MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for July: Flyweight shows big power

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from July 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for July.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

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Nominee: Adrian Yanez def. Cody Garbrandt at UFC 329

Former champion Cody Garbrandt was knocked out by Adrian Yanez in what turned out to be a striker’s delight for as long as it lasted in the bantamweight division.

Both fighters landed their fair share of blows, though Yanez (18-6-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) landed last. He initially stunned and dropped Garbrandt (15-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) with a punch. When Garbrandt popped up and tried to clinch, Yanez came over the top with a two-punch combination and landed a third punch on Garbrandt as he was on his way down in the first round.

Nominee: Danny Sabatello def. Jinnosuke Kashimura at Rizin Landmark 15

After being told by the Rizin FF brass that he needs to be more entertaining following his previous fight, Danny Sabatello responded in kind with the biggest highlight to defend gold.

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The opening seconds of the third round saw Sabatello (19-4-1) land a nuclear right punch to the chin of Jinnosuke Kashimura (12-6) that immediately put him out cold as he fell backward to the mat. Sabatello rushed in to land a final extra blow, but the referee got there quick enough to pull them apart, giving “The Italian Gangster” a stellar walk-off finish.

Nominee: Johnny Eblen def. Impa Kasanganay at PFL Austin

After a dominant first two rounds, Johnny Eblen battered Impa Kasanganay to claim the PFL interim middleweight title.

Eblen (18-1) was triumphant in the rematch with Kasanganay (20-7) An elbow-to-two-punch combination sent Kasanganay crashing to the canvas. Two follow-up punches gave him no chance to get up.