Published On: Sat, Nov 29th, 2025

MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for November: Bo Nickal's sick kick

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for November.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominee: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Ante Delija at UFC Fight Night 263

Waldo Cortes-Acosta defeated Ante Delija by TKO in Round 1, but the sequence of events that led to it were both ironic and bizarre.

Exactly one week after his teammate Tom Aspinall was the recipient of a high-profile, fight-ending eye poke, Delija (26-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) gouged Cortes-Acosta (15-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in mad flurry of punches. Referee Mark Smith dove in, but it was unclear if he was calling the fight a TKO or was calling timeout for the foul. He let it resume, and Delija dropped Delija for the finish seconds later.

Nominee: Carlos Prates def. Leon Edwards at UFC 322

Leon Edwards had never been knocked out in his career – until he met Carlos Prates.

Prates (23-7 MMA, 6-1 UFC) overcame a frustrating first round to knock Edwards (22-6 MMA, 14-5 UFC) out with a straight left hand. He said pre-fight he would be the first to put “Rocky” away with strikes in MMA, and Prates lived up to that in a huge welterweight finish.

Nominee: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Shamil Gaziev at UFC Fight Night 265

Stepping up on just a few days’ notice after Shamil Gaziev’s original opponent pulled out during fight week, Waldo Cortes-Acosta hopped on a plane and flew across the world to fight Gaziev in Qatar. “Salsa Boy” ended the fight in 82 seconds.

From the start, Gaziev (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) pressured heavily, but that played right into what Cortes-Acosta(16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) wanted. He rocked and dropped Gaziev early in the first round, but didn’t get the finish there. Gaziev got back up, but he was clearly damaged. A moment later, a laser of a right hand landed, sending Gaziev down and out for good.

Nominee: Myktybek Orolbai def. Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 265

Myktybek Orolbai tested the chin of Jack Hermansson after his first cut down to the welterweight division – and it didn’t hold up.

After a long stint at middleweight, Hermansson (24-10 MMA, 11-8 UFC) tried the waters down a division. Orolbai (15-2-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) landed a huge counter right hand during an exchange early in the fight, and it was all over less than three minutes into Round 1.

The winner: Bo Nickal def. Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 322

Bo Nickal bounced back big at Madison Square Garden.

In his return from his first MMA loss, Nickal (8-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) proved he wouldn’t let adversity define him as he dominated Rodolfo Vieira (11-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC), and then pulled out a massive head kick for the knockout at 2:24 of Round 3.

From the opening bell, Nickal looked like a man on a mission. He slammed Vieira with a big takedown early and then landed hard ground-and-pound shots. As the bout progressed, Vieira’s cardio and health regressed.

Nickal landed some big shots on the Brazilian grappling expert before a vicious high kick that will almost certainly earn him a $ 50,000 performance bonus.

With the win, Nickal resumes his climb up the divisional ladder. Prior to the TKO loss to Reinier de Ridder, Nickal had finished Jamie Pickett, Val Woodburn, and Cody Brundage, in addition to winning a decision over Paul Craig.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for November 2025: Bo Nickal’s kick

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