In a year filled with incredible knockouts, Israel Adesanya’s electrifying victory over Alex Pereira has been crowned the 2023 Knockout of the Year by the UFC.
“The Last Stylebender” reclaimed his middleweight title in April with a powerful second-round knockout, settling the score after Pereira’s championship win in November 2022.
Adesanya’s dominant performance edged out other impressive knockouts, including Justin Gaethje second knockout win over rival Dustin Poirier in July (head kick); Ismael Bonfim’s flying kick knockout win over Terrance McKinney in January as well as Sean O’Malley’s counter right to ground strikes win over Aljamain Sterling to win the bantamweight crown.
Others are, Josh Emmett knockout win over Bryce Mitchell (verhand right) in December; and Umar Nurmagomedov’s left hook knockout win over Raoni Barcelos.
Adesanya’s expected to return to the octagon in 2024 or 2025.
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Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev dominated the voting for Fighter of the Year after racking up two impressive victories, including his Fight of the Year win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284.
