Feb. 2, 2026, 9:20 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from January 2026: Here are the nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for January.<\/p>\n
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.<\/p>\n
Nominee: Nikita Krylov def. Modetas Bukauskas at UFC 324<\/p>\n
Not that he needed to, but Nikita Krylov avoided the judges’ scorecards with a very late finish of Modestas Bukauskas.<\/p>\n
Krylov (31-11 MMA, 12-9 UFC) outpointed Bukauskas (19-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) for a majority of the fight. Just when it seemed the scorecards would determine the winner, Krylov ended the fight<\/a> with three seconds remaining on the clock.<\/p>\n <\/a>Nominee: Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay at UFC 325<\/p>\n The Road to UFC featherweight final Saturday ended in violent fashion.<\/p>\n Japan’s Keiichiro Nakamura pulverized Australia’s Sebastian Szalay with a big knee knockout. It was a big stepping left knee<\/a> that sealed the deal with just over a minute left in the second round and secured Nakamura a UFC contract.<\/p>\n The winner: Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325<\/p>\n Mauricio Ruffy vs. Rafael Fiziev was the high-level striking affair many had anticipated. In the end, Ruffy prevailed with a beautiful finish.<\/p>\n The matchup of ranked lightweights was a competitive chess match while it lasted. Ruffy (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) found his opening in the second round and landed a huge right hand<\/a> that put Fiziev on skates. He chased after him and eventually landed enough strikes to get the referee to jump in for the TKO stoppage at 4:30 of Round 2.<\/p>\n