With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie looks at the best knockouts from December 2018: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for December.

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

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The Nominees

Kent Kauppinen def. Alessio Sakara at Bellator 211

Kent Kauppinen (11-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) stunned Alessio Sakara’s (19-13 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) home fans with a massive first-round knockout of the home-country hero.

Kauppinen, fighting in his first Bellator main event, shut down Sakara just 70 seconds into their light heavyweight fight after a massive left hand and three follow-up punches in the headlining bout.

Dhiego Lima def. Chad Laprise at UFC 231

Dhiego Lima (13-7 MMA, 2-5 UFC) needed just 97 seconds to put Chad Laprise (13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) away with a devastating one-hitter quitter in their welterweight contest.

Laprise opened the fight by walking Lima down and looking to connect with heavy strikes. Lima stayed composed, though, and waited for the perfect moment to launch a left hook that landed flush on the chin. Laprise went down, and Lima refused to throw any follow-up shots.

Liam McGeary def. Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 213

Liam McGeary (13-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) picked up a much-needed win and did so in impressive fashion, using crisp striking to earn a third-round knockout of Muhammed Lawal (21-8 MMA, 10-6 BMMA).

Lawal was unafraid to stand in the pocket, but it cost him. A huge McGeary right landed clean, and Lawal staggered. A second sent Lawal crashing to the floor. A left high kick nearly connected again as Lawal fell, but it was academic, and the fight was called off at the 53-second mark of the third frame.

Uriah Hall def. Bevon Lewis at UFC 232

Uriah Hall (14-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC) was well on his way to a decision loss in a listless performance against highly touted middleweight newcomer Bevon Lewis (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

But with his back against the wall, Hall capitalized brilliantly when Lewis charged. “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner landed a right hand that instantly dropped his opponent to the canvas, marking yet another resounding comeback for him inside the octagon.

Amanda Nunes def. Cris Cyborg at UFC 232

Amanda Nunes (17-4 MMA, 10-1 UFC) made history when she dethroned Cris Cyborg (20-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in one of the most stunning results of the year to claim the UFC women’s featherweight championship.

Nunes showed zero fear of the intimidating aura of Cyborg when she went right after her fellow Brazilian from the opening bell. “The Lioness” connected with haymaker after haymaker until one final clean shot left Cyborg face-first on the canvas and Nunes with the status of first female two-division champion in UFC history.

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The Winner: Amanda Nunes

Nunes ended the nearly unbroken reign of Cyborg and cemented her place in MMA history.

Nunes became the first woman to win titles in two divisions by knocking out featherweight champ Cyborg in the first round with a flurry of brutal punches.

The fight was over at the 0:51 mark of the opening round when a right hand sent Cyborg face first into the canvas, a merciful end after she took punch after punch against the octagon fence.

“When I signed the contract, I said this is going down,” said Nunes, who becomes the third overall UFC fighter to simultaneously hold titles in two divisions. “I’m going to be the first female two-division champ in the UFC. I told you I’m the greatest.”

An ecstatic Nunes leapt out of the octagon and went straight to UFC President Dana White, who put two belts on her person as the fallout from the upset settled over the arena.

“Now, Dana, I have to be in the Hall of Fame,” Nunes added to her post-fight speech.

It was an incredible and unexpected finish to a decade of dominance from Cyborg. But it started as expected when she landed a right hand that staggered Nunes.

At once, Cyborg was all over Nunes with a flurry of punches. It was the approach she’d taken with all of her fights to date, and it wound up being her undoing with a heavy-handed opponent.

A right hand caught the former UFC, Strikeforce and Invicta FC champ clean and stopped her in her tracks. She backpedaled as Nunes poured on the punches, landing more shots that had Cyborg out on her feet.

And with one final shot, Cyborg went down for good. It was her first knockout and first loss since her professional debut in 2005.