With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from August 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for August.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees: Gilbert Urbina def. Vlasto Cepo at UFC Fight Night 283
Gilbert Urbina was likely fighting for his octagon career and he responded in a big way with a sizeable upset of Vlasto Cepo.
It was a firefight from the jump of the middleweight bout, and it seemed Cepo (14-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was going to seize the moment with a big finish. Urbina (8-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) stood in the pocket and threw back and clipped his Serbian foe with a big shot, leading to a swarm of ground-and-pound and the TKO stoppage the 1:01 mark of Round 1.
Nominees: Kaik Brito def. Namo Fazil at DWCS 88
The impromptu rivalry between Brazil’s Kaik Brito and Kurdistan’s Namo Fazil had a violent and definitive conclusion.
The trash talk came to an end in a raucous Meta APEX as Brito (20-6) utilized his unusual counterpunch-heavy style to pick apart of an aggressive Fazil (10-2) and score a massive knockout via overhand right early in the third round of the lightweight contest.
Nominees: Julia Polastri def. Xiong Jingnan at UFC Fight Night 286
Julia Polastri scored an emphatic finish against former ONE Championship standout Xiong Jingnan.
Polastri (15-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) connected with a perfect right high kick to stiffen Jingnan (19-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at the 3:06 mark of Round 1 in their strawweight bout, leaving her foe lifeless on the canvas in one of the best women’s finishes of 2026.
Nominees: Liu Ce def. Levi Rodrigues Jr. at UFC Fight Night 286
Liu Ce threw the kitchen sink at Levi Rodrigues Jr. until he finally went down.
Ce (4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Rodrigues Jr. (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) threw heavy leather from the opening bell, but Ce’s power shots were getting through. Rodrigues Jr. hung tough until he was caught with a thunderous right which rendered him face first onto the canvas at the 2:28 mark of Round 2 in the light heavyweight showdown.
The winner: Song Yadong def. Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Night 286
Song Yadong delivered as a massive underdog at home in his main event against Umar Nurmagomedov.
Song (24-9-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC) took out former title challenge Nurmagomedov (20-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) with a big knockout at the 1:48 mark of Round 2 in the bantamweight headliner in Shanghai.
Nurmagomedov struck first with a low kick. Song fired back with one of his own, then landed a body kick. Song threw a low kick, which Nurmagomedov caught to land a takedown. Song grabbed Nurmagomedov’s neck to try and cinch in a guillotine choke, but Nurmagomedov popped his head out. Nurmagomedov controlled Song on the ground, but Song eventually got back up with just over a minute left in the round. Song landed a right, but Nurmagomedov shoved him off.
In Round 2, Nurmagomedov threw a couple of leg kicks then went up high. Nurmagomedov shot for a takedown, but Song shucked him off. As Nurmagomedov dipped, Song landed a short right uppercut on the ear, followed by several shots which knocked Nurmagomedov out cold.
In his post-fight octagon interview with Brendan Fitzgerald, Song called for a title shot after pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the year. The Team Alpha Male Fighter has now won three of his past four fights, with his lone blemish being a narrow decision loss to Sean O’Malley in January.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for August: An upset Song by Yadong
Reporting by Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie / MMA Junkie
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
