By With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from October 2026: 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.
Nominees: Johnny Walker def. Mick Parkin at UFC 332
Johnny Walker scored one of the most violent knee knockouts in UFC history against Mick Parkin in his heavyweight debut.
Walker (23-10 MMA, 9-7 UFC) clipped Mick Parkin (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) with a short elbow in the clinch and then seconds later delivered a massive knee knockout that left the Brit stiff, huffing and puffing on the ground. The knockout stopped the heavyweight fight at 3:35 of Round 1.
OH MY GOODNESS
DEVASTATING KNEE KO BY JOHNNY WALKER 💥
📺 #UFC332 on @paramountpluspic.twitter.com/3vVahKt2sE
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) October 3, 2026
Nominees: Damian Pinas def. Andrey Pulyaev at UFC 332
Damian Pinas is gaining traction as one of MMA's brightest prospects after a spectacular knockout of Andrey Pulyaev.
Pinas (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) landed a perfect uppercut to the chin of Pulyaev (10-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) that instantly ended the middleweight bout. It was all over just 75 seconds after the contest begins.
THE POWER OF THIS UPPERCUT 😳
📺 #UFC332 on @paramountpluspic.twitter.com/QnLPIZVfaN
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) October 3, 2026
Nominees: Mike Malott def. Joaquin Buckley at UFC Fight Night 291
The Edmonton crowd burst into pandemonium as home country headliner Mike Malott knocked out Joaquin Buckley with an all-time violent highlight.
Both men were patient in the opening round, and into the second as well. However, when Malott (15-2-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) threw a head kick midway through the round, his knee connected flush on Buckley's jaw. Buckley (21-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) was throwing a punch simultaneously, so his momentum sprung him forward on all four. Malott then finished him off with a big punch, leaving him out cold face down on the canvas.
THE HOMECOMING THEY WON'T FORGET@Michael_Malott just sent the #UFCEdmonton crowd into a frenzy with his knockout win! pic.twitter.com/F5izoQsO4U
— UFC (@ufc) October 18, 2026
Nominees: Julian Erosa def. JeongYeong Lee at UFC Fight Night 292
Julian Erosa ended his MMA career on a spectacular high when he rallied to knock out JeongYeong Lee.
After Lee (11-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) stormed out of the gate and cracked Erosa (31-13 MMA, 10-9 UFC) with a huge punch and nearly finished the job inside the first minute, the veteran survived and slowed down the action. He quickly got back in the firefight, but Erosa was the one to seal the deal as he dropped his foe with a clean hit then put him out cold with ground shots 91 seconds after it all began.
A storybook ending to Julian Erosa's UFC career 👏
[ #UFCVegas123 | LIVE on @paramountplus ] pic.twitter.com/yj5YEd07XY
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) October 31, 2026
The winner: Andre Fili def. Kai Kamaka III at UFC Fight Night 290
Andre Fili got back on track with a devastating knockout of Kai Kamaka III.
After some back-and-forth action over the opening round, Fili (26-14 MMA, 14-13 UFC) landed a gigantic right head kick that landed clean to the skull of Kamaka III (18-9-1 MMA, 2-4-1 UFC), who went down in a heap to end the featherweight bout at the 0:22 mark of Round 2.
OH MY GOD ANDRE FILI 🤯
[ #UFCVegas122 | LIVE on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Ea51kak6C6
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) October 11, 2026
Fili entered the fight with back-to-back losses and some pressure on his shoulder as an aging athlete with a long tenure. He said his performance shows he's got more in the tank.
"Once I settled in and found my flow," Fili said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. "I've been working so hard. I'm about a week away from my 13th anniversary of being a UFC fighter. I'm 36, I'm still here and you're all going to be stuck with me for a long time."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for October: An ice cold head kick
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mma-junkies-knockout-month-october-022024692.html
