With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from May 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for May.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Nominee: Dooho Choi def. Daniel Santos at UFC Fight Night 276
Nominee: Jason Jackson def. Jeff Creighton at MVP MMA 1
Nominee: Robelis Despaigne def. Junior Dos Santos at MVP MMA 1
Nominee: Asael Adjoudj def. Keisuke Sasu at PFL Brussels
The winner: Carlos Prates def. Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Fight Night 275
Carlos Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC) put on one of the most impressive performances of 2026 with a masterclass against Jack Della Maddalena (18-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC).
Prates started his early attack with leg kicks, as Della Maddalena stalked him. Prates landed a jab, and Della Maddalena fired back with a body shot. Prates landed a left hand, followed by another leg kick. Della Maddalena threw a leg kick of his own. Now Prates started pressing forward. Prates connected with another hard leg kick then a liver shot. Della Maddalena landed a combination, but ate another body kick. Prates landed a big knee. With 30 seconds remaining in the round, Della Maddalena landed a takedown with ease.
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In Round 2, Della Maddalena kept Prates on his backfoot again. Prates cracked Della Maddalena with another hard knee. Della Maddalena landed a couple of jabs then shot for a takedown, which he landed. He jumped on Prates’ back for the rear-naked choke, but got overzealous and was shucked off. Della Maddalena landed a nice uppercut and a right hook, then shot for another takedown.
Della Maddalena stormed forward with a combination, but wound up getting caught on the counter. Prates landed big shots, but Della Maddalena hung tough. He fired back with a shot that got Prates’ attention. Prates continued to find a home for the knee, and threw in a a step-in elbow. He ended the round by dropping Della Maddalena with a leg kick, which had him badly hurt and limping to his corner.
Prates tried to capitalize on the momentum by pressing forward to start Round 3. That prompted Della Maddalena to shoot for a takedown, but Prates defended well. Prates cut Della Maddalena with an elbow. Prates started to overwhelm Della Maddalena, dropping him twice with strikes. Prates continued to unload on Della Maddalena with elbows. Prates dropped Della Maddalena again with a leg kick, then finished him with ground-and-pound.
In his post-fight octagon interview with Michael Bisping, Prates called for the winner of the expected title fight between champion Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry. His goal is to become the first Brazilian UFC welterweight champion.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Knockout of the Month for May 2026: Carlos Prates torches JDM
