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With one other action-packed month of MMA within the books, MMA Junkie appears at the very best fights from Could 2024: Listed here are the 5 nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Battle of the Month award for Could.
On the backside of the submit, tell us if we received it proper by voting in your selection.
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Nominees
Nominee: Trey Waters def. Billy Ray Goff at UFC on ESPN 56
Trey Waters (9-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Billy Goff (9-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) appeared like a few zombies by the point they had been performed slugging it out for quarter-hour.
Once they had been by way of the gruelling welterweight bout, it was Waters who had a unanimous choice in what was at that time simply essentially the most entertaining struggle of the evening.
Nominee: Diego Ferreira def. Mateusz Rebecki at UFC on ESPN 56
Diego Ferreira (19-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) overcame early adversity to dish out a brutal beating on the face of surging light-weight Mateusz Rebecki (19-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC).
Referee Gary Copeland’s interjection to wave off the bout at 4:59 of Spherical 3 formally marked completion of Ferreira’s rally. He was dropped with an enormous left hand in Spherical 1, however then Ferreira rounded with a drawn-out beating.
Nominee: Patchy Combine def. Magomed Magomedov at Bellator Champions Sequence: Paris
Everybody who watched seemingly had their very own opinion of who ought to win or why, however the two of the three opinions that mattered leaned towards Patchy Combine (20-1).
Combine defeated Magomedov Magomedov (20-4) by break up choice to retain his bantamweight title in a rematch that was way more aggressive than the primary assembly between them.
Nominee: Lerone Murphy def. Edson Barboza at UFC Battle Night time 241
Lerone Murphy (14-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) carried out at a tempo that was merely an excessive amount of for Edson Barboza (24-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC) to deal with in his first essential occasion alternative.
The featherweight headliner “The Miracle” from Manchester, England, not often give Barboza house to unleash his offense. Consequently, Murphy remained undefeated, successful a unanimous choice, and increasing his unblemished document underneath the UFC banner.
The winner
The winner: Alexandre Pantoja def. Steve Erceg at UFC 301
Alexandre Pantoja retained the UFC flyweight title in his native Rio de Janeiro, nevertheless it wasn’t with out some pushback.
Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) crept by Steve Erceg (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to earn a unanimous choice (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) nod.
The battle was carefully contested with a number of rounds up for debate. Whereas Pantoja began robust, Erceg gained momentum within the second spherical as his boxing he got here to life.
In Spherical 3, Erceg sliced Pantoja open badly, a reduce that prompted blood to squirt all around the canvas because the champion managed the challenger on the mat. Pantoja confirmed off a well-rounded assault, as he combined his hanging and powerful grappling from bell to bell to bell.
Spherical 4 arguably was Erceg’s strongest as his hanging additional got here to life and his robust cardio confirmed. Pantoja combatted the challenger’s efforts with wits, pacing, and adaptiveness as he eked out the ultimate spherical – and the choice.
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