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.
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.
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.
Johnny Eblen KOs Impa Kasanganay in the rematch to become interim middleweight champion 🏆 #PFLAustin
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 19, 2026
🎥 @PFLMMA pic.twitter.com/7z6Oi0S2FS
Nominee: Usman Nurmagomedov def. Archie Colgan at PFL New York
Usman Nurmagomedov continued his incredible undefeated run with another defense of his PF lightweight title, this time against Archie Colgan.
Colgan (13-1) came into the fight with a perfect record and all the confidence, but Nurmagomedov (22-0) took that away from him with a first-round knockout victory. With the win, Nurmagomedov completed the final fight of his PFL contract and will become one of the most coveted fighters in the sport.
The winner: Ramazan Temirov def. Steve Erceg at UFC Fight Night 282
Ramazan Temirov put away Steve Erceg in violent fashion.
Temirov (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) continuously found a home for his overhand right until he dropped Erceg (14-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) badly for the TKO finish at the 4:21 mark of Round 1 in their flyweight clash.
Erceg tried to hand tough, but even his glowing beard couldn't take the sting off the heat that Temirov was throwing his way in Abu Dhabi, and eventually he got put down for good.
Temirov called for a title shot after extending his winning streak to 12. The 29-year-old Uzbekistani fighter scored his 13th first-round finish.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for July: Flyweight shows big power
