Monthly Report | May 2026

One other thing: his teammate, Quillan Salkilld, is listed below as one of this month’s honorable mentions, having kicked off the month with a first-round stoppage win over Beneil Dariush in their shared hometown of Perth. Shouts to coach Romelo Luistro and the team at Luistro Combat Academy, who are clearly building something special out in WA.

Honorable Mentions: Quillan Salkilld, Carlos Prates, Yaroslav Amosov, Benardo Sopaj, Juan Diaz, Rodrigo Vera, Rei Tsuruya, Luis Felipe Dias, Kai Asakura

Submission of the Month: Alice Ardelean delivers a UFC first (UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Costa)

Whenever you’re the first to hit a particular move in the UFC, you’re going to earn an award for it; those are the rules.

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Ardelean tapped out Polyana Viana late in the second round of their May 16 clash in Las Vegas with a capsule lock, a rare and painful ankle lock that left the Brazilian in obvious discomfort and everyone watching wondering what happened before the replays made things clear.

Stationed in her opponent’s guard in the center of the Octagon, Ardelean took advantage of Viana deploying a body triangle from the bottom and trapped her left foot with her thighs, torquing backwards and creating incredible pressure on the flexed foot of Viana, forcing her to tap. While it was thoroughly unexpected and a first in the UFC, it was absolutely something Ardelean attacked intentionally, and a brilliant way to   offense — and a finish — from that situation.

Submissions usually come in only a handful of styles these days as everyone has developed quality defensive skills and awareness on the canvas, but this was a rare “What was that?” moment that absolutely had to be recognized with the Submission of the Month award.

Honorable Mentions: Kody Steele vs Dom Mar Fan, Wes Schultz vs Ben Johnston, Baisangur Susurkaev vs Djorden Santos, Jim Miller vs Jared Gordon, Grant Dawson vs Mateusz Rebecki, Amosov vs Joel Alvarez, King Green vs Jeremy Stephens, Nicolle Caliari vs Shauna Bannon, Sopaj vs Timmy Cuamba, Diaz vs Wellmaker, Jaqueline Amorim vs Loma Lookboonmee, Tsuruya vs Luis Gurule, Song Yadong vs Deiveson Figueiredo

Knockout of the Month: Kai Asakura clobbers Cameron Smotherman (UFC Macau)

Kai Asakura rose to prominence with devastating finishes in Japan when fighting around the bantamweight limit, but after moving to the UFC, he dropped to flyweight and faltered, losing each of his first two appearances by submission in the second round.

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Sure, one of those was to champion Alexandre Pantoja, but still —it wasn’t the entry into the UFC that many anticipated from the Japanese star, but his performance in Macau was certainly more akin to what he’d previously been known for as he crushed Cameron Smotherman in spectacular fashion.

Fighting at bantamweight in the UFC for the first time, Asakura looked better physically, and his performance was lights out as he closed the distance and took the fight to Smotherman almost immediately. The finishing sequence was kicked off by a faked left uppercut into a switch-stance right hand that landed flush and was wrapped up by a left hand along the fence that put “The Baby-Faced Killa” down for a nap.

Now, it’s important not to get too far ahead of ourselves as — with all due respect to Smotherman —this was a fight Asakura was expected to win, but he looked phenomenal and definitely rekindled the excitement surrounding his addition to the roster. While bantamweight has a ton of talent and the hierarchy is clearly established, I would drop Asakura into a top-15 matchup next time out, just to see if he can replicate this type of performance against someone more experienced and savvier.

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Can I interest you in Kai Asakura versus Marlon “Chito” Vera? Maybe a date with Raoni Barcelos?

Honorable Mentions: Junior Tafa vs Kevin Christian, Brando Pericic vs Shamil Gaziev, Marwan Rahiki vs Ollie Schmid, Khaos Williams vs Nikolay Veretennikov, DooHo Choi vs Daniel Santos, Vera vs Zhu Kangjie, Haddon vs Aoriqileng, Sergei Pavlovich vs Tallison Teixeira

Fight of the Month: Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira shine in flyweight title clash (UFC 328)

There was a lot to like about the flyweight title fight that served as the co-main event at UFC 328, as Van and Taira paired off in what will probably be the first of at least a couple of fights between the young standouts and delivered the type of battle that provided a bunch of insights into who each of them is as competitors.

Taira had tremendous success early, using his wrestling to get the champion to the canvas and keep him there for most of the opening nine minutes before Van worked back to his feet and stung the challenger in the waning moments of the second. He then put it on Taira in the third, busting him up and hurting him badly before oddly opting to chase a submission finish, which didn’t materialize.

Not only did Taira survive, but he rallied as well, continuing to wrestle well in the fourth, showcasing his tenacity and heart before Van came out of the corner like a man possessed to begin the fifth, finding the finish 92 seconds into the round to wrap up his first successful title defense.

While we saw that both men have things to continue working on, they also showed poise in massive moments, precision in their area of expertise, and the kind of all-around excellence that should keep them in the championship picture for the foreseeable future. These are two of the best young talents in the sport, and this was an incredible fight that showcased just how impressive the next generation can look inside the Octagon.

Honorable Mentions: Steve Erceg vs Tim Elliott, Roman Kopylov vs Marco Tulio, Choi vs Santos,