Published On: Wed, Apr 29th, 2026

MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for April: Carlos Ulberg wins title with torn ACL

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from April 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for April.

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

Nominee: Alice Pereira def. Hailey Cowan at UFC Fight Night 272

After a disappointing UFC debut, 20-year-old Alice Pereira regenerated her lost buzz with a massive step-knee knockout of Hailey Cowan.

The massive left knee from Pereira (6-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) stiffened Cowan (7-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) like a board – a level of power and violence not often seen in the women’s bantamweight division. No follow-up shots were necessary, but they still rained down on Cowan’s unconscious body.

Nominee: Dean Garnett def. Ciaran Clarke at PFL Belfast

Dean Garnett faced heavy forward pressure from Ciaran Clarke from the onset of their bantamweight bout, but that played right into his game.

Garnett’s (15-4-1) counter left hook landed a few times, but it was a spinning back elbow out of nowhere that landed flush on Clarke’s (10-1) jaw, sending him crashing to the mat for the knockout.

Nominee: Jay Jay Wilson def. Darragh Kelly at PFL Belfast

Jay Jay Wilson viciously took out replacement opponent Darragh Kelly with one of the best PFL knockouts of the year so far.

Kelly chopped away with hard leg kicks early. Kelly doubled up the left jab, but boom. Wilson knocked Kelly out with a left hook after a body kick. A few unnecessary follow-up shots later, the celebration was on after the vicious first-round knockout.

Nominee: Marcio Barbosa def. Dennis Buzukja at UFC Fight Night 273

Mario Barbosa logged one of the most spectacular debuts of 2026 so far when he put Dennis Buzukja to sleep in just 80 seconds.

Brazil’s Barbosa (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) winded up in an early exchange with Buzukja (12-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) and put a clean left hook to the chin that immediately led to the end of the featherweight fight, marking a grand entrance into the octagon.

The winner: Carlos Ulberg def. Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327

Carlos Ulberg appeared to be all but finished and then he flipped the script and won light heavyweight gold.

Moments after he suffered a torn ACL that has since required surgery, Ulberg (14-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) knocked out Jiri Prochazka (32-6-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to win the vacant title at 3:45 of Round 1 in Miami.

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