Penick's Take
Penick's 2014 Year-End MMA Awards: Knockout of the Year
Dec 28, 2014 - 9:00:34 PM Penick's 2014 Year-End MMA Awards: Knockout of the Year

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

2014 was a year packed to the brim with fights, but with so many major injuries and so many fairly inconsequential fights on a big stage, it was hard for a lot to rise above the rest. Still, the year featured plenty of moments that have stuck with us through the year, and we'll be highlighting the top finishes, events, and fighters here this week as we close out the year.

Over the next several days, I'll be running down my awards for the year, and we'll have thoughts from the Torch team in a series of roundtables with their favorites from the year as well. Today we start with the award for "Knockout of the Year."

2014 Knockout of the Year: Dong Hyun Kim's spinning back elbow over John Hathaway - TUF: China Finale - March 1

When it happened I called this "one of the single greatest KOs you'll see in this sport," and almost nine months later I think that's still accurate. Kim unleashed a ridiculous spinning back elbow that just demolished Hathaway, sending him crashing to the ground, and it was all over. It was so fluid, destructive, and fast, and though Kim failed to follow up on that momentum later in the year, this was a standout finish for him and for me the best knockout of the year.


The Best of the Rest (In Chronological Order)

Godofredo Pepey's flying knee over Noad Lahat - UFC Fight Night 38; Chris Beal's flying knee over Patrick Williams - UFC 172:

I'm combining these two, as they were nearly identical, and they came just a month apart. A picture perfect flying knee KO is a thing of beauty, and both connected on theirs in devastating fashion; Lahat and Williams both went out from the blows, and Pepey and Beal each earned "Performance of the Night" awards for their efforts.

Donald Cerrone's head kick over Jim Miller - UFC Fight Night 45:

This was one of Cerrone's best career performances, capped off with an excellent sequence to finish a very good fighter in Jim Miller. It started with a head kick that sent Miller down in the third, and Cerrone finished it off with a strike on the ground. It was the accumulation of strikes that opened Miller up for that, and Cerrone took full advantage for one of his best ever wins.

Mark Hunt's uppercut KO over Roy Nelson - UFC Fight Night 52:

Hunt has had a number of walk off KOs in his career, but being the first to stop Nelson in the UFC - given the amount of punishment Nelson's taken without getting stopped in other fights - is damned impressive. This was a high point for Hunt before losing to Fabricio Werdum two months later for the Interim Heavyweight Title.

Joe Schilling's KO over Melvin Manhoef - Bellator 131:

This fight promised violence, and it absolutely delivered. Manhoef actually had Schilling hurt in the first round, but the kickboxer came back in the second in his first MMA fight in a few years, just blowing Manhoef up with a brutal strike to knock him out cold.

Josh Samman's head kick KO over Eddie Gordon - UFC 181:

In what was a massively emotional and thrilling come from behind win, Samman finished off his return from injury and tragedy with a sick head kick that put Gordon out. This was a close second to Kim's spinning back elbow for the best of the year, and it's just a hell of a highlight in its own right.

Honorable Mentions:

-Donald Cerrone over Adriano Martins (UFC on Fox 10)
-Abel Trujillo over Jamie Varner (UFC 169)
-Anthony Johnson over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (UFC on Fox 12)
-Louis Smolka's side kick KO to Richie Vaculik (UFC Fight Night 55)
-Rashid Magomedov over Elias Silverio (UFC Fight Night 58)