Throughout the modern era of the UFC, spinning strikes have become a popular means of stopping, with some of the most prolific finishes in the promotion’s history coming from thunderous spinning techniques. However, one whirlwind attack has seen a rapid rise in prominence in recent years, taking over the consciousness of more than a few notable fighters in the process: the spinning elbow.
The move was first popularized by Jon Jones during his days as a rookie contender and has since skyrocketed in use on the sport’s biggest stage. Across all weight classes, spinning elbow knockouts have been used by both emerging competitors and established company names with catastrophic results for their opposition.
Now let’s take a look at some of the greatest spinning elbow knockouts in UFC history.
Spinning Elbow Artists: Molly McCann
The inspiration for this article was Molly McCann capturing one of the biggest stoppages in female mixed martial arts history in 2022 with a running elbow as she defended her home country of England at UFC Fight Night 204. Competing in what would be the first of three UFC bouts that year, “Meatball” crossed paths with Brazilian striker Luana Carolina.
McCann was a veteran of seven UFC fights at the time of their meeting and had begun a mediocre career with the organization after joining them in 2018. While notable wins over Priscila Cachoeira and Ariane Lipski helped her stand out as a potential prospect, losses to Gillian Robertson and Talia Santos kept her from becoming a true contender.
Carolina earned her own UFC contract in 2018 and after a successful appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, and has enjoyed a steady climb up the flyweight bracket. ‘Dread’ has lost just once in the last seven years during her trip to England, beating Cachoeira herself, teaming with Lupita Godinez, winning 3-1 in her last four matches.
McCann took the initiative early against her South American foe and rushed Carolina throughout the first round, repeatedly tagging her with a brutal barrage of punches. To halt the European’s progress, Carolina often used the Muay Thai clinch to pin McCann’s arms to prevent her from striking and to wear her down.
Even as the final stanza of the match progressed, neither woman’s pace dropped much as the England star continued her frontal assault on her quest to score the stoppage, forcing Carolina to fire back and tie up McCann whenever she could. As the third minute came to a close, ‘Meatball’ lowered her stance before twisting her hips and delivering a hellish spinning elbow, leaving Carolina stiff in breathtaking fashion.
After securing victory in front of his hometown crowd, McCann immediately stormed out of the cage to the roar of the English visitors in attendance. She hugged UFC CEO Dana White and then grabbed an audience member’s replica promotional belt and raised it above her head as she headed back to the Octagon, making it clear what her true purpose in the division was. The spinning elbow would become an integral part of her skills in the future, as she also managed to defeat her next opponent, Hannah Goldy, with it.
Spinning Elbow Artists: Lerone Murphy
Lerone Murphy is one of the best featherweight fighters in the world and boasts a stellar professional record of 18-0. On his journey to an inevitable title shot, “The Miracle” has defeated a bevy of the top 145-pound class, including Dan Ige, Josh Emmett and Edson Barboza. He may also have landed a Knockout of the Year candidate when he faced debutant organizer and mixed martial arts star Aaron Pico at UFC 319 last August, delivering a spinning elbow.
Throughout his tenure with Bellator, Pico was praised as an exciting prospect. He scored eleven stoppages in his sixteen appearances with the promotion, seven of which ended in the first round. Although the Californian never fought for the championship, he did cross paths with a handful of top-level opponents, such as Leandro Higo and Henry Corrales, the latter of whom he defeated in his last fight with Bellator before moving to the UFC this year.
Ensuring Murphy could not capitalize on his superior two-inch advantage, Pico closed the distance on the Englishman almost straight from the start, wrapping him up in the clinch against the cage wall. Even if the pair broke up, the American demonstrated high-level boxing, landing hard blows to Murphy’s body and face. He also managed to take him down twice, demonstrating a complete toolkit developed after more than a decade of competing in a major promotion.
Looking at the pace at which he would secure the first round on the scorecards, Pico’s debut was clearly trouble-free. Tragedy would strike the Jackson Wink as he moved in to initiate another clinch, falling prey to a masterfully timed spinning elbow from Murphy that knocked him out completely. A single follow-up ground attack from “The Miracle” sealed the deal for the ranked contender, who picked up his first overall win since UFC 267 in 2021. The stoppage quickly went viral, leading many pundits to call for a title shot for the 34-year-old, a sentiment held by current featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. appeared to share.
Spinning Elbow Artists: Carlos Prates
Fighting on the same card as Murphy, Prates also scored a spectacular spinning elbow victory at UFC 319 when he took on venerable welterweight athlete Geoff Neal. Returning from the first loss of his UFC career against Ian Machado Garry, Prates was determined to make a statement that he was still a juggernaut in the division.
A professional since 2012, Neal stormed his way into the UFC in 2018, winning his first five bouts in the company, including raising his hand against future 170-pound gold standard Belal Muhammad. While his recent losses at the time to Garry and the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov made many doubt his ability to beat the top of the weight class, the renowned power of “Handz of Steel” still made him a potent threat to anyone he faced, evidenced by his ten career victories by knockout. He also had never been stopped by strikes in more than eight years since losing to Kevin Holland at middleweight during the pair’s time on the Texas regional circuit.
For most of the first five minutes of their fight, both men seemed evenly matched, landing more than twenty significant attacks on each other. As the ten-second blowouts sounded, it seemed like the crowd was in for a three-round war of attrition between the two standout welterweights. That was until Prates stunned the world by hitting Neal with a huge spinning elbow, taking the Fortis MMA product off his feet before finishing him off with ground-and-pound.
The victory over Neal immediately put the Brazilian back at the forefront of the weight category title fight. It also earned “The Nightmare” its fifth performance bonus. Now set to fight former champion Leon Edwards at UFC 322 in November, Prates could very well make a case for himself to be the next man in line for another highlight-reel knockout.
Spinning Elbow Artists: Juan Díaz
After ten weeks of incredible mixed martial arts action and producing some of the most viral finishes in the show’s history, the ninth season of Dana White’s Contender Series prepared to conclude with its series finale. In the evening’s co-main event, top prospects Juan Díaz and Won Il Kwon piled on their claims to earn themselves a coveted UFC contract, which Díaz would ultimately do in stunning fashion via a spinning elbow.
Díaz started his professional career in 2017 and was defeated just once before appearing in the Contender Series against the 21-1 Rodrigo Vera. Pegajoso, a key fighter for Mexican combat sports organization Lux Fight League, had laid claim to their bantamweight belt and defended it twice until he vacated it in an attempt to cement his place on the UFC roster.
The latest in a long line of promising South Korean newcomers, Kwon had already made a name for himself at a major company after competing under the ONE Championship banner for six years, compiling a 9-5 record. At the time of his clash with Díaz, “Pretty Boy” was coming off a disappointing knockout against promotional foe Fabricio de Andrade in January of this year. The setback marked the second time Kwon failed to beat the Brazilian, losing to him twice due to body blows.
The two aspiring UFC prospects boasted lofty stand-up game and engaged in a tight but exciting boxing battle over the course of their two-round affair, with Díaz making full use of his counterattack and Kwon blasting the Mexican with his masterful jab. While the tilt largely came off as a demonstration of great technique, Díaz bulldozed the South Korean with a devastating spinning elbow, stiffening Kwon with just two seconds left in the second round. The stoppage brought UFC brass to their feet, including Dana White, who gleefully awarded Díaz a contract at the end of the night.
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