With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from September 2019: 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.

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The Nominees

Paul Felder def. Edson Barboza at UFC 242

Paul Felder (7-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) avenged the first loss to ever land on his resume when he edged out Edson Barboza (20-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC) in a rematch of lightweight contenders.

Felder defeated Barboza by split decision in the matchup, which saw both men bloodied while exchanging techniques in the striking and grappling over the course of 15 minutes of entertaining action.

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Tristan Connelly def. Michel Pereira at UFC on ESPN+ 16

Stepping in on less than one weeks’ notice and moving up a division to do it, Tristan Connelly (14-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) shocked the world, earning an incredibly hard-fought decision win over one the flashiest fighters in the game, Michel Pereira (23-10 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

Connelly weathered the storm from Pereira in the first round, avoiding spinning, jumping and flipping attacks by the Brazilian. As the fight wore on, Pereira started to slow and Connelly found some momentum with his striking and grappling en route to a unanimous decision on the scorecards and a $100,000 bonus in his debut.

Carla Esparza def. Alexa Grasso at UFC on ESPN+ 17

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza (15-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was showered with boos after she upset Alexa Grasso (11-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) in a razor-thin decision in Mexico City.

Esparza picked up her second consecutive win in the division where she once held UFC gold by defeating Grasso via majority decision in a fight that pitted her takedowns and top control against the striking of the Mexican up-and-comer, and the judges favored the former.

Peter Queally def. Ryan Scope at Bellator Europe 4

Peter Queally (12-5-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) achieved a magical moment in Dublin in front of friends, family and teammates when he rallied from an early deficit to stop Ryan Scope (11-3 MMA, 0-2 BMMA).

After nearly being finished with a head kick, follow-up strikes and a rear-naked choke, Queally somehow turned the tables on Scope and found a home for his strikes. He finished the contest in the second round and sent the crowd into frenzy.

Gilbert Burns def. Gunnar Nelson at UFC on ESPN+ 18

Short notice was no problem for Gilbert Burns (17-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC). The late replacement managed to earn one of the biggest wins of his career over Gunnar Nelson (17-5-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) after taking the fight on less than two weeks’ notice.

Although Burns wasn’t able to put Nelson away, some big moments in the striking and grappling departments were enough for him to edge out two of the three rounds for the unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 across the board.

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The Winner: Paul Felder vs. Edson Barboza

Four years after he lost to Barboza, Felder finally got his revenge.

In the first meeting, Barboza outpointed the up-and-coming Felder en route to a unanimous decision victory. The bout was entertaining enough in the eyes of the promotion to earn the UFC on FOX 16 “Fight of the Night” honor.The rematch saw much of the same excitement and violence as the first meeting, but ultimately had a different outcome.

Midway through the opening round, both men were wearing the barrage of strikes they absorbed. A swollen Barboza used his jab to bust Felder’s nose early, and an inadvertent clash of heads only made the situation more messy.

In the second round, Felder returned the favor after Barboza scored an unusual takedown. “The Irish Dragon” utilized sharp elbows from his back to split open Barboza. Both men had their moments in Round 3, visibly pushing their cardio in the sweltering arena.

The judges’ scores were tallied and all three differed. While one judge saw the bout 30-27 in favor of Barboza, the other two scored it 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Felder.