Everyone loves a knockout. Sudden, unexpected finishes are a huge part of what makes combat sports so enthralling. Fans flock to stadiums and tune into livestreams every week to see the most prolific KO artists in action, eagerly anticipating a sudden, devastating finish.
In the current generation of Muay Thai fighters, there is a special handful of KO artists who have risen to the top of the sport through a mixture of dedication, talent, and highlight-reel knockout finishes. In this article, we are going to introduce 6 such fighters, all of whom fight at an elite level while consistently finishing their fights before the closing bell sounds. So, if you love a good knockout, read on, here are some of the best KO artists in the Muay Thai world right now.
1) Nico Carillo
The Scottish “King Of The North,” set the internet abuzz in his first bout at ONE: Friday Fights 13, when he stopped fellow KO artist, Turkish, Furkan Karabag, with a relentless barrage of powerful punches. The powerful display certainly impressed the ONE matchmakers who, two months later, pitted the Scotsman against Thai legend, Muangthai, whom Carillo stopped in the second round with three savage knockdowns.
Since then, Carillo has continued dishing out devastating finishes, stopping other ONE stars, Nong-O and Saemapetch Fairtex in the second round of their bouts to earn himself a shot at Superlek’s Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title.
The Scotsman is currently undefeated at ONE and has yet to go the distance on the promotion, so many are already speculating on whether or not this devastating streak of finishes will continue when he faces “The Kicking Machine,” next year.
2) Miguel Trindade
Miguel Trindade is a Portuguese fighter who competes under both Kickboxing and Muay Thai rulesets. He is perhaps one of the most feared strikers on the planet for his ability to dish out highly entertaining finishes.
His record boasts a whole range of finishing strikes, from his hands to knees, cut stoppages, elbows, and head kicks. He has stopped some of the best fighters on the planet, including 3x former Rajadamnern Stadium Champion, Sibmuen Sitchefboontham, and in March of this year, he ended Australian World Champion, Chadd Collins’, 11 fight win streak, knocking him down three times in the first round to become the #3 ranked kickboxer on the planet according to Beyond Kickboxing.
These feats become far more impressive considering Trindade has only had 19 professional bouts in his career so far.
3) Chadd Collins
He may have been stopped by Miguel Trindade earlier this year, but Australian living legend, Chadd Collins, remains one of the most devastating KO artists of the modern Thai Boxing era. The multi-sport, kickboxer, and Nak Muay, has won half of his 63 wins with impressive stoppages all while gathering three Muay Thai and one Kickboxing World Titles.
He has faced some of the biggest names of the current era in his 83-fight career, including Seksan, Pongsiri, Pakorn, and even the legend himself, Saenchai. He is also the first and only fighter in history to simultaneously hold the prestigious WBC, WMC, and WMO Muay Thai World Titles, all of which he captured by devastating knockouts, making him not just one of the best fighters of the modern era but one of the best of all time.
ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion, Tawanchai PK Saenchai, eclipsed his highly competitive division by winning five of his ten fights on the promotion with high-octane finishes.
However, the young champion wasn’t always a debilitating KO artist, and for much of his 164-fight career, the dreaded southpaw racked up most of his wins on the judges’ scorecards. In fact, throughout 2018, when he was both the Sports Authority of Thailand and Lumpinee Stadium Fighter Of The Year, he only won one of his seven bouts by stoppage.
These accolades must have built his confidence because in his opening bout of 2019 when facing the “Million Dollar Baby,” Sangmanee PK Saenchai, Tawanchai was able to muster a thunderous head kick in the fourth round to stop the 3x Rajadamnern Stadium Champion in his tracks.
Following this, stoppages began to come more frequently for Tawanchai who was eventually signed to ONE Championship in 2021 where he debuted with a spectacular third-round stoppage, finishing Irishman, Sean Clancy with an electrifying head kick in the third round to start his impressive reign on the global promotion. He then continued this streak, defeating Saemapetch Fairtex, Niclas Larsen, and David Kiria within three rounds to solidify his name as one of the most powerful strikers on the planet.
Tawanchai’s last three fights on ONE have all gone the distance but that doesn’t mean that he can’t muster another highlight reel finish when he defends his Featherweight crown against fellow Thai sensation, Superbon, in Atlanta later this year.
5) Saemapetch Fairtex
The saying, “live by the sword, die by the sword,” seems especially true for Thai, Saemapetch Fairtex, who has rarely gone the distance inside the ONE arena whether by dishing out sensational finishes or receiving them.
Saemapetch brings a “kill or be killed,” mentality to the ring and since 2020, only three of his fifteen fights have gone the distance but all of them have been against absolute stars of the sport where victory and defeat stand just a hair’s breadth apart.
While he is a well-rounded fighter, dangerous with all of the sport’s eight weapons, it is Saemapetch’s hands that are the most debilitating and four of his last five KO’s have come from the back of his dynamite punches. With stoppage wins over elite fighters such as Rodlek, Kulabdam, and Rittewada over the past few years, it’s safe to say that Saemapetch could finish anyone who stands in front of him.
6) Daniel Rodriguez
Former RWS and current Rajadamnern Stadium 154lb Champion, Daniel Rodriguez, is a man with an impressive record.
In a career of 44 professional fights, many of which were at the historic and highly competitive Rajadamnern Stadium, he has only been defeated once. While he has spent most of his career fighting the best of the current generation of Thais, he’s also accumulated an impressive KO record. Almost half of his fights have ended off of spectacular finishes, many of which have come from his dangerous hands.
After winning the vacant Rajadamnern stadium title on points in 2022, Rodriguez entered the highly competitive RWS tournament where he defeated most of his opponents, with the exception of Yodwicha, via KO. His victims included elite-level Thais, Rungrat Pumpanmuang, and Satanfah Sitsongpeenong.
Daniel had some time out of competition over the last year while healing a broken hand but has returned in devastating fashion, recently knocking out Rasising Ayothayafightgym on the RWS stage with an explosive right hook in the second round of their group stage bout.
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