With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from July 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for July.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Alex Pereira def. Sean Strickland at UFC 276
Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) solidified his first UFC title shot when he derailed the streak of Sean Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) without barely breaking a sweat.
Pereira, a former GLORY kickboxing champ, validated himself as a legitimate title contender when he defeated Strickland by first-round knockout in the high stakes middleweight bout, landing his trademark left hook to set up the stoppage.
Nominee: Allan Begosso def. Paris Stanford at LFA 135
Brazilian bantamweight Allan Begosso (7-1-1) picked up his sixth first-round finish out of nine professional bouts against Paris Stanford (5-4) and this one might be his most spectacular highlight to date.
Stanford started the fight aggressively, moving forward and going first with hard kicks. However, when he backed away to reset, Begosso didn’t give him another opportunity to press forward as he charged forward and launched a https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/07/lfa-135-video-allan-begosso-45-second-jumping-switch-knee-knockout
e out of nowhere to put down and out cold just 45 seconds into the fight
Nominee: Rafael Fiziev def. Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 39
Rafael Fiziev (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) knocked out former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (31-14 MMA, 20-12 UFC) in their main event clash, pushing his winning streak to six fights and opening eyes to his place among the best.
After dos Anjos started finding success in the championship rounds, the momentum he picked up quickly came to an end at the beginning of the fifth round. Fiziev clipped the Brazilian with a left hook, dropped him, and followed up with a few shots to get the fight called off.
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Nominee: Dustin Jacoby def. Da-un Jung at UFC on ABC 3
Dustin Jacoby (18-5-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) scored a clean, walk-off knockout over Da-un Jung (15-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC), and as a result he’s still unbeaten in six fights since returning to UFC.
The fight was starting to heat up, but before things really ramped up, Jacoby connected with a straight right hand by the ear of Jung. The shot immediately sent the South Korean fighter to the canvas.Jacoby didn’t see fit to land any extra shots and walked away celebrating. It was clear Jung was out of the contest, and the referee waved off the fight.
Nominee: Nikita Krylov def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC Fight Night 208
Alexander Gustafsson (18-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC), a former three-time UFC title challenger, made a comeback from a two-year layoff. Nikita Krylov (28-9 MMA, 9-7 UFC) didn’t allow him the chance to get a feel for the octagon, though, because he blasted the Swede with a haymaker for an early knockdown.
From there, Krylov’s killer instinct kicked in. He relentlessly rushed Gustafsson until he got another knockdown that was followed by some ground shots, bringing the light heavyweight nto an end in just 67 seconds.
The winner
The winner: Alex Pereira
In a highly anticipated middleweight title eliminator, Pereira added Strickland to his highlight reel with his signature short left hook and follow-up punches at 2:36 of Round 1.
The fight was calm and patient until it wasn’t. The two fighters felt each other out until Pereira landed a left. Strickland stumble to the canvas, popped up, and was met by even more impactful punches. Upon his second fall, the referee stepped in and waved off the bout.
With the win, Pereira solidified a likely long-awaited third combat sports matchup against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if he beats Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 main event. The two competed against each other twice in kickboxing – and Pereira won both fights. The first meeting ended in a decision. The rematch, however, was one for the highlight reel when Pereira knocked Adesanya out cold.
Since Pereira went full-in on MMA in 2020, he’s openly chased Adesanya. UFC 276 was only his third fight with the promotion. His other two victories were a decision over Bruno Silva and a knockout of Andreas Michailidis.
Now, he will fight Adesanya in MMA for UFC gold.