MMA Junkie’s ‘Knockout of the Month’ for December: An unbeaten streak ends in one punch

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2019.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2019: 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.

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The Nominees

Makhmud Muradov def. Trevor Smith at UFC on ESPN 7

In his second UFC appearance, [autotag]Makhmud Muradov[/autotag] (24-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) sent Trevor Smith’s (15-10 MMA, 5-7 UFC) mouthpiece into orbit during their middleweight bout.

Muradov landed a massive overhand right hand during the late stages of the second round, which knocked Smith out upon impact. The fight-ending blow was the final of a three-punch combination. As Muradov’s hand landed, Smith’s mouthpiece rocketed out of position. Smith’s unconscious body crashed to the canvas, his arm awkwardly twisting behind him.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Alistair Overeem at UFC on ESPN 7

It took [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) nearly 25 minutes, but he got the job done against Alistair Overeem (45-18 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in his first UFC headline fight.

At the 4:56 mark of the fifth and final round, Rozenstruik lunged into a punch that dropped Overeem, tearing the former Strikeforce champ’s lip open and leading to the TKO victory to cap an incredible UFC debut year in which Rozenstruik went 4-0 with four finishes.

Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira at UFC 245

[autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) continued to show evolution in her game when she delivered her first career knockout in the most important of moments against Ketlen Vieira (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

After showing confidence on the feet in the opening minutes of the women’s bantamweight matchup, Aldana leveled Vieira with a clean left hook (https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2019/12/ufc-245-watch-irene-aldana-knock-out-ketlen-vieira-wicked-left) that immediately sent the Brazilian to the canvas. No more follow up shots were needed, and Aldana walked away with new consideration about her place as a contender at 135 pounds.

Petr Yan def. Urijah Faber at UFC 245

Unlike his July return, the second stop on the Urijah Faber (35-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC) comeback tour against [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] (14-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) wasn’t a success.

In the clash of bantamweight contender, Faber was dropped and bloodied for he was head kicked and stopped by the relentless striker Yan, who remained undefeated inside the octagon.

Chan Sung Jung def. Frankie Edgar at UFC on ESPN+ 23

[autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) may have cemented himself as the No. 1 contender in the UFC featherweight division by becoming just the second fighter to stop octagon legend Frankie Edgar (23-8-1 MMA, 17-8-1 UFC) with strikes.

In front of a home crowd in Busan, South Korea, “The Korean Zombie” battered former UFC lightweight champion Edgar with a ferocious and tactical onslaught of strikes, finally getting the stopped just over three minutes in the opening round.

Michael Page. def. Shinsho Anzai at Bellator 237

[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) added another spectacular highlight to his reel when he dished out one of the most one-sided beatdowns in recent memory against Shinsho Anzai (11-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

It was a near-flawless performance from “MVP,” because Page did everything he wanted in battering Anzai with a relentless onslaught of strikes before connecting with a fight-ending right hand for the second-round knockout and his 10th stoppage in Bellator competition.

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The Winner: Irene Aldana

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In the most biggest performance of her career, Aldana had one impressive showing.

The women’s bantamweight contender picked up the biggest win of her young career against the previously unbeaten Vieira, halting the fight with the type of finish that’s rarely seen in female competition.

As the clock wound down in the first round, Aldana loaded up on a huge left hook that dropped and stopped Vieira, who came into the fight pegged as the next contender to dual UFC champ Amanda Nunes had she won.

Aldana had different plans, though, because she handed Vieira her first pro loss while subsequently scoring her first career knockout in the most spectacular of fashions.

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