Filed under: Cage Warriors, Featured, News, UFC

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie looks at the best fights from September. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’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

Alexander Volkov def. Stefan Struve at UFC Fight Night 115

In a much-hyped heavyweight contest between two of the sport’s tallest competitors, Russia’s Alexander Volkov (29-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) brushed aside a nasty cut and some eye pokes to rally for a third-round TKO over Stefan Struve (28-9 MMA, 12-7 UFC).

Bloodied and battered, Volkov just walked through the strikes of his opponent to land flush with a right and topple Struve. More punches on the floor landed clean as Struve’s tried to cover, and the fight was called to an end with 90 seconds left in the third.

Nathaniel Wood def. Josh Reed at Cage Warriors 86

After looking all but finished in the first round of his headliner against challenger Josh Reed (7-1), Cage Warriors bantamweight champ Nathaniel Wood (12-3) managed to keep his composure and land the left hand that changed it all.

After a few tentative exchanges, Reed charged forward with a series of haymakers. While somewhat careless, the blows landed – and, with Wood wobbling around the cage, it seemed like a matter of seconds before the referee intervened and the belt switched hands. Wood, however, weathered the storm and saw the opening to land a hard left that set up a dazzling comeback win.

Uriah Hall def. Krzysztof Jotko at UFC Fight Night 116

Uriah Hall (13-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) has been plagued with inconsistency in his UFC career, sometimes looking unbeatable, other times not so much. Against Krzysztof Jotko (19-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), he was both.

After taking a massive beating in the first round of the middleweight bout, a devastating straight right landed for Hall and changed the game. He sent Jotko crashing to the canvas and that’s when “Primetime” jumped on top with additional punches to seal the incredible comeback knockout win and snap an ugly three-fight losing skid.

Gregor Gillespie def. Jason Gonzalez at UFC Fight Night 116

Rising lightweight Gregor Gillespie (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) kept his career record perfect, but Jason Gonzalez (11-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) certainly didn’t make it easy on him in barnburner of a bout.

After slugging it out on the feet for a good portion of the fight, Gillespie reverted to his wrestling pedigree as the clock ticked on. Gillespie eventually worked himself into an arm-triangle choke from mount and committed to the squeeze, pressing forward and tightening the hold until Gonzalez was forced to tap in the second round.

Jessica Andrade def. Claudia Gadelha at UFC Fight Night 117

The crucial matchup of UFC women’s strawweight contenders could only result in one winner, and Jessica Andrade (17-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) was able to get the job done against Claudia Gadelha (15-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in one of the most highly-praised female bouts in company history.

In a clash of two fighters looking to get another crack at 115-pound champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Andrade took a lopsided unanimous decision victory over fellow Brazilian Gadelha in a blood-and-guts type of battle which will revered for quite some time going forward.

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The Winner: Jessica Andrade vs. Claudia Gadelha

Gadelha only had lost to strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk before her trip to Japan for UFC Fight Night 117. Then Andrade came into her life.

Andrade took a unanimous decision from Gadelha, her fellow Brazilian, with a mostly dominant performance that had both fighters bloody through most of the fight. Andrade won with scores of 30-25, 30-26 and 30-27.

Gadelha got her hands going a minute in. Andrade tried to work her head out of the way, but Gadelha got her strikes through. Andrade tried to lead the charge not long after that with punches, but Gadelha countered wht an elbow. Two minutes in, the two slugged it out, and Gadelha opened a cut on Andrade’s forehead.

With blood pouring from her opponent, Gadelha kept her striking going until Andrade pressed her against the fence. There, Andrade picked Gadelha up for a massive body slam that seemed to take Gadelha by surprise. Gadelha went after a guillotine choke, but couldn’t hold it, and that allowed Andrade to get on top to work ground-and-pound for the final 90 seconds of the round.

After some more slugging early in the second, and a clinch, Gadelha tried to take the fight to the ground – but it was Andrade who again got on top and landed big ground-and-pound with Gadelha against the fence. When Gadelha got back up, Andrade landed heavy knees.

The two went back to standing midway through, then slugged it out again. With both fighters bleeding, Andrade started to pour on the punishment with two minutes left. Gadelha backed up and looked wiped out while Andrade landed low kicks, then punches. Gadelha went after a takedown that was weak to say the least. And Andrade made her pay for it up against the fence, landing a barrage of punches.

With a minute left, they broke apart and traded again, and Gadelha landed a solid counter. But Andrade kept swinging for the finish. She couldn’t get it, and instead tried to pick Gadelha up for a slam. It didn’t come, but what came instead was the need to defend a deep guillotine choke from Andrade for the final 15 seconds of the round.

Andrade easily defended a takedown attempt 30 seconds into the final frame, then ate a knee to the midsection. And seconds later, Andrade easily picked Gadelha up for another massive slam. She quickly went into side control, then worked ground-and-pound. Gadelha recovered to partial guard, but it didn’t keep Andrade’s punishment at bay. Gadelha tried to answer when she got back to full guard, but there wasn’t much there.

With 90 seconds left, Andrade easily passed to side control, then Gadelha gave her back trying to get back to her feet. Gadelha got back to her feet late, but just before the horn Andrade landed another big slam in a near perfect performance.

Filed under: Cage Warriors, Featured, News, UFC