With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from September 2021: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for September.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominee: Paddy Pimblett def. Luigi Vendramini at UFC Fight Night 191
Paddy Pimblett (17-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) started off his octagon tenure in positive fashion when he beat Luigi Vendramini (8-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a sensational comeback.
Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors champion, won his debut by first-round TKO against Vendramini in the lightweight bout. He got stunned with a big short early on, but then turned the tables and unloaded on his foe with strikes until he went down and the bout was waved off.
PADDY THE BADDY
PADDY THE BADDY
PADDY THE BADDY
PADDY THE BADDY
PADDY THE BADDY
PADDY THE BADDY pic.twitter.com/4FWiC0QIME— UFC (@ufc) September 4, 2021
Nominee: Brandon Murphy def. Davis Romano at CFFC 100
From the beginning of the fight between Brandon Murphy (1-0) and David Romano (0-1), one would get the sense that the lightweight bout would not go the distance. Murphy threw every strike with bad intentions and ultimately found a home for a strike that would end the evening early.
Murphy landed a beautiful left head kick that sent Romano falling sideways to the canvas. Murphy rushed in to land follow-up punches, but the referee intervened just as a left hand landed, calling a stop to the contest just 56 seconds into the first round.
HIGHLIGHT-REEL! 🤯
Brandon Murphy wins his pro debut via KO in Round 1 (0:56)
🎙️ @MMAjunkieJohn | @CMPunk
[ #CFFC100 💯 | 🔴 LIVE NOW | on UFC FIGHT PASS ] pic.twitter.com/xJUjMio7xL
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 17, 2021
Nominee: Ben Parrish def. Christian Edwards at Bellator 266
Ben Parrish (5-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year in terms of betting odds when he brought the rise of light heavyweight prospect Christian Edwards (5-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) to a screeching halt.
Parrish was not there to be anyone’s gimme, and he showed why early. He landed a massive left hook on Edwards that dropped him to the canvas. From there, Parrish pounced and unloaded some ground shots to put a bow on the stunning result in just 36 seconds.
😱 Don’t ever doubt @BenBigTuna again!#Bellator266 is LIVE on @SHOsports NOW! pic.twitter.com/Spm5Xpbyu5
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) September 19, 2021
Nominee: Joshua Silveira def. Tee Cummins at LFA 115
Joshua Silveira (6-0), the son of American Top Team coach Conan Silveira, continued his rise when he knocked out Tee Cummins (4-1) claim LFA’s vacant light heavyweight title.
There wasn’t much action until Silveira ended the feeling-out process by throwing a head kick. Cummins defended low, expecting the kick to the body, which opened him up to a clean landing on the right side of the head. Once he dropped to the canvas, Silveira pounced with follow-up punches for the stoppage in just 49 seconds.
𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙖 wins by devastating head-kick KO! #AndNew #LFA115
[ @LFAfighting | Replay Available| on #UFCFIGHTPASS ] pic.twitter.com/2N9pU6MbK7
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 25, 2021
Nominee: Matthew Semelsberger def. Martin Sano at UFC 266
Martin Sano (4-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who UFC president Dana White said was signed to the organization at the request of Nick Diaz, suffered a 15-second knockout loss to Matthew Semelsberger (9-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in their welterweight bout.
Semelsberger was a big betting favorite coming into the fight. He showed why as he went right after Sano and clipped him with a big punch early on that sent the octagon newcomer crashing to the canvas in devastating fashion.
One punch is all @SemiTheJedi needed 👊
[ #UFC266 | Early Prelims Live on @ESPNPlus & @UFCFightPass ] pic.twitter.com/wWeSUZ0HTs
— UFC (@ufc) September 25, 2021
The winner: Ben Parrish
“Big Tuna” was a massive underdog going into Bellator 266, but he defied the odds in a matter of seconds.
Some online sportsbooks had Parrish as high as a 6-to-1 underdog against rising star Edwards. So when Parrish knocked out Edwards with a series of punches 38 seconds into Round 1, the crowd at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., was sent into a frenzy.
A hard overhand left started off the finishing sequence. As Edwards crumpled to the canvas, Parrish poured on a series of punches that put the lights out.
It was a shocking result, but the only one who seemed totally unsurprised was Parrish.