With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from May 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for May.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
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Nominee: Sean Strickland def. Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328
Nominee: Dooho Choi def. Daniel Santos at UFC Fight Night 276
Nominee: Arnold Allen def. Melquizael Costa at UFC Fight Night 276
Nominee: Alonzo Menifield def. Zhang Mingyang at UFC Fight Night 277
The winner: Joshua Van def. Tatsuro Taira at UFC 328
Joshua Van showed the heart of a champion.
Van (17-2 MMA, 10-1 UFC) overcame Tatsuro Taira’s (18-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) takedowns and battered him on the feet to notch the TKO finish at the 1:32 mark of Round 5 at UFC 328.
Taira started Round 1 with two hard leg kicks. He took a deep shot and landed the double leg takedown. He transitioned straight into full mount then side control. As Van tried to get up, Taira grabbed his neck, but Van broke free. Van landed a jab, followed by a nice combination. Taira connected with another hard leg kick, but Van fired back with a left. Taira level changed and landed another takedown. Van managed to get back up with seconds remaining in the first round, and landed a jab.
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In Round 2, Taira pressed forward with a couple of jabs, then shot for the takedown. Van used the cage to defend and disengaged. Van landed a couple of big right hands as Taira shot for the takedown and got the mount position. He was unable to do any damage as he continued to hold Van down. Taira attempted a D’Arce choke, but Van was able to escape. A huge right hand by Van knocked down Taira at the end of the round.
Van tried to capitalize on a hurt Taira as he defended the first takedown attempt of Round 3. He had Taira backing up with several hard shots as he defended another telegraphed takedown. Van continued to find a home for the jab. He landed a big knee as Taira shot for the takedown, and followed it up with a combination. Taira was eating big shots. Van dropped a bloody Taira with a left jab and jumped on his back for a rear-naked choke, but Taira somehow survived. Van continued to stalk Taira. Taira landed a takedown, but Van popped back up as the round came to a close.
Taira got Van’s attention with a big calf kick, but Van fired back. Taira landed his eighth takedown of the fight, and got the mount once again. Van eventually reversed, but got caught in a triangle choke. Van escaped and landed hard shots. Taira attempted another takedown, but couldn’t get Van down. Van ended the round with two jabs.
Heading into the final round, two of the three judges had the fight scored two rounds apiece. Both fighters came out swinging. Van landed a jab and a right as Taira shot for the takedown. Van sprawled and started to attack the body. He swarmed Taira with punches as the referee intervened to stop the fight. An upset Taira protested the stoppage.
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In his post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan, UFC flyweight champion Van was asked about Alexandre Pantoja who was in attendance for the fight.
“Pantoja, you better get your sh*t right,” Van said. “We can run it back if you want.”
