MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for November: Ming Shi's head kick flattens Xiaocan Feng
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month award for November.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Nominees
Nominee: Oban Elliott def. Bassil Hafez at UFC 309
Oban Elliott scored his first finish in the UFC by knocking out Bassil Hafez at UFC 309 with a huge right hand in the final round.
It was a fight Elliott was in control of for the first two rounds. Then, out of nowhere, he cracked Hafez with a shot that dropped him, and the follow-up punches prompted the referee to rush in.
Nominee: Jon Jones def. Stipe Miocic at UFC 309
Jon Jones recorded his first heavyweight title defense by sending former champion Stipe Miocic into retirement with a nasty body kick.
It was a dominant performance for Jones. He smashed Miocic on the ground with heavy ground and pound in the opening frame. Jones continued to style on Miocic, unleashing a spinning back kick to the body at the end of Round 2. It would be that same strike that would end the fight in the next round, as Jones connected hard to Miocic's midsection for the finish.
Nominee: Muslim Salikhov def. Song Kenan at UFC Fight Night 248
Jon Jones didn't have the only spinning attack in November that turned heads. Muslim Salikhov unleashed a beautiful wheel kick to knock out Song Kenan at UFC Fight Night 248 in Macau.
It's Salikhov's signature move, and he landed perhaps his best one yet. The 40-year-old took out Kenan in the first round with the technique, living up to his nickname as "The King of Kung Fu."
Nominee: Costello van Steenis def. Joao Dantas at 2024 PFL Championship
Costello van Steenis added to his highlight reel with a powerful head kick to Joao Dantas to open the 2024 PFL Championship prelims in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Van Steenis, a Bellator veteran fighting under the PFL banner for the first time, picked up his fourth career knockout to cap off a 2-0 year in the cage.
The winner
The winner: Ming Shi def. Xiaocan Feng at UFC Fight Night 248
Ming Shi scored an all-time knockout in the strawweight division on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 248 to win the “Road to UFC” tournament.
In the third round of her matchup with Xiaocan Feng (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at Galaxy Arena in Macau, Shi (17-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) lined up a beautiful right head kick that connected square to the jaw and led to the highlight finish.
Feng was down for several minutes after the knockout, and was taken out of the octagon on a stretcher. Although happy about her victory, Shi said her concern went around the safety of Feng.
“I feel really happy and I worry about my opponent,” Shi said in her post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I hope she is OK. She is young. … I think I’m going to be a dangerous opponent in the future. Good luck to my next opponent.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for November: Ming Shi's head kick flattens Xiaocan Feng
