- Holly Holm's knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 195 leads the list of the five best women's UFC knockouts.
- Four of these knockouts are from UFC title fights.
- The most recent knockout on the list was Zhang Weili's win over Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 275.
A knockout in the UFC is one of the most entertaining finishes that a fighter can generate. It can also help an athlete boost her popularity with a highlight-reel stoppage and is even more impressive in title fights.
Today, I’m putting the spotlight on the women’s division.
Superstars Holly Holm, Amanda Nunes, Zhang Weili, and Valentina Shevchenko have generated their respective knockouts that made the fans’ jaws drop.
Best UFC Women’s Knockouts
Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey – UFC 193
In November 2015 at UFC 193, UFC odds greatly favoured Ronda Rousey to make another successful and easy title defence against Holly Holm, just like she did in her previous bouts. But Holm proved everyone wrong, scoring a massive upset victory via knockout.
Never forget when @HollyHolm shocked the WORLD against Ronda Rousey 😱
Holm is back in action Saturday in our #UFCSanAntonio co-main event! pic.twitter.com/24hQBRYD9H
— UFC (@ufc) March 21, 2023
Rousey failed to secure a takedown against Holm. The challenger capitalized by raining down strikes until timing a picture-perfect left kick to Rousey’s head in the first minute of the second round that instantly dropped her to the canvas.
Holm officially ended the match with three more punches on the ground to become the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg – UFC 232
Amanda Nunes dared to become a two-division UFC champion and moved up in weight in December 2018 to challenge the feared Cris Cyborg for her women’s featherweight title.
But “The Lioness” showed she was the better fighter by knocking out Cyborg in 51 seconds of the first round. Nunes countered the champion with a right-hand punch on her chin to sit her down, but Cyborg immediately popped back to her feet.
However, more punches were waiting for her as Nunes unleashed powerful right-hand punches that eventually caught Cyborg in the temple and knocked her out.
OH MY GOD AMANDA NUNES!!!!!!!#UFC232 pic.twitter.com/EzyAhUYeSR
— UFC (@ufc) December 30, 2018
With this victory, Nunes became the first UFC women’s fighter in history to become a two-division champion.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye – UFC 238
The first UFC women’s flyweight title defence of Valentine Shevchenko happened in June 2019 at UFC 238 when she was challenged by Jessica Eye. But the “Bullet” displayed her dominance by doing a quick work of Eye.
‘The Knockout’ w/ @BulletValentina is playing now on YouTube 📼
⁰Get a look into Shevchenko’s mind as she dissects her epic KO of Jessica Eye in #UFC238 in Ep 1 of our new @UFC series ‘All On The Line’🔥📺 https://t.co/i4IBM2bDlE pic.twitter.com/5JEU1LscQn
— Monster Energy (@MonsterEnergy) February 9, 2022
Right from the opening bell, Shevchenko dominated their exchanges both standing up and in the grappling department. The defending champion ended Eye’s misery with a 26-second knockout finish in the second round via a vicious head kick.
Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili – UFC 261
Rose Namajunas became a two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion when she defeated Zhang Weili in their first meeting at UFC 261 in April 2021.
Does this @RoseNamajunas get your vote for #UFCHonors KO of the Year? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/59lLJyhhek
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 4, 2021
This victory of “Thug Rose” was remarkable because she seemed a step faster than Weili in this fight. Namajunas demonstrated this by uncorking a beautiful left kick right into the head of the champion, sending her crashing down the mat. She finished the bout with ground-and-pound punches to reclaim the throne officially.
Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk 2 – UFC 275
Weili may have been on the receiving end of a highlight-reel knockout courtesy of Namajunas, but she produced one of her own against Joanna Jędrzejczyk. This happened during their rematch at UFC 275 in June 2022.
Jędrzejczyk and Weili fought in an all-out war in their first meeting in March 2020, where the latter picked up a split decision victory.
The second installment, however, was not as close as the first one.
Weili knocked Jędrzejczyk out cold in the second round with a spinning back fist.
