Share this article
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from February 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
* * * *
Nominees
Nominee: Nassourdine Imavov def. Israel Adesanya at UFC Fight Night 250
After a close first round against a former champion in the biggest fight of his career, Nassourdine Imavov (16-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) took out ex-middleweight champ Israel Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) with a swarming knockout in the second round.
Adesanya complained of an eye poke and got a brief stoppage. But he very quickly asked Marc Goddard to get things going again. And no sooner did that happen, Imavov drilled Adesanya with a right hand and put him on the canvas. Imavov pounced on him on the fence immediately, and a left uppercut along the cage was worse. Several more punches from Imavov, and things were done in a stunner.
Nominee: Lany Silva def. Rose Conceicao at LFA 201
Lany Silva (7-1) added a highlight to her reel that will be replayed for the remainder of her career. Facing Rose Conceicao in the main event the for the LFA women’s strawweight title, Silva ended the fight abruptly in Rond 5.
The fight was Conceicao’s first attempt at defending the title she won by defeating Elaine Lopes at LFA 162 in July 2023. Silva recorded the third stoppage of her eight-fight MMA career by landing a brutal left head kick in the final round.
Nominee: Shamil Erdogan def. Aung La N Sang at ONE 171
Shamil Erdogan (11-0) delivered the greatest highlight of his career thus far against former ONE Championship titleholder Aung La N Sang.
It took just 28 seconds into the contest for Erdogan (30-15) to absolutely drill Sang with a perfect left head kick to the jaw. Sang went down in a heap, and it was suddenly over from there.
Nominee: Roberto Soldic def. Dagi Arslanaliev via punch at ONE 171
It was nearly two years between fights for Roberto Soldic (21-4) when he stepped into the ONE 171 cage against Dagi Arslanaliev (9-3). His return didn’t even last two minutes.
In what was one of 2025’s most violent MMA sequences, Soldic blasted opponent Arslanaliev airborne with a big left hand. Arslanaliev slammed unconsciously to the canvas face-first where he was met with big follow-up punches. The stoppage came at 1:55 of Round 1.
The winner
The winner: Ricky Simon def. Javid Basharat at UFC Fight Night 252
Bantamweight veteran Ricky Simon (20-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) slept Javid Basharat (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) with a big knockout reminiscent of the handiwork of the great Dan Henderson: a big right hand followed by follow-up shots. The stoppage came at 3:58 of Round 1.
A big overhand right was enough to put the lights out. A few more punches sealed the deal officially after referee Mike Beltran scrambled to stop the fight.
Simon, 32, snaps a three-fight skid and exits victorious from what could very well have been a must-win. Basharat falls into a two-fight skid as he was knocked out for the first time in his career.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
