With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for August.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Carlston Harris def. Jeremiah Wells at UFC on ESPN 50
A couple years back in his UFC debut, Carlston Harris (20-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) choked out Christian Aguilera with an anaconda choke. His latest victim with the same reasonably rare finish was Jeremiah Wells (12-3-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
Harris had to mount a big comeback and almost certainly was on his way to a decision loss to Wells when he pulled off the stunner at the 1:50 mark of the third round in the welterweight bout.
HE FLIPPED THE SCRIPT 🤯@CarlstonMMA puts him to sleep! #UFCNashville pic.twitter.com/uJMTQceqMB
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
Nominee: Cub Swanson def. Hakeem Dawodu at UFC on ESPN 51
Cub Swanson (29-13 MMA, 14-9 UFC) admitted he walked to the center of the octagon at the end of his entertaining featherweight bout with Hakeem Dawodu (14-3-1 MMA, 6-4 UFC) expecting a loss.
Instead, all three judges gave Swanson two of three rounds on the scorecards, and he left the fight with a unanimous decision win over Dawodu.
Cub Swanson got emotional following his unanimous decision win at #UFCVegas78 🥺 pic.twitter.com/kS1Tb16MXz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 13, 2023
Nominee: Brad Katona def. Cody Gibson at UFC 292
Brad Katona (13-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) made history against Cody Gibson (19-9 MMA, 1-4 UFC) as the the first fighter to win “The Ultimate Fighter” reality competition series twice – but he had to go through the ringer to make it happen.
Katona outworked Gibson to win the Season 31 bantamweight “TUF” final, earning a unanimous decision in a high-paced bout that saw the most significant strikes landed for a single contest in divisional history – with more than 300 total.
The FIRST person to become a two-time Ultimate Fighter winner
Congratulations on making history, @BradKatona! #TUF31 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/G2isyuYQUi
— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) August 20, 2023
Nominee: Clay Collard def. Shane Burgos at 2023 PFL Playoffs 3
Clay Collard (25-10) and Shane Burgos (16-6) delivered easily one of the best fights in PFL history when the stakes were extremely high for both men.
The two lightweights went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes in a 2023 PFL Playoffs semifinal bout, each leaving it all on the line in hopes of advancing to the $1 million final. In the end, Collard defeated Burgos by unanimous decision, which read 29-28 across all three judges’ scorecards.
Nominee: Max Holloway def. Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night 225
Max Holloway (25-7 MMA, 21-7 UFC) lived up to the lopsided odds in his main event with Chan Sung Jung (17-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC).
Former UFC champ Holloway earned a third-round knockout victory over “The Korean Zombie” in their featherweight main event, countering the aggression of Jung with a massive shot and further elevating his legendary resume in the sport with another recognizable name.
WHAT A COUNTER FROM HOLLOWAY 💥 #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/T48E35Ugro
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 26, 2023
The winner
The winner: Collard vs. Burgos
Collard took on Burgos in a Fight of the Year contender lightweight semifinal bout. It was a brutal contest with high-volume striking, but in the end, Collard earned unanimous 29-28 scores from the official judges.
Fists were flying early and often in the first round, living up to the expectation of an exciting matchup. Collard’s volume was higher, mixing up punches to the body and head with sharp combinations. Burgos landed well early and added some nice kicks, but as the round wore on, Collard put a stamp on the round by hurting Burgos with shots to the chin.
Dropped him like a bad habit!#PFLPlayoffs LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/pbTUfHQvIp— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 24, 2023
Collard continued to march forward with accurate punches early in the second, causing blood to flow from Burgos’ face. Keeping his opponent honest, Burgos fired back with damaging inside leg kicks. Collard continued to pepper out jabs, but was knocked off his feet by a hard leg kick from Burgos. The momentum only lasted seconds, as Collard returned to his feet and landed a hard left hook to send Burgos to the mat. Collard followed him to the ground for more strikes, but the finish wouldn’t come as Burgos worked his way back up. The round closed with more striking exchanges on the feet.
The striking exchanges continued at a high clip in the final round. Burgos added punches to the body along with kicks, as Collard worked fast punches and showed excellent head movement. A hard inside leg kick prompted Collard to shoot for a takedown, but Burgos stuffed it and shook his fingers at his opponent. They returned to the center to trade more strikes, but the inside kicks from Burgos really bothered Collard. After a clinch against the cage, it was back to fighting in the phone booth in the center of the cage. More inside leg kicks affected Collard’s movement, but he kept firing as they traded blows until the final horn.
The judges saw the fight unanimously for Collard, earning his first PFL finals appearance.
