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December’s Top Five UFC Knockouts
The world’s best mixed martial arts fighters finished the year with a bang, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the top five UFC knockouts of the month.
The MMA leader closed out 2025 with two events as usual, a stacked UFC 323 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and UFC Vegas 112, which went down at the UFC APEX at the weekend.
There were plenty of thrills and even some chills as combatants unleashed their full arsenals to awe-inspiring effects.
These were the best KOs of the last month of the year:
Honourable Mentions:
He’s Back
Coming out of retirement, Jalin Turner proved he belonged back in the Octagon as he bloodied and battered respected veteran Edson Barboza and forced the referee to wave off the fight inside two and a half minutes at UFC 323.
The Black Wolf Eats
A ferocious Fares Ziam showed his nasty side when he blasted Nazim Sadykhov with two huge elbows and stopped him with ground-and-pound at UFC 323.
Every Dog Has Its Day
Underdog Manuel Torres paid no mind to the odds-makers when he hurt Grant Dawson at UFC 323 and finished his vaunted foe with a fantastic left hook.
5: TUF Stuff
The Ultimate Fighter season 32 winner Mairon Santos made it 4-0 in the UFC at the T-Mobile Arena, where he caught Muhammad Naimov with an overhand right and pounced to seal the deal.
4: Statement Made
In the final fight of the year, Manel Kape made his case for a flyweight title shot with an explosive first-round finish of No. 1-ranked Brandon Royval in their UFC Vegas 112 headlining clash.
3: A Slugfest For The Ages
In one of the craziest slugfests you’ll ever see, promotional newcomer Iwo Baraniewski and Ibo Aslan went for broke from the get-go at UFC 323. The pair were real-life Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots and dropped each other in their back-and-forth brawl until Baraniewski emerged as the last man standing to keep his unbeaten record intact.
2: Wicked Whirlwind
Kevin Vallejos became the first man to knock out Giga Chikadze at UFC Vegas 112 and he did it in savage style, catching him with a spinning backfist and putting him out cold with three brutal elbows.
1: Spot On
Melquizael “The Dalmatian” Costa put an exclamation point behind a banner 2025 when he merked Morgan Charriere with a vicious head kick at UFC Vegas 112 to claim his fourth win of the year.