2015 has just begun and we already have a leader for Knockout of the Year.
UFC 182 got off to a rocky start with some less-than-stellar bouts, but Paul Felder changed that to help spark the crowd. The women’s bantamweight action was borderline awful, and the next two bouts only got marginally better. Heavyweight Shawn Jordan put a KO on the board, but it wasn’t anything overly special, and rising bantamweight Cody Garbrandt got a late TKO finish over Marcus Brimage.
Felder entered UFC 182 as a significant underdog (odds courtesy of OddsShark) against Danny Castillo. The lightweights went at it for over a round before Felder pasted the Team Alpha Male lightweight with a beautiful spinning backfist. Castillo fell in spectacular fashion, and Felder got in a couple more shots before the referee was able to stop the action.
Felder joined the ranks of Shonie Carter and John Makdessi with spinning backfist knockouts in the UFC.
Felder vs. Castillo was given the spot as the featured prelim bout on Fox Sports 1. The KO helped send the show to pay-per-view and helped to put Felder on the map in a crowded lightweight division. It marked Felder’s second straight win in the UFC. He moved his overall MMA record to 9-0.
The Las Vegas crowd has seen its fair share of finishes throughout the years, but anytime the fans are treated to a spectacular KO they rise to their feet and remember the name of who supplied the violence. Welcome, Paul Felder.
2015 is very young, but that knockout will be extremely hard to beat.
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