Former lightweight contender Edson Barboza made his featherweight debut against Hawaiian standout Dan Ige at tonight’s UFC on ESPN 8.
Barboza (20-8 MMA) entered tonight’s contest looking to rebound, this after suffering back-to-back losses to Paul Felder and Justin Gaethje respectively. The Brazilian’s most previous win had come back in December of 2018 when he TKO’d Dan Hooker.
Meanwhile, Dan Ige (13-2 MMA) entered UFC on ESPN 8 on a five-fight win streak, his latest being a hard fought split-decision victory over Mirsad Bektic at UFC 247 in February.
Tonight’s highly anticipated featherweight bout lived up to the billing as Ige and Barboza proceeded to go to war for the few folks in attendance and thousands watching at home. Dan Ige found early success in round one before Barboza dropped the Hawiian with a punch. After landing some ground and pound, the Brazilian opted to take the fight back to the feet and shortly after we headed to round two.
In the second round Ige was able to land a solid early combination that had Barboza in trouble. The Rio de Janeiro product would recover and battle back to make the second frame a very competitive five minutes.
In round three the stiff competition continued. Barboza found early success on his feet, but Dan Ige took the fight to the floor and did some solid work before the horn sounded to end round three.
Official UFC on ESPN 8 Result: Dan Ige def. Edson Barboza via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
Check out how the pros reacted to Ige defeating Barboza below:
Excited for this one Barboza vs Ige up next! And guess what I’m getting Ige on a tough match! #UFCFL
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1261846496921649153
Whoa! Barboza looked to have a hematoma on his cheek after that 1 at round! #UFCFL
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) May 17, 2020
Damn that face is swollen
— Randa Markos (@randamma) May 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/Nikohybridprice/status/1261847451549552643
Back and forth nice fight #UFCFL
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1261847958737354753
What a scrap #UFCFL @Dynamitedan808
— Tim Elliott (@TElliott125) May 17, 2020
Holy moly this fight is so freakin good! Both are so technical, fast and powerful. #UFCFL
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) May 17, 2020
Boom that was a slam!!
— Funky (@Benaskren) May 17, 2020
Hell of a fight.
— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) May 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/tatianaufc/status/1261850625517580289
Fuck that was sick fight
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) May 17, 2020
Looking like a 29-28 win for Barboza with the new weight cut!
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) May 17, 2020
Bro!! These judges suck!!! #UFCFL
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) May 17, 2020
Great job @Dynamitedan808 #UFCFL
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) May 17, 2020
Awesome fight #UFCFL
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) May 17, 2020
Ige fought a hell of a fight! But……
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) May 17, 2020
Who would you like to see Dan Ige fight next following his split decision victory over Edson Barboza at tonight’s UFC on ESPN 8 event in Jacksonville? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on May 16, 2020