With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from October 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominee: Sergio Pettis def. Magomed Magomedov at PFL Dubai
In a fight that Magomed Magomedov (21-5) was completely dominating, Sergio Pettis (25-7) – from out of nowhere – landed a vicious spinning back elbow in the second round to score a devastating and unlikely knockout win.
Magomedov was having his way with Pettis on the mat and standing for almost two full rounds until he made the fatal mistake of jumping in with a flying knee. With Pettis up against the cage, he simply unloaded a spinning elbow that immediately floored Magomedov. One more follow-up punch put the finishing touch on a spectacular finish.
Nominee: Jiri Prochazka def. Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 320
Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (32-5-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) withstood two rounds of pressure from ex-title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. (14-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) – then everything changed.
After struggling to find his rhythm, Prochazka turned on the jets and was relentless until he knocked out Rountree with a brutal left hand in the third. The finish came with less than two minutes left in the final frame, and Prochazka put himself in position to ask for a title shot in the near future.
Nominee: Marwan Rahiki def. Ananias Mulumba at DWCS 86
Marwan Rahiki and Anaias Mulumba went to war from the opening bell and it was clear someone was likely to be finished. But until Rahiki (7-0) landed a knee-to-double-elbow-to-uppercut combination, it wasn’t clear it’d be Mulumba (9-3). The stoppage came at 2:12 of Round 2 of their featherweight bout.
Rahiki was a moderate betting favorite, but Mulumba nearly finished him in the opening seconds. Rahiki survived and rocked Mulumba, who then returned the favor. The craziness continued in the second round as Mulumba fended off a ninja choke attempt. But eventually Rahiki hit him with a crazy four-strike combination to snatch consciousness – and likely a UFC contract with it.
Nominee: Juan Diaz def. Won II Kwon at DWCS 86
Juan Diaz (15-1-1) is the latest to contribute to 2025’s most violent trend as he sniped Won II Kwon (14-6) for a knockout at 4:58 of Round 2. A big hammerfist wasn’t necessary but it cranked the violence-o-meter up another notch.
2025 has seen lots of massive spinning back elbow knockouts including Lerone Murphy’s on Aaron Pico, Diego Lopes’ on Jean Silva, and Sergio Pettis’ on Magomed Magomedov. The one from Diaz might’ve been the most vicious of the bunch.
Nominee: Abduoullah Kane def. Emmanuel Mukam at 2025 PFL Africa 3
Abdoullah Kane (4-1) took out Emmanuel Mukam (2-1) with a vicious head kick just 23 seconds into their heavyweight bout.
From the beginning of the fight, Kane pressured Mukam with strikes and kick feints. A moment after landing a stiff right hand, Kane launched a right head kick, connecting flush to the side of the head. The impact caused Mukam to shut down, and his body folded over, crashing to the canvas in ragdoll fashion.
The winner: Quillan Salkilld def. Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 321
Quillan Salkilld turned in a Knockout of the Year candidate in Abu Dhabi.
At UFC 321, Salkilld (10-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) landed an all-time-violent high kick that knocked out Nasrat Haqparast before he hit the canvas. The stoppage came at the 2:30 mark of Round 1.
Haqparast (18-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was down for several minutes after the blow landed. When the broadcast came back from commercial, he was still laying on his back. Eventually, he sat up and rose to his feet.
Salkilld notched a $50,000 performance bonus with the win. He maintains a perfect promotional record as he emerges as one of the lightweight division’s most highly-touted prospects. His first two UFC wins came against Jeka Saragih and Yanal Ashmouz.
