Watch the 15 Most Brutal Knockouts of 2016
In MMA there are three ways a fight can end. In boxing there are two. In both, the knockout is king.
It’s hard to say why. Maybe it’s the sheer dominance on display when one warrior puts another to sleep with his fists or feet. Maybe it’s the violent surprise of a lights-out strike that, in an instant, brings everything to a halt. Or maybe we just like to see people get hurt.
In truth, it doesn’t matter why we like knockouts, only that we do. And that at the end of the year we can look back and watch all of our favorites over again.
So with that, here’s this: 15 knockouts from 2016 that hurt just to watch.
1. Canelo Alvaez KOs Amir Kahn
2. Conor McGregor KOs Eddie Alvarez
3. Deontay Wilder KOs Artur Szpilka
4. Tyron Woodley KOs Robbie Lawler
5. Ryan Bader KOs Ilir Latifi
6. Mason Menard KOs Eudy Bernardo
7. Yair Rodriguez KOs Andre Fili
8. Vasyl Lomachenko KOs Roman Martinez
9. Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone KOs Matt Brown
10. Hassan N’Dam KOs Alfonso Blanco
11. Michael Bisping KOs Luke Rockhold
12. Alexander Povetkin KOs Johann Duhaupas
13. Michael Page KOs Cyborg Santos
14. Joe Smith Jr. KOs Bernard Hopkins
15. John Makdessi KOs Lando Vannata