With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from May 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for May.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Michael Chandler def. Tony Ferguson at UFC 274
Michael Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) got the signature victory of his octagon tenure thus far when he defeated former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson (25-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) with one of the greatest one-strike finishes in history.
Chandler, a former Bellator champion, handed Ferguson a fourth consecutive loss when he scored a second-round knockout victory by front kick. After getting dropped in the first round, Chandler came out early in Round 2 and connected with the epic shot that left Ferguson out cold on the canvas while he backflipped around the octagon.
Nominee: Paul Daley def. Wendell Giacomo at Bellator 281
It would’ve been hard for Paul Daley (44-18-2 MMA, 9-6 BMMA) to pull off a more vintage performance than what he did in his retirement fight against Wendell Giacomo (9-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).
In the declared final bout of his storied MMA career, Daley rallied from some difficult moments to land a violent one-punch knockout of gritty Brazilian debutant Giacomo. The walk-off stoppage came at 4:09 of Round 2 and was the 35th (and seemingly final) knockout win of Daley’s career.
Nominee: Fabian Edwards def. Lyoto Machida at Bellator 281
If Fabian Edwards (10-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) didn’t have a marquee victory before sharing the octagon with former UFC champion Lyoto Machida (26-12 MMA, 2-4 BMMA), he certainly did after.
After some tactical exchanges, Edwards pushed forward and hurled more punches in the middleweight bout. A left hook sent Machida to the canvas, where he was met with follow-up punches that knocked the lights out. Machida was down for a moderate amount of time before gathering his wits and returning to his feet.
Nominee: Michael Johnson def. Alan Patrick at UFC on ESPN 36
Longtime octagon veteran Michael Johnson (20-17 MMA, 12-13 UFC) ended his four-fight skid in highlight-reel fashion at the expense of Alan Patrick (15-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) in their lightweight bout.
After a first round in which both men hurt each other with punches, Johnson came out in the second frame and picked up the pace. He started to discourage his opponent with his shots, then a beautiful four-strike combination dropped Patrick. Johnson dove into the guard to put an exclamation point on the knockout, marking his first win since October 2018.
Nominee: Mariusz Pudzianowski def. Michal Materla at KSW 70
Former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski (17-7) added to his legend under the KSW banner when he throttled Michal Materla (31-9) with a highlight reel finish.
Pudzianowski extended his winning streak to five fights in the bout, landing an unbelievable uppercut that flattened Materla to to the canvas. He landed an additional hammerfist that was insult to injury.
The winner
The winner: Michael Chandler
Chandler picked up arguably the best finish of his career against Ferguson, and one that’s certain to be in the running for Knockout of the Year once 2022 comes to a close.
In the first round, both fighters started hot exchanging hard shots. Ferguson managed to connect flush and drop Chandler a minute into the round. Ferguson pressured Chandler and connected a few times before getting taken down halfway through the round. As usual, Ferguson was busy on bottom with submission attempts and strikes. He even cut open Chandler with one of the shots. Chandler also fired back and connected some ground-and-pound and controlled the position until the end of the opening stanza.
To kick off the second round (no pun intended), Chandler came out with everything, throwing a football-esque punt down the middle and connecting flush on Ferguson. Immediately, Ferguson dropped to the canvas and the fight was called off.
With the result, Chandler snapped a two-fight losing skid. The former Bellator champion was coming off back-to-back defeats to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Chandler debuted for the UFC in 2021 after a decade of competing in Bellator.
Ferguson, meanwhile, now sits on a four-fight losing skid after putting together 13 consecutive victories under the UFC banner.