MMAjunkie's 'Knockout of the Month' for February: A late stoppage leads to a violent finish

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best knockouts from February. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for February.

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

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The Nominees

Khalil Rountree def. Daniel Jolly at UFC Fight Night 104

“The Ultimate Fighter 23” finalist Khalil Rountree (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) may have needed three tries to get his first UFC victory, but against Daniel Jolly (5-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) he needed less than a minute to end the fight in violent fashion.

After an early Jolly takedown attempt, Rountree launched a knee to the head of his outstretched opponent, knocking him out cold with a single blow and bringing an end to the bout just 52 seconds into Round 1.

Marcel Fortuna def. Anthony Hamilton at UFC Fight Night 104

Anthony Hamilton’s (15-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) aggression cost him dearly against Marcel Fortuna (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a fight in which “Freight Train” held a nearly 50-pound weight advantage over his opponent.

After trying to bully the UFC newcomer around the cage, Hamilton caught a right hand that robbed him of his motor skills and sent him crashing to the canvas, awarding Fortuna with a highlight reel knockout.

Chan Sung Jung def. Dennis Bermudez at UFC Fight Night 104

After three and a half years away from the octagon, former UFC featherweight title challenger Chan Sung Jung (14-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) showed his zombie-like toughness hasn’t gone anywhere.

Repeatedly rocked early by Dennis Bermudez’s (16-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) power shots, Jung survived and retaliated with an uppercut that sent Bermudez to the mat and set him up for some fight-ending ground strikes.

Kevin Aguilar def. Damon Jackson at LFA 4

The inaugural LFA featherweight championship fight between Kevin Aguilar (12-1) and Damon Jackson (11-2-1) was a relatively uneventful affair – until it wasn’t.

After a tentative start, Aguilar perfectly timed a counter right hook that dropped his opponent to he canvas. Jackson was out on impact from the initial blow, Aguilar followed with one additional hammerfist on the mat to officially give him the title win.

Derrick Lewis def. Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 105

Derrick Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) continued his surge into UFC heavyweight title contention when he defeated Travis Browne (18-6-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) with a grizzly second-round knockout finish.

“The Black Beast” earned his sixth consecutive octagon victory and second successful main-event performance in a row when he rallied from an early deficit to drop Browne and proceed to smash him with extra shots on the ground while the referee took his time to step in and stop the fight.

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The Winner: Derrick Lewis

For five minutes, it looked like Lewis hadn’t shown up against Browne.

Lewis was badly hurt by body shots from Browne in the first round. But when he caught Browne with a left hand, his finishing instincts were again flawless as he stopped the fight by knockout at the 3:12 mark of the second round.

“I’ve just got to do No. 2, that’s all,” he told UFC commentator Brian Stann, when he asked about the body shots. “I just knew I had a bigger heart than him.”

Lewis was little more than a heavy bag in the opening frame. Browne’s front kicks made him clutch his stomach, bringing more attacks to the midsection. Bizarrely, he attempted several spinning and jumping kicks in a vain attempt to stop his opponent. But Browne continued to back him up and work the body and legs with kicks.

When Lewis finally moved forward, lunging in with an overhand right, Browne perfectly timed a leaping knee and again put him into survival mode. It was not a good start.

But as Lewis has repeatedly shown, he’s often at his most dangerous when he’s on the ropes. When Browne attacked his legs in the second, Lewis started to counter with punches. And when a left hand found its way through, Browne suddenly was struggling to stay upright. A takedown attempt made things worse, allowing Lewis to get top position and wail away with punches and elbows.

Browne managed to get back to his feet. But in the very next exchange, they traded right hands, and he got the worst of it. With Browne toppling to the mat, Lewis lunged in and finished off the job with right hands, several of which were unnecessary as Browne went unconscious.

It was Lewis’ sixth straight UFC win, putting him ahead of fellow heavyweight prospect Francis Ngannou. But the surging fighter indicated the pace of his rise might’ve cost him the chance to prepare better.

“We’ve just got to go back and press the reset button,” Lewis said. “I need a break. Fighting every other month just put me in a bad mood at home with my family. So I just feel like I need some time off. I don’t want to hear nothing about fighting for the next few months.”