With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for December.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Francis Marshall def. Marcelo Rojo at UFC on ESPN 42
Francis Marshall (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will have a highlight-reel knockout to remember from his octagon debut at the expense of Marcelo Rojo (16-9 MMA, 0-3 UFC).
Marshall, a 23-year-old featherweight prospect off Dana White’s Contender Series, made quite an impression in his official UFC debut when he brutally knocked out Rojo in the second round when he uncorked and landed a clean right hand that floored his opponent.
What a knockout by Francis Marshall 👊 #UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/CewPlusjYx
— UFC (@ufc) December 4, 2022
Nominee: Sergei Pavlovich def. Tai Tuivasa at UFC on ESPN 42
Sergei Pavlovich (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) continued to make waves in the heavyweight division, this time with a statement performance against Tai Tuivasa (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC).
Pavlovich blitzed Tuivasa from the opening bell, and unleashed punch after punch until his opponent went down to the point where the referee had to call it off.
SERGEI FINISHED TAI IN LESS THAN A MINUTE 😱 #UFCORLANDO pic.twitter.com/4khO7XXMhh
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 4, 2022
Nominee: Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Chris Daukaus at UFC 282
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) promised to start fast, and he did just that by putting away Chris Daukaus (12-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in a mere 23 seconds.
Rozenstruik handed Daukaus his third consecutive defeat when he came rushing out of the gate with a flurry of punches and jumping knees, forcing his opponent to stumble around the cage until it was over. Daukaus did his best to survive the storm, but he couldn’t defend himself from the power of Rozenstruik, who capped off his attack with a vicious left hand.
It doesn’t get bigger from Bigi Boy!!@JairRozenstruik DELIVERED at #UFC282 👊 pic.twitter.com/o4tH5Ju1Dx
— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2022
Nominee: Sho Patrick Usami def. Noah Bey at Rizin FF 40
Sho Patrick Usami (6-1) produced one final highlight for the 2022 reel when he laid out Noah Bey (1-3) in brutal fashion at the Rizin FF 40 event on New Year’s Eve.
It was a one-hitter quitter from Usami, who loaded up on a bomb of a left punch that landed square on the button of Bey, who went out cold within just 45 seconds of the fight starting.
𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄
Sho Patrick Usami delivers one of the most shocking KO’s you’ll ever see!
[ #RIZIN40 | @FiteTV PPV link in bio ] pic.twitter.com/xJW0eg4IaS
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) December 31, 2022
The winner
The winner: Sergei Pavlovich
Pavlovich had another quick night at the office against a top foe when the heavy-handed Russian emerged as a serious contender to the heavyweight elite by quickly finishing Tuivasa in a mere 54 seconds.
Just a few seconds in, Pavlovich had Tuivasa on the canvas from heavy punches. Tuivasa popped back up and tried to time a big fight-ending counter as Pavlovich continued to unload strikes, but missed badly.
Pavlovich sensed his opponent was hurt and a finish was near. He kept the pressure high and continued to pick his shots well, dropping Tuivasa for good less than a minute into the fight.
Pavlovich racked up three first-round finishes in 2022. In March, he finished Shamil Abdurakhimov, and followed up that performance with an opening-frame finish of former title challenger Derrick Lewis in July.