MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for July: Montel Jackson arrives with 18-second stunner

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from July 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month award for July.

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

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Nominee: Charles Johnson def. Joshua Van at UFC on ESPN 59

[autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) showed once again that he has zero quit in him by rallying to upset Joshua Van (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in their flyweight bout.

Johnson was a sizeable betting underdog to hyped prospect Van , and for the first two rounds it looked like he was slightly out of his depth and en route to a decision loss. But then the third round began, and Johnson stunned Van with a crisp punch followed by a huge uppercut that led to the knockdown and stoppage win.

Nominee: Hyder Amil def. Jeong Yeong Lee at UFC on ESPN 60

One-minute MMA fights don’t get much better than [autotag]Hyder Amil[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) vs. Jeong Yeong Lee (11-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

Amil and Lee engaged in an absolute slugfest for 65 seconds. Amil finished Lee standing after he officially landed 42 significant strikes in the featherweight bout. The barrage notched Amil his second victory in as many tries as he becomes the first man to defeat Lee.

Nominee: Mick Parkin def Lukasz Brzeski at UFC 304

[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag] (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) scored his first octagon finish on home soil in England at the expense of Lukasz Brzeski (10-5-1 MMA, 1-4 UFC).

After his first three UFC wins came by decision, Parkin came out connected with a big straight right that rocked Brzeski, and followed it with a flurry which sent him to the canvas to finish the heavyweight bout inside four minutes.

Nominee: Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) made quick work of Curtis Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC), who was not happy with the stoppage, in their rematch for the interim heavyweight title.

Aspinall needed exactly one minute to snipe Blaydes with a crisp one-two combination. His opponent went down, and he pounced with punches until the referee pulled him off. Aspinall was able to avenge his July 2022 loss to Blaydes, which came by TKO due to injury just 15 seconds into the fight.

The winner

The winner: Montel Jackson def. Da'Mon Blackshear at UFC on ESPN 59

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Montel Jackson def. Da'Mon Blackshear at UFC on ESPN 59: Best photos

[autotag]Montel Jackson[/autotag] lived up to his nickname “Quik” with a fast night at the office that was preceded by a perfect commentary call from former UFC champion Dominick Cruz.

“Watch the straight punches from Jackson,” Cruz said as the fight began. “They’re just lightning-like, straight down the pipe.”

A split-second after the prophetic words were spoken, Jackson (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) fired off a fast two-punch combination, putting Da’Mon Blackshear down and out just 18 seconds into their bantamweight bout at Ball Arena in Denver.

A right to the chest and a left hand to the chin knocked Blackshear (14-7-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) out, and the referee rushed in to stop Jackson from connecting with more follow-up punches on the ground.

The result pushes Jackson’s winning streak to five, including three first-round finishes. Additionally, he holds the record for most knockdowns in the bantamweight division with 11, and has tied Chuck Liddell, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Cody Garbrandt and Josh Emmett with seven consecutive knockdowns.

Blackshear, whose last win in the UFC was a very rare twister submission of Jose Johnson last August, has now dropped two straight.

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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for July: Montel Jackson arrives with 18-second stunner