Edson Barboza survived an early scare to emerge triumphant over Sodiq Yussuff in the featherweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Yussuff bossed the first round, wobbling Barboza in the first exchange and stunning him with combination boxing to verge on a first-round finish. However, the Brazilian survived thanks to Yussuff’s decision to go for a takedown, slowing the pace of the fight down.
Round 2 saw Barboza recover and bring himself back into contention, and he then moved ahead in Round 3 with a near-finish thanks to his trademark spinning wheel kick – though he then also handed his opponent time to recover by going for a submission finish which he couldn’t execute.
The judges sided with Barboza in the next two rounds, resulting in scorecards reading 48-46, 48-46 and 49-46 for the veteran.
“I was really dizzy. I didn't know if I was in the gym or the house or playing with the kids," Barboza said during his post-fight interview of the first round. "I didn't know what the f*** was going on.”
He also praised Yussuff: “He's one of the best in the world. He never gave up like me in the first round.”
Yusuff was deeply disappointed in his performance but fondly reflected on how he idolised Barboza.
"I think I could have picked my shots better in the first round to get him out of there," Yusuff said. "I used to watch Edson as a kid. To put on what I believe is a Fight of the Night, it's okay.”
The rest of the main card saw Viviane Araujo outpoint Jennifer Maia in a women’s flyweight fight; Jonathan Martinez stopped Adrian Yanez in the second round of their bantamweight clash; Michel Pereira made quick work of Marc-Andre Barriault with a first-round TKO in the middleweight division; and the catchweight opener saw South Africa’s Cameron Saaiman suffer his first professional defeat, going down by unanimous decision to Christian Rodriguez.
Next weekend brings UFC 294 from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on the evening of Saturday 21 October, headlined by a lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza – Main card results
- Main event: Featherweight: Edson Barboza def. Sodiq Yusuff via unanimous decision (48-46 48-46 48-46), R5, 5:00
- Women’s flyweight: Viviane Araujo def. Jennifer Maia via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Bantamweight: Jonathan Martinez def. Adrian Yanez via TKO (leg kick), R2, 2:26
- Middleweight: Michel Pereira def. Marc-Andre Barriault via TKO (punches), R1, 1:06
- Catchweight: Christian Rodriguez def. Cameron Saaiman via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28), R3, 5:00