Watch: Female UFC Fighter Accidentally Knocks Out Male Training Partner With Knee During Sparring
Sparring sessions rarely make it onto Instagram feeds unless something spectacularly unexpected happens. For UFC bantamweight Jacqueline Cavalcanti, that moment arrived when she landed a perfectly-timed knee on training partner Artur William during what should’ve been a routine gym session. The footage shows William going rigid, his body stiffening mid-spar before he hit the canvas. The video’s racked up thousands of views with split opinions about whether it’s authentic or choreographed, but Cavalcanti has stood by the moment’s legitimacy.
Jacqueline Cavalcanti’s Accidental Knockout of Male Sparring Partner Goes Viral
Sometimes sparring partners eat shots they don’t see coming, and anatomy doesn’t care about intent. William’s training facility wasn’t experimenting with some wild knockout prank. Cavalcanti, who trains with Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, was simply going through her routines when the knee connected clean to the chin. Several social media commenters noted that when a strike finds the precise target with proper timing, no amount of chin toughness matters.
Jacqueline Cavalcanti
As of November 2025, Jacqueline Cavalcanti ranks #10 in the UFC women’s bantamweight division, a climb she’s built through consistent performance rather than viral moments. Her ascent gained momentum after capturing the LFA Women’s Bantamweight Championship in April 2023 by defeating Melissa Croden via unanimous decision. That title run established her as a legitimate threat before the UFC came calling.
She entered the octagon in September 2023 at UFC Fight Night 226, where she defeated Zarah Fairn via unanimous decision at catchweight. The win came on short notice replacing Haily Cowan, a pattern Cavalcanti’s become comfortable repeating. Fast-forward through 2024 and her trajectory kept climbing. She split-decided Josiane Nunes in August, then took a rematch against Nora Cornolle just two weeks after that fight was offered, winning another split decision in Paris at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Saint Denis in September. That second victory over Cornolle bumped her into the top-15 rankings.
Her 2025 campaign accelerated further. In February, she dominated Julia Avila across three rounds for a unanimous decision victory at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Rodrigues. Then came her statement win: on November 8, 2025, at UFC Fight Night 264 in Las Vegas, Cavalcanti faced Mayra Bueno Silva, a former title contender. Cavalcanti didn’t stumble. She controlled all five minutes of each round and walked away with a unanimous decision, exactly the performance needed to vault her further up the rankings.
Cavalcanti’s record currently sits at 10-1 professionally, with her only loss coming in March 2022 against Martina Jindrová via split decision in the PFL Challenger Series. Since then, she’s strung together eight consecutive victories. Three of those wins came by knockout or TKO, showing she possesses finishing power.
