With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from May 2024: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for May.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.

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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) looked like a couple of zombies by the time they were done slugging it out for 15 minutes.

When they were through the gruelling welterweight bout, it was Waters who had a unanimous decision in what was at that point easily the most entertaining fight of the night.

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 lightweight Mateusz Rebecki (19-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

Referee Gary Copeland’s interjection to wave off the bout at 4:59 of Round 3 officially marked completion of Ferreira’s rally. He was dropped with a big left hand in Round 1, but then Ferreira rounded with a drawn-out beating.

Nominee: Patchy Mix def. Magomed Magomedov at Bellator Champions Series: Paris

Everyone who watched seemingly had their own opinion of who should win or why, but the two of the three opinions that mattered leaned toward Patchy Mix (20-1).

Mix defeated Magomedov Magomedov (20-4) by split decision to retain his bantamweight title in a rematch that was far more competitive than the first meeting between them.

Nominee: Lerone Murphy def. Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 241

Lerone Murphy (14-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) performed at a pace that was simply too much for Edson Barboza (24-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC) to handle in his first main event opportunity.

The featherweight headliner “The Miracle” from Manchester, England, rarely give Barboza space to unleash his offense. As a result, Murphy remained undefeated, winning a unanimous decision, and extending his unblemished record under 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, but it wasn’t without some pushback.

Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) crept by Steve Erceg (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to earn a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) nod.

The battle was closely contested with multiple rounds up for debate. While Pantoja started strong, Erceg gained momentum in the second round as his boxing he came to life.

In Round 3, Erceg sliced Pantoja open badly, a cut that caused blood to squirt all over the canvas as the champion controlled the challenger on the mat. Pantoja showed off a well-rounded attack, as he mixed his striking and strong grappling from bell to bell to bell.

Round 4 arguably was Erceg’s strongest as his striking further came to life and his strong cardio showed. Pantoja combatted the challenger’s efforts with wits, pacing, and adaptiveness as he eked out the final round – and the decision.