Fight Coverage
Monthly Report | September 2024
Highlighting The Breakout Efforts From The Past Month Inside The Octagon
As we shift into the final quarter of 2024, this is the time of year when those of us that love spreadsheets and building lists start laying out all the candidates for the different year-end awards that will be doled out in December.
The opening nine months of action inside the Octagon have been excellent, and while a couple award races feel largely wrapped up, there is no category where all the podium spots have been cemented, and each month, another new addition to the gold, silver, and bronze discussions seems to pop up.
Order UFC 307: Pereira vs Rountree Jr.
This month was no different.
The three September events delivered a little bit of everything, including the standout efforts highlighted below in this month’s edition of the Monthly Report.
Breakout Performance: Bryan Battle
“The Butcher” went to Paris, carved up Kevin Jousset to push his unbeaten streak to four, and then dropped a classic ‘80s professional wrestling heel promo that punctuated his performance and elevated his profile.
Bryan Battle Post-Fight Interview | UFC Paris
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Bryan Battle Post-Fight Interview | UFC Paris
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Battle has been a diamond in the rough with intriguing upside since his time in Season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter, where he was the last pick of Team Volkanovski and went on to win the middleweight competition. Since relocating to the welterweight ranks, the North Carolina native has gone 4-1 with one no contest, earning finishes in each of those victories and showing improvements the whole way through.
UFC PARIS REWIND: Final Results | Battle's Octagon Interview
The fight with Jousset felt like a perfect representation of all those elements coming together, as he warmed into the contest and eventually cranked the temperature up on the New Zealand-based welterweight to where he could no longer stand the heat. It was as if Battle went into the fight wanting to get through the first round, feel out the power and physicality of Jousset, and go from there, and once he made those reads, he started applying the pressure, forcing the Frenchman to wilt.
But what took this from a strong showing in the Octagon to a real breakout performance was the way Battle carried himself throughout the week, on his walk to the Octagon, and after the fact.
Draped in gold chains and bleached blonde hair, the 30-year-old was happy to play the loathsome heel all week, feeding off the boos and general “enemy territory” vibes that come with being an American in Paris fighting a French athlete. He walked out to a Jay-Z and Kanye West track that, as it says in the song, courtesy of a sample from the Will Ferrell movie Blades of Steel, “It’s provocative… it gets the people going.” As soon as he won, Battle put his chains back on and went all Rick Rude during his WWF years on the audience.
It was perfect.
On a night that featured some dynamite finishes and big, meaningful performances, Battle was the one everyone was talking about most, and that’s how you know it was the best breakout performance of the month.
Honorable Mentions: Chris Padilla, Steve Garcia, Ketlen Souza, Norma Dumont
Submission of the Month: Ketlen Souza clubs and subs Yazmin Jauregui (UFC 306)
Midway through the opening round of the Noche UFC clash between Souza and Jauregui, referee Jason Herzog called the two women to the center of the Octagon, laying out that each had connected with a low blow to the other and that hopefully no more pauses in the action for accidental fouls would be needed.
They weren’t, because 24 seconds after the second restart, the fight was over, and Souza was celebrating her second straight UFC victory.
RELATED: Scenes Inside Sphere For UFC 306
As the action resumed, both women came out looking to attack, and as they squared up to throw simultaneously, a rapid left hook from Souza connected with Jauregui’s jaw and sat her down on the canvas. When she went to stand back up, Souza attacked the neck, sinking in the rear-naked choke before using the choke to find her way to the back and lock things up completely.
Within seconds, Jauregui was asleep.
This was one of those finishes where you know the fight is over as soon as the hold is applied, as Souza was all the way under the neck and clamped onto the choke before Jauregui had any chance to react. Though she did the right thing to pull the top hand of her Brazilian foe off her head, Souza wisely adjusted to a Gable grip, squeezed, and put the Mexican prospect to sleep.
