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.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Nominee: Nikita Krylov def. Modetas Bukauskas at UFC 324
Not that he needed to, but Nikita Krylov avoided the judges’ scorecards with a very late finish of Modestas Bukauskas.
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 with three seconds remaining on the clock.
Nominee: Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay at UFC 325
The Road to UFC featherweight final Saturday ended in violent fashion.
Japan’s Keiichiro Nakamura pulverized Australia’s Sebastian Szalay with a big knee knockout. It was a big stepping left knee that sealed the deal with just over a minute left in the second round and secured Nakamura a UFC contract.
The winner: Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325
Mauricio Ruffy vs. Rafael Fiziev was the high-level striking affair many had anticipated. In the end, Ruffy prevailed with a beautiful finish.
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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 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.
Ruffy won MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year for his spinning wheel kick finish of King Green at UFC 313 in March. His hype was derailed by a submission loss to Benoit Saint Denis in September, however, and there were many questions about how he would rebound.
The 29-year-old did so impressively, netting the most high-profile win of his career against Fiziev and opening 2026 as the first Fight of the Month winner.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for January: UFC 325’s sniper
