Sherdog’s 2022 Round of the Year

Sherdog’s 2022 “Round of the Year” operated under a severe handicap: It only lasted a little over three minutes. And yet, despite contending against stanzas featuring five full minutes of action, it did enough to easily win the voting. The first round of Drew Dober vs. Terrance McKinney at UFC Fight Night 203 is as extraordinary and thrilling a fight that ends via first-round knockout as one will ever see in MMA.

In terms of importance and star power, the Dober vs. McKinney matchup pales in comparison to some of the other candidates. It was placed on the early main card of a UFC Fight Night, and neither man was a ranked contender. Dober was a small favorite at around -150. Almost immediately, that line looked mistaken. McKinney threw a left knee from range with perfect timing, catching Dober. Dober grabbed onto the legs to recover his bearings, but this was a mistake, as McKinney nailed him with a series of hooks from both hands, hurting him much worse. The right hook in particular was devastating, knocking Dober down and very nearly out. Ten seconds in, McKinney appeared to be moments away from another spectacular, quick knockout like his 7-second triumph over Matt Frevola. McKinney went to work with short, lightning-fast left hands as Dober held on for dear life while on his butt. However, McKinney’s shots were neither clean nor did they have much on them, with only one landing with any power. Dober, showing off excellent recuperative powers, pushed off with his feet on McKinney’s hips and stood back up. McKinney continued his barrage of punches, with a few partially getting through, and went for a huge head kick, one that he has felled multiple opponents with. Dober got his hands up just in the nick of time.

After that blistering first 22 seconds, the two men would surely take a breather to get their bearings, right? No way. McKinney stalked Dober and connected with yet another devastating left knee that Dober made no move to avoid. Dober fell to his knees, but this time, was able to successfully clinch and grapple, as McKinney again failed to finish him off, this time with hammerfists from close range. Dober went for a takedown, but McKinney showed great hips and expertly used the fence, falling on top of his opponent. McKinney smartly allowed Dober separation and fired off some big elbows and punches that partially landed. As Dober used the cage to wall-walk back up, McKinney was ready and fired off another huge left head kick. However, having quickly risen a moment before, McKinney wasn’t able to turn into the kick, greatly lessening the blow and robbing himself of what would have almost certainly been a superb knockout. Both men let loose with hooks, going toe-to-toe, but again McKinney was the one inflicting the damage, walloping Dober with a hard left hook. Dober was stunned but fired a left hook of his own, which McKinney neatly dodged.

As both men took the center of the cage to catch their breath, not even a full minute of the fight had elapsed. McKinney was slightly slower now in coming forward, missing with a powerful short right hook and then another monster head kick. Suddenly, Dober connected with a left hook to McKinney’s side that had him wincing, his first real offense of the fight. Dober then followed up with a lazy and telegraphed leg kick from close range. Had that same situation occurred a minute prior, McKinney would have countered him hard, possibly even knocking him out. But now Dober escaped unscathed, a sign that McKinney was beginning to wilt. McKinney went for another left knee from range, but the third time was not the charm, as this one was very slow and predictable. He added a slow spinning backfist, and while it actually connected, it lacked impact, with Dober unaffected. Despite the damage he had received, Dober was bouncing well on the balls of his feet, and now he was the one throwing a series of hooks. McKinney ducked under and went for the takedown, which he executed well, putting Dober on his back.

The pace finally slowed here, as Dober actually landed the better blows on the ground, with a number of solid elbows from his back. McKinney, after taking a small break, went back to work with hard punches from the top. Just over halfway through the round, Dober once again pushed off against McKinney’s hips with both feet and after blocking yet another head kick, scrambled back to the standing position again. McKinney attempted a few punches, but they were now solitary, with no follow-ups, on top of being slow and telegraphed, which Dober easily avoided. A spinning back-kick had no purpose except to sap him of more energy. McKinney now clinched, but this time Dober was ready, pushing him into the cage and then disengaging. McKinney again threw a head kick, but this one was his weakest and slowest yet, simply caught on Dober’s shoulder. Dober nailed him with a one-two, and after stuffing a desperation takedown attempt, connected on a monstrous left knee of his own, dropping McKinney like a sack of potatoes. Dober now attempted the same task that McKinney had failed at twice, finishing a wounded foe. His punches from the top weren’t as fast as McKinney’s, but were harder and more accurate. As McKinney kept eating one hammer blow after another, referee Keith Peterson had no choice but to stop the fight.

It was an incredible turnaround and comeback, a fight straight out of a movie played out in just over three furious minutes. There were of course other amazing rounds in 2022, with Round 3 of Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira and the second round of Alex Polizzi-Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros (my own choice) receiving votes, but nothing matched Dober-McKinney in terms of pace or decisiveness. It’s exceptionally rare for a fighter to very nearly get knocked out multiple times in a round only to come back and not only win the stanza, but attain the KO himself, and it’s practically unheard of in the first round. Yet, the rare and amazing gem Dober-McKinney succeeded in precisely that. It’s Sherdog.com’s 2022 “Round of the Year,” and one that MMA fans will revisit for decades to come.