Souza is an interesting fighter to watch going forward, as her last five fights have come across three different weight classes — atomweight, flyweight, and strawweight — and she’s 4-1 in that stretch, which includes winning the Invicta FC atomweight title, losing her UFC debut up a division against a dangerous Karine Silva, and then consecutive victories since returning to action and settling in at strawweight.
There is a ton of talent in the 115-pound weight class, but not a lot of competitors that have the power to sit you down the way Souza did Jauregui, and the quickness and wherewithal to latch onto the choke in transition the way she did either.
Just a superb effort all around.
Honorable Mentions: Nathan Fletcher vs. Zygimantas Ramaska, Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marotte, Cody Durden vs. Matt Schnell, Souza vs. Jauregui, Chris Duncan vs. Bolaji Oki, Ailin Perez vs. Darya Zhelezhnyakova
Knockout of the Month: Farès Ziam knees Matt Frevola (UFC Paris)
The thing that made this the obvious choice for Knockout of the Month for me was that you saw the finish coming step-by-step and yet it was still far more devastating than most imagined it would be.
Already ahead on the cards in their main card opener in Paris, Ziam started lining up the elevated knee while in a back waist lock position with Frevola along the fence. He used his right arm to frame off Frevola’s head, forcing him downward as he brought his right knee up with force to meet it, and the BOOSH!
Knee. Jaw. Out. Crash.
The last knee I can remember being set up and delivered that clearly, that cleanly was when Anthony Smith knocked out former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans in a similar manner along the fence in their UFC 225 matchup in Chicago. In each case, you could see in real time what the attacking fighter was thinking, what they were setting up, and then when they fired off the knee, the fight was instantly over.
Ziam is one of these fighters that people should be talking about a little more and paying closer attention to in the lightweight division at the moment, because the 27-year-old has quietly put together a quality four-fight winning streak and 6-1 mark over his last seven fights after dropping his promotional debut. He learned how to utilize his incredible height and length for the division much more effectively, and you can see that he trusts his skills inside the Octagon far more each time out.
RELATED: Ziam's Post-Fight Interview
As was noted on the broadcast, Ziam walked to the cage with more purpose, more focus, more intensity this time around than he had at any other point in his career, and it stems, I think, from posting consecutive wins over Michal Figlak, Jai Herbert, and Claudio Puelles before getting the opportunity to have the biggest fight of his career to date on home soil.
He went into this fight looking to make a statement and boy did he ever. “Smile Killer” is not one to be taken lightly going forward in the 155-pound weight class.
Honorable Mentions: Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson, Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres, Morgan Charriere vs. Gabriel Miranda
Fight of the Month: Esteban Ribovics edges out Daniel Zellhuber (UFC 306)
This fight felt like a rollercoaster ride: it took a little time to climb that first incline, and during that time, the tension mounted and the butterflies in everyone’s stomach started dancing, and then once the cars tipped over that initial peak, it was ups and downs and twists and turns with only a couple very momentary respites before the action ramped back up.
From the time this fight was announced, expectations were that it would be in the mix for Fight of the Night at Noche UFC because, stylistically, these two are just made to be great dance partners. Ribovics is an aggressive power puncher that has no interest in dialing back the intensity or taking a little something off his strikes, while Zellhuber is a little more open to leaning on the technical side of things, using his length, and trying to chip away at his opponents from range death by a thousand cuts style.
As they got rolling, each had their moments, and the fight felt even heading into the final stanza. Zellhuber landed the first big blow, staggering Ribovics with a chopping elbow, only for the Argentine to respond with something even stiffer that put his Mexican counterpart on the back foot. Ribovics couldn’t put Zellhuber away and the latter even had a little more success late in the frame before the final horn sounded and the crowd at Sphere gave them the raucous ovation they had rightfully earned.
Ribovics came out on the happy side of the split decision verdict, but this was one of those fights where no one really lost, as the stock of both men was elevated, and each should continue to be involved in quality barnburners like this going forward.
Honorable Mentions: Joshua Van vs. Edgar Chairez
UFC 306: O'Malley vs Dvalishvili took place live from Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 14, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
