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#4. Rafael Fiziev
Rafael Fiziev has taken giant strides in the 155 lbs rankings since his debut fight the promotion back in 2019. Although his debut didn't turn out the way he would have hoped for, 'Ataman' hasn't looked back ever since.
Currently on a 5-fight win streak in the UFC, Fiziev has made heads turn with his striking. Of the five wins inside the octagon, two have come from knockouts.
Much of it is due to his Muay Thai background. Fiziev, a product of the famous Tiger Muay Thai gym in Phuket, won many accolades in Muay Thai before switching over to MMA.
Fiziev is a dangerous striker and has the ability to batter his opponents with powerful kicks. His Fight of the Night performance against Brad Riddell at UFC Vegas 44 was a testimony to that.
The first two rounds were relatively quiet, with both fighters trading shots from a standup position.
But come the third round, everything changed. Right when it seemed like the fight would go the distance, Fiziev produced a wheel kick to the head to knock out his former training partner.
#3. Michael Chandler
At 5 feet 8 inches, Michael Chandler isn't the tallest fighter in the division. Yet, that hasn't stopped him from knocking people out in his career.
'Iron' made his UFC debut against Dan Hooker and took a little over two minutes to get his first knockout win in the promotion. He used his nimble foot movement to trade shots with Hooker before closing the distance to knock 'The Hangman' out with a strong left hand.
After a close contest against Charles Oliveira, Chandler locked horns with Justin Gaethje at UFC 268 for what became the 2021 Fight of the Year. It was unpredictable, violent and tested the durability of both fighters.
Although Gaethje won the fight via the judges' decision, Chandler was praised for his performance as well. According to stats, the slugfest registered 219 significant strikes on target, with 'Iron' landing 103 of them.
As mentioned earlier, the former Bellator lightweight champion delivered arguably the best knockout in recent times in his last fight against Tony Ferguson. In a fight that was always expected to be a barnburner, Chandler connected a frontkick to Ferguson's chin to knock him out cold in only the second round.
