LowKick MMA’s 2025 Awards: KO of the Year – Mauricio Ruffy’s Spinning Wheel Kick Over King Green
In early March at UFC 313 in Las Vegas, Brazilian lightweight Mauricio Ruffy opened the main card against veteran King Green in what became one of the most technically clean knockouts of 2025. Just 2:07 into the first round, Ruffy landed a spinning wheel kick that sent Green face-first to the canvas, instantly ending the fight. The finish was so pristine, and so rare, that it took home numerous knockout of the year honors across the sport, including recognition from MMA Fighting, ESPN, Full Violence, and LowKick MMA.
LowKick MMA’s 2025 Awards: KO of the Year – Mauricio Ruffy’s Spinning Wheel Kick Over King Green
Green, 38, is an American fighter who’s been in professional MMA since 2008. He held titles in King of the Cage across two weight classes and has competed in Strikeforce, Affliction, and the big shows over a 17-year career. He’s durable, technically sound in the boxing range, and carried 31 professional wins into the Ruffy bout. But he was also in a difficult stretch, just 1-3 in his last four fights, including a submission loss to Paddy Pimblett the previous summer. At 38 fights deep into a career, even a well-rounded fighter like Green becomes more susceptible to the kind of lightning-fast finishes that define knockout of the year highlights.
Ruffy, by contrast, represents the new wave. The 28-year-old Brazilian earned his UFC contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in late 2023 after building an impressive resume on the Brazilian regional scene, where he won titles and racked up finishes at will. His UFC debut in May 2024 was brutal, first-round TKO of Jamie Mullarkey, and he followed that with a decision victory to improve to 3-0 heading into the Green fight. He fights out of the Fighting Nerds gym in São Paulo, a collective known for their analytical approach to fighting and their knack for producing finishes.
As the fight opened, both men were gauging range with tentative strikes. Ruffy landed a clean right hand that made Green adjust, and then Ruffy went to work. He backed Green up with strikes before feinting a left hook, a move that looked like a real threat coming upstairs at Green’s head. Green raised his hands to defend against the hook, a natural reaction. But as he committed to that defensive motion, Ruffy used the momentum generated by the feint to pivot and throw a spinning wheel kick that came right after the apparent hook. The heel connected flush on Green’s temple, and that was the fight.
Ruffy’s execution had none of the wasted motion that usually defines a spinning kick. His setup, the feint, pulled Green’s attention upstairs, created the opening, and naturally loaded the hip rotation he needed. The impact was absolute. Green stiffened, crashed forward face-first onto the canvas, and didn’t get up. Daniel Cormier, calling the fight for UFC, said it was one of the best knockouts he’d seen in his entire career. Joe Rogan, who interviewed Ruffy moments after, called it “one of the most beautiful wheel kicks I’ve ever seen performed inside the Octagon.” It looked like the kind of finish that gets replayed in highlight reels for years because it’s so clean that it barely feels real.
