mistake that brought some criticism from Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan on commentary. The 26 year old wanted that highlight finish and his urge for a walk-off knockout allowed his opponent to recover.
It seemed Almeida had done just that and looked set to survive the 15 minutes. O'Malley had something to say about that. The American got his highlight finish in brutal fashion. Having dropped Almeida for a second time, O’Malley was forced to cancel his second attempt at a walk-off and connect with Almeida again, dropping a bomb as he fell onto the stricken Brazilian. It was clear he was as good as out before the right hand connected; there was no doubt after.
It was brutal. Almeida could do nothing as he watched O'Malley load up the right hand that would leave him unconscious. The reactions of Anik, Rogan and Cormier octagon-side tells the story of this KO. It was the kind of stoppage that made you grimace in the aftermath.
#4 Derrick Lewis vs. Curtis Blaydes - UFC Vegas 19
Who saw this coming? Curtis Blaydes was touted by many as the potential next heavyweight title challenger after Francis Ngannou. Derrick Lewis had something to say about that. Not only did he throw his name into the mix, he nailed it at the top of the division with a vicious uppercut.
As Blaydes changed levels, he dived head-first into the fist of 'The Black Beast'. That's always a recipe for disaster...
The scene after of Lewis pounding his chest while Blaydes lied unconscious on the ground is one of the year's most memorable moments.
With the UFC 261 knockouts and the acrobatic KO's the likes of Cory Sandhagen have brought us, this one often flies under the radar. But with the pure power of the uppercut and the brutal shots to a lifeless Blaydes that came after, it certainly shouldn't.
#3 Jiri Prochazka vs. Dominick Reyes - UFC Vegas 25
At UFC Vegas 25, Jiri Prochazka well and truly leapt into title contention. In the main event, 'Denisa' rendered former title challenger Dominick Reyes unconscious with a spinning elbow.
The entire fight was back-and-forth and saw both men throw hard and fast strikes. At one point it appeared Reyes might take home the win. Prochazka ensured that wouldn't be the case. It's hard to forget the brutal way he ended the bout.
Innovation can be such a crucial part of MMA and the Czech light heavyweight showed why. After his initial right elbow strike was partially blocked, Prochazka stepped through and quickly rotated to catch Reyes with his other elbow. 'The Devastator' couldn't have been condemned to a third-straight loss in a more convincing fashion.
After just two fights in the UFC, Jiri Prochazka has scored two memorable knockouts and it stands to reason he's next in line for a title shot after Glover Teixeira.
#2 Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal - UFC 261
Kamaru Usman is one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever step foot inside the UFC octagon. A portion of the fanbase have long claimed he is boring. We have the recency bias after his first fight with Jorge Masvidal to thank for that. But the rematch left no doubt. He is far from boring.
Under the tutelage of Trevor Wittman, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' looks unstoppable on the ground and now on the feet too. We got a taste of his striking improvements in his incredible display of jabs against Gilbert Burns in February. In front of a sold-out Florida crowd in April, we had the main course - a brutal knockout of Jorge Masvidal.
Jorge Masvidal had never been finished in the UFC before his rematch with the champion. The option of a knockout victory for Usman was barely considered before the PPV. That made the moment even more memorable. No one expected an unconscious Masvidal to bounce of Usman and collapse to the ground.
The spray coming of Masvidal's head as the punch connected made for some crazy action shots and put the power of the strike into perspective.
#1 Cory Sandhagen vs. Frankie Edgar - UFC Vegas 18
Cory Sandhagen couldn’t have made much more of an impact on his first walk to the octagon in 2021. Years don’t start much better than the devastating flying knee knockout of UFC legend Frankie Edgar. It was brutal.
Becoming just the third person to finish Edgar, “The Sandman” got the finish in just 28 seconds. The 'KO of the Year' contest might as well be declared over. It will take something truly remarkable to surpass Sandhagen's effort.
Despite being 39-years-old, Edgar last fought for the title in 2019 against Max Holloway. A decision loss, followed by a TKO defeat to Chan Sung Jung, signaled his end at featherweight.
“The Answer” looked impressive in his first fight as a bantamweight, beating top-10 Pedro Munhoz in a 'Fight of the Night' main event. His second bout at 135-pounds went very differently. For Sandhagen, the victory represented a second memorable win in a matter of months. Marlon Moraes was the first victim last October, falling to a spinning wheel kick.
Sandhagen returns to action in a few weeks to welcome back TJ Dillashaw to the UFC. Will we see a third consecutive highlight reel KO from 'The Sandman'?
