MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for September: An instant lightweight classic at Sphere

October 2, 2024 10:00 pm ET

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

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

* * * *

Nominees

Nominee: Natalia Silva def. Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 242

In what was her most high-profile test to date, Natalia Silva (17-5-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) defeated former UFC champ Jessica Andrade (26-12 MMA, 17-10 UFC) in a high-paced women’s flyweight bout.

For the majority of the 15-minute duration, the bout between Silva and Andrade was action-packed. Andrade was predominantly the one moving forward, but Silva found success on the backpedal. Her counters and spinning kicks were effective. In Round 2, she stunned Andrade with a big punch to the left side of her head. Andrade also had her moments, but they were fewer and farther between as Silva claimed the unanimous decision.

Nominee: Alexia Thainara def. Rose Conceição at Dana White’s Contender Series 73

Alexia Thainara (11-1) made her statement for a UFC contract when she put on a dazzling striking display over Rose Conceição (7-1) for a lopsided unanimous decision.

Thainara put the pace on Conceição from beginning to end in the strawweight bout. Conceição made it entertaining by sticking in the pocket and trading big shots, but her blows here far less effective, and therefore she shouldn’t halt the force of Thainara.

Nominee: Daniel Barez def. Victor Altamirano at UFC Fight Night 243

Daniel Barez (17-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) went at Victor Altamirano (12-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) from opening bell of their flyweight bout and, aside from a more challenging round, found a clear path to victory.

The power of Barez rocked Altamirano multiple times and dropped him once in the final seconds after pointing to the ground in a Max Holloway-esque fashion. The fight went the distance, but Barez left with a unanimous decision.

Great knockdowns in the first & third round by Daniel Barez against Victor Altamirano.

Barez’s speed impressed, mixing up his strikes & putting on pressure, while Altamirano put on a good fight.

Barez gets his first UFC win, a proud moment for 🇪🇸. #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/wbkGtN4bYS

— Combat Sport Guys (@combatsportguys) September 28, 2024

Nominee: Lewis McGrillen def. Dean Garnett at 2024 PFL Europe 3

Lewis McGrillen (10-1) and Alexander Luster (9-1) embraced the definition of slugfest in one of the wildest bantamweight bouts in PFL history.

According to PFL statistics, McGrillen and Luster combined for 14 knockdowns landed in less than 12 minutes of action. The final one is what mattered most, because McGrillen shut the lights off Luster in a violent fashion less than two minutes into the final round.

The winner

The winner: Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber at UFC 306

The Noche UFC Fight of the Night scrap between Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber was without a doubt one of the best fights of 2024 so far.

The two surging lightweight prospects went to war for 15 minutes in a thrilling manner. They were both hurt multiple times in the fight and had to dig to a deep, dark place to make it to the final bell, but Ribovics (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Zellhuber (15-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) did just that.

Ribovics got the split decision win over Zellhuber, but both men delivered and made the most of their spot on the pay-per-view main card to bring up their value in the eyes of fans of the MMA world.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.