UFC 310 fighters rank the greatest KO's of 2024 – Ciryl Gane even admits he studied Topuria's finish over Holloway during camp
12/06/2024 01:56 PM
The end of the calendar year is upon us, which means that UFC fans are starting to ponder which really was the best knockout of 2024.
Luckily, the promotion has put together a handy package of what they consider to be the best and most brutal KO's of the year; with six of the best fighters competing at UFC 310 this weekend being asked to rank them 1-5.
UFC 310 fighters rank the five best and most brutal knockouts from 2024
As per a video package released by the UFC, the five greatest knockouts of the year are from Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis, Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill, Vinicius Oliveira vs Benardo Sopaj, and Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway.
As part of the marketing for the final PPV of the year, six athletes who are set to compete at this weekend's UFC 310 in Las Vegas were asked to rank those KOs from 1-5.
Interestingly, five of the six athletes had Max Holloway's last-second finish over Justin Gaethje as number one and Ilia Topuria's finish over Holloway as number two – the only dissenting party was Bryan Battle, who had Topuria ranked above 'Blessed'.
Bryce Mitchell: "I'd say Max vs Gaethje is number one, number two is Ilia (vs Holloway), three is Poirier vs (Benoit Saint-Denis), then the flying knee – I mean that was probably the hardest knockout of all of them – then Pereira with the left [hook]."
As aptly noted by 'Thug Nasty', who faces Kron Gracie at UFC 310, "All of them are really good [knockouts]," adding "But if I had to pick, that's the order."
Alexandre Pantoja: "All amazing knockouts, all amazing fighters but I think Max Holloway vs Gaethje in the last second of the round in a five-round fight, I'll give it to Max Holloway."
The flyweight champion noted that his countryman's flying knee vs Sopaj was "amazing," but acknowledged that the 'greatest' knockouts come against the 'greatest' of foes.
"The knee was amazing, but I think we need to rank the fighters, who these guys were fighting, and you had Topuria knocking out Max Holloway for the first time… Then you have Pereira, beautiful knockout, then Dustin Poirier and then the flying-knee – that's my ranking."
Heavyweight Ciryl Gane went in reverse order, revealing that he'd actually studied Ilia Topuria's finish of Holloway ahead of his showdown with Alexander Volkov: "Topuria is an example, like during the camp we watched some video from Topuria because he is really incredible, really.
"Fifth, I'm going to say the left hook by Alex Pereira, fourth I will say the flying knee. Third, I'm going to say Dustin Poirier because of the storyline during the fight, the comeback. Second position, I'll say Topuria and the last 10 seconds of Gaethje vs Max Holloway was just amazing."
As previously mentioned, Bryan Battle was the only fighter to have Topuria above Holloway in his list, explaining how that was "based off of who Max is" since finishing Blessed is "such an incredible accomplishment.
"Number two would be Max vs Gaethje because of who both of them are and the situation, the fact it was the fifth round, they didn't need to do that, but they did it anyways – that was a magical moment.
"Number three, Dustin Poirier vs Saint-Denis – every knockout Poirier has, there's always a bit of extra flare, it's not just a regular knockout… Yeah that Oliveira KO, that was smooth… Pereira vs Hill at number five, I think that'll be a little controversial, but Jamahal is my boy and that one was hard to watch."
Ian Machado Garry, who faces Shavkat Rakhmonov in the UFC 310 co-main event, was deadset on his first and second picks: "The best knockout from this list is Max Holloway knocking out Justin Gaethje – absolutely, 100% number one.
"Number two, you've got to understand how it's not about the KO, it's about the moment, what it's for, the platform that it's on, so Topuria knocking out Holloway – knocking out Volk and Holloway back-to-back is insane.
"I would then put Pereira knocking out Hill at No 3, Oliveira's flying knee at number four and Poirier vs Saint-Denis Number five… Those are some unbelievable knockouts."
Finally, the section was rounded-out by Aljamain Sterling, who stated that "the coldest one, for me, is Max Holloway vs Justin Gaethje.
"Number two, I would say Topuria vs Holloway, number three I would say the flying knee, Dustin Poirier vs Saint-Denis [number four] and Pereira vs Hill [number five]."
What do you think of those rankings, agree or disagree with the consensus opinion that Holloway's last-second KO was more impressive than Topuria's history-making finish?
