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The 411 MMA Year-End Awards: Part Six – The Best Knockouts of 2015
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5, year-end awards edition! What we are going to is take a topic and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, and the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people’s list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It looks a little like this…
1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd – 3
4th – 2
5th – 1
At the end we tally the scores and get our overall top 5! It’s highly non-official and final, like WAMMA. From best and worst fight to best fighter and KO of the year, the staff will come together to share out best. Thanks for joining us, and lets get down to work.
5. Paul Felder vs. Danny Castillo, UFC Fight Night 70
4. Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne, UFC 187
3. Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi, UFC Fight Night 75
2. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193
1. Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, UFC 194 – It was a tough call between this and Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm. While I thought McGregor had the ability to beat Aldo, I was not thinking it would happen in just 13 seconds. That finish was absolutely insane. Both man threw punches, and both connected, but Aldo ended up going down. McGregor dethroned Aldo and handed him his first loss in 10 years. It was almost unthinkable and unimaginable.
5. Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189
4. Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi, UFC Fight Night 75
3. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193
2. Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling, Bellator 139
1. Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, UFC 194 – There were some awesome contenders for the award this year, but I will go with McGregor’s quick KO if Aldo. This completed the rise of Conor McGregor, the man that talked shit, made money and told everyone what he would do and actually did it. I like Conor, he’s fun, and is a Chael Sonnen that makes more money and actually delivers on his promises. Love him or hate him, he’s been great for the 145 division (because people actually care) and this knockout will be an important part when they go back to tell his history.
5. Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189
4. Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling, Bellator 139
3. Paul Felder vs. Danny Castillo, UFC 182
2. Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, UFC 194
1. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193 – I’m splitting hairs with these top two spots. I went with Holm in the top spot because, as I’m sure everyone reading this will agree, head kicks are cool. Certainly, Rousey isn’t the striker that Aldo is, so in that sense knocking her out isn’t more impressive than thumping Aldo in 13 seconds, but few expected her to be laying unconscious at the end of the fight. I didn’t give Holm much of a chance, but I thought she’d make things interesting before being taken down and submitted. Early on, it looked as thought the fight would play out exactly that way. Holm boxed Rousey up early, but after a couple of minutes Rousey brought the fight to the ground. What I did not count on was Holm getting back up and then continually thwarting Rousey’s efforts to bring it back to the floor, all while bloodying the champion’s face. By round two, Rousey was fading fast and it was clear the skill gap on the feet was too wide to overcome. You could sense something was coming; holes opened as Rousey grew more tired and frustrated. Even so, the knockout blow came as a shock. It shook the sport to its core and drew more attention than any fight result in UFC history.
5. Thomas Almeida’s jumping knee to Brad Pickett at UFC 189
4. Hisaki Kato’s superman punch to Joe Schilling at Bellator 139
3. Stephen Thomson’s spinning hook kick to Jake Ellenberger at TUF 21 Finale
2. Conor McGregor’s left hook to Jose Aldo at UFC 194
1. Holly Holm’s head kick to Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 – Holly Holm’s knockout of Ronda Rousey takes the cake for its magnitude. Not only did Holm score the knockout finish, but she absolutely dominated Rousey for the entirety of the fight, which makes the finish even greater. This was not the case of a lucky kick or a 13 second KO. No. Holm methodically picked apart Rousey until the timing was right and delivered one of the most memorable head kick knockouts. And, she did it all as another challenger who had no chance against Rousey.
5. Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189
4. Gegard Mousasi vs. Uriah Hall, UFC Fight Night 75
3. Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling, Bellator 139
2. Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm, UFC 193
1. Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 194 – Nobody saw it coming. But, it happened and in only 13 seconds. We’ve seen Anderson Silva knocked out in unbelievable fashion and that’s perhaps the only comparable fight when you consider the streak of dominant fights that led to that moment. McGregor’s UFC 194 win will be one of the most memorable outcome for a long time to come.
5. Gegard Mousasi vs. Uriah Hall, UFC Fight Night 75
4. Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189
3. Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling, Bellator 139
2. Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm, UFC 193
1. Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 194 – Holm systematically obliterated Ronda Rousey, and I likely would have gone with that as #1, but Conor McGregor finishing a man that had not tasted defeat in a decade in seconds happened, and I have to give my #1 spot to that. Others have mentioned, it was the culmination of the rise of McGregor, he took out the most dominant champion that was left in the company almost exactly how he said he would in pre-fight interviews. It’s about as close to calling your shot as yo can get.
5. Thomas Almeida’s jumping knee vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189
4. Paul Felder’s spinning back fist vs. Danny Castillo, UFC Fight Night 70
3. Stephen Thompson’s spinning hook kick vs. Jake Ellenberger, TUF 21 Finale
2. Conor McGregor’s left hook vs. Jose Aldo, UFC 194
1. Holly Holm’s head kick vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 193 – I went back and forth on my top KO of the year, in the end I went with Holly Holm’s for a couple of reasons. First was the unexpected nature of the finish, everyone understood just how good a chance Conor McGregor had against Jose Aldo while everyone counted out Holly. Second is the nature of the finish, Holly didn’t just land one clean blow but beat down the reigning champion for over a round before perfectly setting up a head kick right under the jaw. Finally, I’ve got a slight bias towards kicking finishes as opposed to punches and with everything else being virtually equal between Holly and Conor, I’m going with Holly.
5. Thomas Almeida vs. Brad Pickett, UFC 189 – 7 points
4. Gegard Mousasi vs. Uriah Hall, UFC Fight Night 75 – 8 points
3. Hisaki Kato vs. Joe Schilling, Bellator 139 – 14 points
2. Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm, UFC 193 – 30 points
1. Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 194 – 32 points
THE 2015 411 MMA AWARDS:
* The Biggest Stories of 2015: The Rise and Fall of Ronda Rousey – 23 points
* The Most Disappointing Fighters of 2015: Kelvin Gastelum – 18 points
* The Breakout Fighters of 2015: Joanna Jedrzejczyk – 34 points
* The Worst Fights of 2015: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Konstantin Erokhin – TUF 22 Finale – 23 points
* The Best Submissions of 2015: Ronda Rousey (armbar) vs. Cat Zingano, UFC 184 – 28 Points
* The Best Knockouts of 2015: Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 194 – 32 points
* The Best Fights of 2015: TO BE DETERMINED (January 13th)
* Fighter of the Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 14th)
