With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from October 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Daniel Santos def. John Castaneda at UFC Fight Night 211
It wasn’t an easy win for Daniel Santos (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) after John Castaneda (19-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) put him in trouble early with sharp strikes on the feet, and heavy ground and pound. The action was so much in favor of Castaneda the referee began to step in closer to monitor the action.
Not only did Santos quickly shift the momentum of the bout, he caused the aggressive Castaneda to go into retreat mode. In the second round, Santos unleashed a furious combination of punches and landed a crushing knee against the fence that dropped Castaneda for the stoppage.
THAT WILL DO IT!!
What a finish, what a fight 👏 #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/UGwTV6egyH
— UFC (@ufc) October 1, 2022
Nominee: A.J. McKee def. Spike Carlyle at Bellator 286
A.J. McKee’s (19-1 MMA, 19-1 BMMA) move up to the lightweight division started with a bang, because Spike Carlyle (14-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) gave him an entertaining brawl that had the fans going wild.
McKee, a former Bellator featherweight champ, jumped up a weight class to take on a grizzled veteran foe in Carlyle, who has competed for various organizations. Carlyle went right after McKee and made it a messy and bloody affair, but ultimately McKee’s skills were sharper as he landed better strikes and secured superior grappling positions en route to the unanimous decision win.
No holding back!#Bellator286 is LIVE on @SHOsports 👇 pic.twitter.com/SJwTR2GkwE
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 2, 2022
Nominee: Dusko Todorovic def. Jordan Wright at UFC Fight Night 212
Dusko Todorovic (12-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Jordan Wright (12-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) were tabbed as potential Fight of the Night contenders going into the middleweight bout. It was a matter of who was going to fade first and fade harder, and it was evident going into the second round who that would be.
After Wright’s gas tank fell off a cliff following a competitive first round, Todorovic put the pressure on standing, and finished the fight with the ground and pound. He got into mount, split Wright open with punches and elbows and kept pouring it on until the referee called it off.
Back in the win column in a BIG way 👊@Todorovic_UFC gets the finish at #UFCVegas62! pic.twitter.com/92rh8svCHx
— UFC (@ufc) October 16, 2022
Nominee: Beneil Dariush def. Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280
Beneil Dariush (22-4-1 MMA, 16-4-1 UFC) once again showed off his well-rounded skills to halt Mateusz Gamrot’s (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) momentum in their high stakes lightweight bout.
In a matchup between two top contenders, Dariush shined with his sharp striking and elite defensive grappling to defeat Gamrot by unanimous decision. He was one step ahead, landed a critical knockdown and just had the better overall showing en route to an eighth consecutive victory.
LEFT HAND LANDED LOUD 😨
Stream #UFC280 NOW on @ESPNPlus ▶️ https://t.co/G9f2xBUwL7 pic.twitter.com/ZS8qLRzJxW
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 22, 2022
Nominee: Sean O'Malley def. Petr Yan at UFC 280
While some might disagree with the decision, Sean O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) at minimum proved to be a valiant opponent to Petr Yan (16-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) when he picked up an instantly debated victory in their bantamweight bout.
O’Malley defeated former UFC champ Yan by split decision. With many onlookers thinking Yan did enough prior to the decision to comfortably win, the scorecards favored O’Malley after a fight where each man had notable moments.
THE BIGGEST WIN OF @SUGASEANMMA'S CAREER!! 🍬 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/NKHUYagNjM
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022
The winner
The winner: McKee vs. Carlyle
The lightweight debut of McKee was one to be remembered.
In what was seemingly one of the quickest escalations of action out of the gates in high-profile MMA history, McKee and Carlyle swung with reckless abandon. Each man landed their fair share of blows.
Carlyle, who is known for his wild, all-offense style, was met by some of his own medicine by McKee. When the fight initially hit the canvas, Carlyle was in an advantageous position. However, McKee leveraged him over in reversal.
In Round 2, McKee utilized his grappling and submission attempts to largely dominate. In a memorable moment of inactivity, McKee pretended to hump the head of Carlyle in response to a potential glove grab during a submission attempt.
It was more of the same in Round 3. McKee remained patient and controlled Carlyle, who pulled off his fair share of reversals. However, McKee always seemed to get the last word through action.
Carlyle was covered in his own blood as the horn sounded, with McKee on his back. The two men embraced moments before the largely lopsided judges’ scorecards read in favor of McKee.
