No, it shouldn't have been. Yes, the kick was spectacular, but that's it. Here's why.
1. Roberts is a regional level fighter, and guys like him get laid out like this in that scene all the time by much worse opponents. Competitiveness should be a large factor in deciding KO of the year imo.
2. The fight was over. Bahamondes was a few seconds away from a lopsided decision victory, and thus, it was more just icing on the cake than anything meaningful in terms of the end result.
3. I believe the KO was largely set up by Roberts letting his guard down a few seconds too early. No dynamic setup needed. The kick was a freebie.
4. Nothing was on the line besides an ordinary victory for two unranked guys. High stakes aren't necessary (Buckley/Kasanganay for example), but they undoubtedly help the argument (the only reason why Shogun/Machida got KO of the year from my perspective).
5. There was no bad blood. Again, bad blood is FAR from necessary, but it still adds a little boost to the KOs legacy and argument for it to be KO of the year in my book. Let's not pretend that the intense feud between Hendo and Bisping and the culmination of months of trash talk isn't a factor in people's minds when many of them regard it as the greatest UFC KO of all time.
