5 best finishes from the stars of UFC London: Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady

This weekend sees the UFC visit London for what looks like an excellent event. This card should be a lot of fun.

UFC London: Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady notably features a number of truly ruthless finishers who have some highlight reel moments to their name. With any luck, we'll see some more serious violence from them this weekend, with more knockouts or tapouts to come.

For now, though, here are the five best finishes from the stars of UFC London: Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady.

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#5. Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina - UFC Fight Night 204

This weekend's main card will see Molly McCann look to rebound from a disappointing loss in her last fight with Bruna Brasil.

'Meatball' is now set to face late replacement Alexia Thainara, and a loss could well leave her in danger of slipping out of the UFC entirely.

However, when she's on, McCann is a fighter who is definitely capable of the spectacular. That's partly why she's so popular, particularly in the UK.

Notably, McCann delivered an all-time great finish almost exactly two years prior to this weekend's event, knocking out Luana Carolina with one of the best knockouts of 2022.

The bout was seemingly heading in McCann's favor anyway as it ticked into the third round. However, it didn't look like the Liverpool-based star would be able to deliver her first octagon finish, despite hurting Carolina in the first round.

That all changed in an instant. With the Brazilian pushing forward, desperate to turn things around, 'Meatball' spun and caught her cleanly with a spinning elbow, knocking her senseless.

The finish stunned everyone, including Dana White - who had to catch a celebrating McCann in his arms. It's safe to say if she delivers something similar this weekend, her star will be on the rise again.

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#4. Kevin Holland vs. Jacare Souza - UFC 256

This weekend's main card will see Kevin Holland taking on Gunnar Nelson in a welterweight bout. Despite his lengthy absence, Nelson is widely recognised as one of the most highly credentialed grapplers in the UFC.

However, Holland has history in dealing with tremendously talented grapplers, as we saw when he dispatched the legendary Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza in 2020.

'Trailblazer' bought a four-fight win streak into the bout, his fifth of the year, but very few fans expected him to deal with Souza. The Brazilian was still widely viewed as one of the best middleweights in the world, despite a bit of a slide.

The fight did seem to be going his way early on. He took Holland down with ease, and didn't have any trouble slipping free of a weak guillotine attempt.

However, Holland was unfazed, and began to talk trash at the Brazilian from his back. When Jacare landed a right hand, Holland suddenly flipped the script, and nailed him with a right in return from the bottom.

Incredibly, the shot stunned the Brazilian, and Holland quickly followed with a series of thudding punches that somehow knocked him out cold. It remains unique as probably the only example of a fighter knocking someone out with punches despite being on bottom position.

Whether Holland can bust out a similar finish this weekend remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure - Nelson would do well not to relax on the ground for a second.

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#3. Jan Blachowicz vs. Luke Rockhold - UFC 239

Former UFC light-heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz has used his 'Polish power' to score numerous big wins in the octagon over the last decade.

Blachowicz famously beat up local favorite Jimi Manuwa in London in 2018, and also has knockouts of Corey Anderson, Ilir Latifi and Dominick Reyes to his name.

It's arguable, though, that his best finish came over another former UFC champion in the form of Luke Rockhold in their 2019 bout.

Rockhold had high hopes of breaking into title contention at 205 pounds, and did seem to have the kind of dynamic style to give Blachowicz problems.

Unfortunately for the former 185-pound kingpin, he didn't take Blachowicz's punching power into account.

After a relatively close first round, it was clear in the second that the Polish fighter was landing the harder blows. After being hurt in one exchange, Rockhold decided to clinch, but it didn't really help matters.

When the two men broke apart, the former middleweight champ made the error of dropping his hands slightly, and that was the opening that Blachowicz needed. He clocked Rockhold with a left hand to the jaw, dropping him in an instant.

The Polish star followed with a couple more shots, but realistically, they weren't needed as the fight was over. The knockout was one of the most aesthetically pleasing of 2019, and remains Blachowicz's best highlight reel moment to this day.

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#2. Carlos Ulberg vs. Alonzo Menifield - UFC on ESPN 56

While Jan Blachowicz is a former UFC light-heavyweight champion with knockout power in his hands, he'll be facing someone equally explosive this weekend in London.

Carlos Ulberg is currently riding a seven-fight win streak, with five of those wins coming via KO or submission.

The best of these finishes, though, came when 'Black Jag' faced off with fellow knockout artist Alonzo Menifield last May.

Given the records of both men, it never felt likely that the fight would go the distance, but few fans could've imagined it'd end so quickly.

Menifield rushed in at Ulberg, who remained calm, and as 'Atomic' threw a haymaker, the New Zealand-based fighter caught him with a short counter.

Menifield stumbled forwards, and as he turned, Ulberg then met him with a brutal flurry of shots, with multiple punches landing cleanly before he crashed to the ground after just 16 seconds.

'Atomic' did get to his feet, but he was clearly done, and 'Black Jag' had just scored a scary knockout.

The best thing about this one, though, was that Ulberg didn't blindly throw haymakers and score a knockout - he cut Menifield apart with poise and accuracy. If he can do that to Blachowicz this weekend, a title shot should be his.

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#1. Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman - UFC 278

This weekend's event will see Leon Edwards face Sean Brady in the headline bout. While Edwards is arguably the greatest fighter from the UK in UFC history, calling him a lethal finisher might be a bit of an exaggeration.

'Rocky' rose to the top of the division on the back of a huge ten-fight unbeaten run, but only two of those wins ended with stoppages.

However, any talk of him being a decision machine was erased when he faced Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in 2022.

That night saw 'Rocky' score not just any knockout, but one of the greatest ever seen in the octagon, dethroning one of the most dominant champions in UFC history for good measure.

What's more, it came in Hollywood-style fashion, in the dying moments of the final round of a fight that Edwards was clearly losing beforehand.

Usman appeared to be coasting to a victory, as he'd both outstruck and outgrappled Edwards throughout the bout. It seemed almost impossible for Edwards to win.

Remarkably, though, the Birmingham-based fighter had one shot left in his arsenal. With literally one minute to go, 'Rocky' feinted with a left hand, and then landed a picture-perfect head kick.

The shot landed right on the button, and Usman was sent crashing to the ground in one of the craziest moments in UFC history.

The knockout was widely seen as not only the best of 2022, but probably the year's biggest upset too. Perhaps most importantly, it was a career-defining finish for Edwards, who wrote his own legend with one single kick.