Madison Square Garden, the site of Amanda Nunes’ upcoming return - Source: Unsplash
Last Four Women’s UFC Title Fights to End Via KO/TKO
It’s been five long years since a women’s UFC title fight last ended via KO or TKO. Keith Peterson was the last referee to wave one off. On September 25, 2021, he pulled Valentina Shevchenko off a battered Lauren Murphy four minutes into the fourth round at UFC 266, and no UFC women’s title fight has ended by strikes since.
Shevchenko went the distance with Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 and Zhang Weili at UFC 322; Mackenzie Dern outpointed Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 and Gillian Robertson at UFC 330. Every finish was a submission, Alexa Grasso’s over Shevchenko at UFC 285 and Kayla Harrison’s kimura on Julianna Peña at UFC 316 among them; the Grasso-Shevchenko rematch was a draw.
A History of Women’s Knockouts
What does it say that the corner of the sport which gave us Holm-Rousey and Nunes-Cyborg has gone five years without a title-fight knockout? This was a world built on noise.
Holly Holm’s left head kick flattened Ronda Rousey 59 seconds into the second round at UFC 193, before a then-record crowd in Melbourne. Amanda Nunes finished Rousey inside a minute at UFC 207, then needed 51 seconds at UFC 232 to end Cris Cyborg’s 13-year unbeaten run. Soon, Nunes will have the chance to add to that stellar knockout history.
She retired from the Octagon three years ago after outpointing Irene Aldana to defend her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at UFC 289 in Vancouver. On November 14 at UFC 334 in Madison Square Garden, she returns to face current 135-pound queen Kayla Harrison in a clash that bookies make her an underdog in. The latest Lucky Rebel UFC and MMA odds currently make champion Harrison the -200 favorite to retain the gold, with challenger Nunes a narrow +160 outsider.
So, will that end the UFC’s long wait for a women’s title fight to end via knockout or TKO? Only time will tell. But until then, here are the last four to do so.
Valentina Shevchenko TKO Lauren Murphy (UFC 266, 25 September 2021)
Nobody gave Murphy a chance. Shevchenko had five flyweight defenses banked; Murphy, 38, had won five straight since July 2018 for her first UFC title shot. What followed was a master class in slow-building violence.
The Bullet out-struck her overmatched rival 132-19, landed three of four takedowns, and had Murphy’s left eye badly swollen by the second round. In the fourth, a check right hook wobbled the challenger; a left head kick and a flurry followed, and Murphy fell at the fence to absorb elbows and punches until Peterson stepped in at 4:00.
“If you don’t believe in martial arts, you are wrong because martial arts is everything,” Shevchenko said, having tied Rousey’s record of six consecutive title defenses by a woman. She’d edge Taila Santos, lose the belt to Grasso, draw the rematch, then win it back at UFC 306. Murphy beat Miesha Tate, lost a decision to Jessica Andrade at UFC 283, and retired at UFC Nashville in July 2025. They never met again.
Rose Namajunas KO Zhang Weili (UFC 261, 24 April 2021)
Zhang Weili arrived in Jacksonville as the first Chinese UFC champion, unbeaten in 21 fights and fresh from surviving Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a war. Rose Namajunas had been slammed unconscious by Andrade two years earlier and had openly considered retirement. In front of the UFC’s first full-capacity crowd since global events emptied arenas, she nervously repeated “I’m the best” to herself during the introductions.
Seventy-eight seconds in, she answered her own doubts with a lead left high kick. A single perfect shot. Zhang dropped, three hammerfists followed, and Peterson waved it off. Thug Rose sank to her knees in tears; Zhang insisted she was still conscious, and the stoppage came early.
Namajunas took the UFC 268 rematch on a split decision, then lost the belt to Carla Esparza and, at flyweight, a January decision to Silva. Zhang knocked out Jedrzejczyk, submitted Esparza to regain the title, defended it three times, vacated in 2025, and lost to Shevchenko at UFC 322.
Valentina Shevchenko TKO Jessica Andrade (UFC 261, 24 April 2021)
Earlier that night, before Namajunas stole the show, Shevchenko opened UFC 261’s trio of title fights against a former strawweight champion with genuine power. “Bate Estaca” had slammed Namajunas unconscious for the strawweight belt, lost it to Zhang, then stopped Katlyn Chookagian in her flyweight debut.
ESPN ranked the pair No. 2 and No. 6 pound-for-pound. Everyone expected a kickboxing match. Shevchenko wrestled instead, scoring five takedowns in the first round, and nearly sinking a rear-naked choke.
In the second, she kept dumping Andrade to the mat, finally trapped her in a crucifix, and opened her forehead with short elbows until Dan Miragliotta stopped it at 3:19. “I like to surprise people. I can do everything,” she said.
Five months later, on the UFC 266 undercard, Andrade stopped Cynthia Calvillo; she’d later beat Murphy, Mackenzie Dern, and Marina Rodriguez before losing her last three.
Valentina Shevchenko TKO Katlyn Chookagian (UFC 247, 8 February 2020)
By UFC 247 in February 2020, Shevchenko had beaten Jedrzejczyk for the vacant belt, knocked out Jessica Eye with a head kick, and outpointed Liz Carmouche. Chookagian, the rangy “Blonde Fighter”, was the No. 1 contender, and every one of her UFC wins had come on the scorecards. She never found her range.
Shevchenko chopped at her legs, cracked her with a spinning backfist, and opened a gash above her left eye with an elbow on the ground in the first. A spinning wheel kick landed flush in the second. In the third, Shevchenko took her down, moved to the crucifix, and unloaded until Jacob Montalvo stopped it at 1:03.
Was there anyone in the division close to her at this point in time? Shevchenko would beat Jennifer Maia before the Andrade and Murphy finishes. Chookagian beat Antonina Shevchenko, was stopped by Andrade, won four more, then lost to Maycee Barber; now, as Katlyn Cerminara, she faces Jamey-Lyn Horth at UFC Edmonton on October 17.
