5 best knockout artists in the UFC right now

#2 UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya

UFC 263: Adesanya v Vettori 2

You'd have to be truly great to beat Jiri Prochazka in a ranking of the best knockout artists in the UFC right now. And Israel Adesanya is just that. He may not be as powerful or have as many knockout finishes, but 'The Last Stylebender' is one of the most talented strikers MMA has ever seen.

Adesanya is dangerous at any stage of the fight and from any position. Using cleverly disguised assortments of kicks and combinations, he has firmly established himself as one of the most formidable champions in UFC history.

Interestingly, Adesanya has only four knockout wins in the UFC. But he is still worthy of the #2 spot on this list because of the quality of competition he has faced, dropped multiple times and beaten - Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa and Kelvin Gastelum, to name a few.

Also, Adesanya is so good that opponents are rarely drawn into out-and-out kickboxing matches against him. If they did, his finishing record would be much more impressive.

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#1 UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou

UFC 260: Miocic v Ngannou 2

Was there any doubt as to who'd top this list? UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is one of the scariest men MMA has ever seen.

Ngannou has a who's who of the UFC heavyweight division on his glowing resume. Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic have all been violently knocked out by 'The Predator'. Even the next generation of fighters like Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik haven't escaped Ngannou's touch of death.

#OnThisDay in 2017...🇨🇲 @Francis_Ngannou delivered an ALL-TIME GREAT KO vs Alistair Overeem. pic.twitter.com/4wYWsKQPxt

— UFC (@ufc) December 2, 2020

12 of Ngannou's 16 professional MMA wins have come by knockout, as well as each of his last seven. The 34-year-old will face one of his biggest tests later this year when he takes on interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.