VIDEO: UFC’s Top Five Knockouts of the Year 2021

The year 2021 has been an exciting one for the UFC. The promotion put together some of the biggest cards this year, with the biggest names in the game. The company had its most profitable third quarter in UFC history. The now publicly traded company posted revenue of $1.4 billion for the quarter, with a net income of $63.6 million.

Two of the events in 2021 crossed a million PPV buys. UFC 264 had $1.8 million buys, and UFC 257 had $1.6 million buys. With another huge event, UFC 269, which features two title bouts coming up. The company is sure to end the year on a high. With so many huge events came some fantastic fights. And with the fantastic fights came some spectacular knockouts. We take a look back at some of the craziest knockouts of the year in no particular order.

Cory Sandhagen vs. Frankie Edgar

Cory Sandhagen vs. Frankie Edgar was billed to be a great fight. The MMA veteran was not the favorite going into the contest. However, everyone expected him to be a tough test for Sandhagen.

Nobody expected what transpired in the fight. After some early exchanges, ‘The Answer’ was trying to pressure his opponent and chasing him down. That is when Sandhagen landed a beautiful flying knee to knock Edgar out in just 28 seconds. It dropped him out cold, and Sandhagen got the win.

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Chris Barnett vs. Gian Villante

The fight between Barnett and Villante produced one of the most unexpected knockouts of the year. The fight from Barnett’s walkout to him walking back after the win was pure entertainment. ‘Beastboy’ entered the octagon dancing and landed one of the best spinning wheel kicks on Villante.

He followed that with some brutal ground and pound, which led to the referee stopping the fight. Barnett instantly became a fan favorite after the fight. His antics, his knockout, and his dance moves all got the fans excited.

Jiri Prochazka vs. Dominick Reyes

When the fight between Prochazka and Reyes was announced, everyone knew it would be a banger. Both men like to stand and bang, with the Czech fighter having 24 wins by T/KO before this fight.

From the very start of the fight, both men were looking to land hard shots. They threw some huge bombs, and eventually, Prochazka landed a spinning back elbow in the second round. That was the end of the fight, as it sent Reyes crashing to the ground. This was just Prochazka’s second fight in the UFC.

Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal 2

The pair first meant inside the octagon at UFC 251. Masvidal stepped in to replace Gilbert Burns inside a week after Burns tested positive for COVID-19. The fight was pretty uneventful, and a rematch was announced between the two.

The pair met against at UFC 261. And after a close first round, the UFC welterweight champion landed a clean right hook at the start of the second round, which knocked Masvidal out cold. This was the first time someone had ever knocked ‘Gamebred’ out in his UFC career. That win was Usman’s fourth title defense.

Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili 1

Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili was sure to deliver. Two of the most exciting fighters across all women’s divisions went head-to-head for the strawweight title. Coming into the fight, Weili was undefeated in 20 fights. Her only loss in MMA came way back in 2008, and since then, she had been on a tear. ‘Thug Rose,’ on the other hand, was coming off an impressive win over Jessica Andrade, to whom she had dropped the title at UFC 237.

The fight had a lot of hype around it, and Rose embraced it. It took Namajunas just 1 minute, 18 seconds of the first round, to finish the fight. She landed a lean head kick, which knocked ‘Magnum’ out. With the win, she became a two-time UFC strawweight champion.

What do you make of the list? Are there any fights that we missed out on? Let us know what, according to you, is the knockout of the year.

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