Fans debate if Elves Brener's scary R1 knockout at UFC Sao Paulo is a KO of the year candidate

UFC lightweight Elves Brener pulled off a highly impressive victory at the UFC Sao Paulo event on November 4.

The 26-year-old locked horns against Kaynan Kruschewsky in a catchweight fight (165 pounds) on the main card of UFC Fight Night 231. Before the bout, Brener was riding a five-fight win streak. Kruschewsky, on the other hand, was also on an impressive run as he had won all of his last four encounters.

The fight turned out to be a short-lived affair as Brener made light work of his opponent and defeated him with a brutal knockout in the opening round of the fight.

With the victory, Elves Brener has extended his record to 16-3. One impressive thing to note is that 14 of the Brazilian's 16 victories have been finishes - three knockouts and 11 submissions.

Brener's brutal knockout at UFC Sao Paulo sent the MMA world into a frenzy on social media. Several fans took to social media to share their thoughts on the scary first-round finish by the 26-year-old.

A Twitter account named @mma_orbit posted a clip of the nasty finish, claiming it to be the knockout of 2023.

This led to other MMA fans jumping in to argue whether the claim was true or not.

One individual complimented Brener for the precision of his knockout shot.

"Perfect shot behind the equilibrium."

Another person argued that although the finish by the 26-year-old was impressive, it did not deserve to be in the conversation for 'KO of the year'.

"KO of the year? Nope. It was awesome though."

You can see a compilation of some of the reactions below:

MMA fans react to Elves Brener's knockout victory at UFC Sao Paulo

Elves Brener is off to a great start in the UFC as the Brazilian has won all three of his fights in the multi-billion dollar promotion. If the 26-year-old keeps up the winning momentum, it might not take him long to enter the UFC lightweight top 15 rankings.