The Hit List: Can’t-Miss Fights of May

No more perceived softballs for Bo Nickal.

The undefeated American Top Team export on May 3 will draw his most challenging assignment to date in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he faces Reinier de Ridder in the UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. A four-time NCAA All-American wrestler and three-time national champion at Penn State University, Nickal has enjoyed a smooth changeover to mixed martial arts. His 7-0 record includes a 4-0 mark in the UFC and features victories over Paul Craig, Cody Brundage, Valentine Woodburn and Jamie Pickett. De Ridder represents a significant increase in degree of difficulty. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder has rattled off three straight wins, two of them as a member of the UFC roster. De Ridder, 34, last saw action at UFC 311, where he put away Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their Jan. 18 encounter. He has secured 17 of his 19 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

The Nickal-de Ridder showdown is but one must-see fight in May. Here are seven more:

Phil Davis vs. Rob Wilkinson
PFL 2025 World Tournament 4
May 1 | Orlando, Florida
Davis remains a primetime player for the Professional Fighters League, even as he navigates life in his 40s. The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler now throws his hat in the ring and begins the chase for $500,000 in the PFL light heavyweight quarterfinals. Davis, 40, enters his promotional debut on the heels of nearly 700 days of inactivity, having last competed under the Bellator MMA banner in June 2023. Victories over Lyoto Machida (twice), Yoel Romero, Glover Teixeira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexander Gustafsson highlight the extensive “Mr. Wonderful” resume. Wilkinson figures to provide substantial resistance. The 2022 PFL champion has compiled an 8-1 record with one no contest over his past 10 outings.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Thursday, May 1 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot
UFC 315
May 10 | Montreal
Shevchenko has begun her second reign as undisputed UFC women’s flyweight champion. “Bullet” reclaimed the 125-pound crown and evened her head-to-head series with Alexa Grasso at UFC 306, where she was awarded a five-round unanimous decision on Sept. 14. The road ahead looks to be fraught with danger for the 37-year-old Shevchenko, and it starts with a long-awaited showdown against the clear No. 1 contender at the Bell Centre. Fiorot, 35, steps up to the plate on a 12-fight winning streak. However, the French karateka has not competed since she outpointed Erin Blanchfield to a five-round unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 54 some 13 months ago.

Paul Hughes vs. Bruno Miranda
PFL Europe 1
May 10 | Belfast, Northern Ireland
Professional Fighters League power brokers appear to be ready, willing and able to throw their promotional muscle behind Hughes. The ex-Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder possesses the blend of talent and charisma over which organizations often fawn, and the results thus far have been promising. Hughes, 28, made his PFL debut in October, when he took a split decision from A.J. McKee as part of the company’s first pay-per-view event. He returned to the cage three months later to challenge the undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight crown, and though he lost a contentious majority decision to the Russian, he boosted his stock further while doing so. Next on the Hughes itinerary: this headlining assignment opposite Miranda, a Nova Uniao product who has won eight of his past 10 bouts.

Salahdine Parnasse vs. Marian Ziolkowski
KSW 106
May 10 | Lyon, France
Parnasse, an ambitious two-division champion, has emerged as one of the current faces of the Poland-based Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki promotion. The 27-year-old Frenchman takes his first test of 2025 when he puts his lightweight title on the line against Ziolkowski, a short-notice replacement for the injured Marcin Held. Parnasse has posted seven wins across his past eight assignments, losing only to Adrian Bartosinski in a failed bid to strike gold in a third weight class. The Atch Academy cornerstone sports 12 finishes—seven by submission, five by knockout or technical knockout—among his 20 professional victories. A well-traveled 36-fight veteran, Ziolkowski has not suited up since a shoulder injury resulted in a TKO loss to Wilson Varela at KSW 93 a little over a year ago.

Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales
UFC Fight Night 256
May 17 | Las Vegas
Morales can complete his transformation from highly regarded prospect to full-fledged contender with one more win. The Venezuelan carries a perfect 17-0 record that includes his five victories inside the Octagon. Morales, 25, last fought at UFC on ESPN 62, where he wiped out “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny with punches 4:39 into their Aug. 24 battle. It was his eighth first-round finish and put him in position to make a move on the welterweight elite. In his way stands Burns. The Kill Cliff Fight Club rep and onetime title challenger at 170 pounds steps back into the spotlight on a career-worst three-fight losing streak. “Durinho” last saw action on Sept. 7, when he wound up on the wrong side of a five-round unanimous decision against Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 242.

Mansour Barnaoui vs. Archie Colgan
PFL Europe 2
May 24 | Paris
The Professional Fighters League stands to benefit from Bellator’s investment in Colgan, an unbeaten homegrown talent on the rise. The 29-year-old Denver native wrestled collegiately at the University of Wyoming, where he was a two-time NCAA qualifier and racked up 111 victories for the Cowboys. Colgan made a seamless transition to mixed martial arts and owns a perfect 11-0 record, with nine of those bouts having taken place under the Bellator banner. He heads into his first headlining opportunity on the heels of a three-round unanimous decision over Manoel Sousa at Bellator Champions Series 5 in September. Barnaoui, 32, sports 21 finishes among his 22 wins as a pro, 15 of them by submission. The Frenchman has held titles in the M-1 Global, Road Fighting Championship and British Association of Mixed Martial Arts organizations.

Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber
UFC on ESPN 68
May 31 | Las Vegas
It feels as though they have been on a collision course for years. Blanchfield and Barber, two of the bright young stars of the women’s flyweight division, are set to do battle at the top of the bill as the UFC closes out the month. The stakes are undeniably high for the two participants, both still in their mid-20s. Blanchfield, 25, has won 10 of her past 11 bouts, a unanimous decision defeat to current No. 1 contender Manon Fiorot in March 2024 her only setback. A decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and onetime Eddie Bravo Invitational winner, she holds submission victories over J.J. Aldrich, Molly McCann and Jessica Andrade. Not to be overshadowed, Barber has reclaimed her position of prominence at 125 pounds after a serious knee injury threatened to derail her career in 2020. The 26-year-old Greeley, Colorado, native has pieced together a six-fight winning streak since being outpointed by the aforementioned Grasso at UFC 258 four-plus years ago.