UFC Fight Night 230 results: Barboza defeats Yusuffa, Alexeeva loses to Dixon

The bout went the full distance, with the judges giving the Brazilian the win twice by unanimous decisions of 49-46 and 48-46 at the end of five rounds.

Already in the first minute of the match, Yusuff shocked his opponent with a powerful left hook followed by a right jab, putting Barboza in survival mode as he tried to stay in the fight. After holding on until the break, the Brazilian was able to level the fight in the second round, but in the third five-minute round, the Nigerian was on the verge of an early defeat when he missed Barboza’s signature leg kick from the turnbuckle.

In the fourth round, the clearly tired fighters continued to trade counter punches, and in the final five minutes, Barboza finally took control of the fight with a couple of successful takedowns and dominating his opponent in the clinch at the net.

In the second major event of the event, Brazilian Viviane Araujo put her career back on track after two straight losses, defeating her compatriot Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision.

In other results, Brazilian Michel Pereira made a successful debut in the middleweight division, finishing American Andre Petroski, who was riding a five-fight win streak in the UFC, by technical knockout in the 66th second of the fight.

The only Russian participant of the tournament, Irina Alekseeva, as promised, pleased domestic fans by entering the octagon with the national flag, but not by her own performance, losing by unanimous decision 30-27 and 29-28 twice to Englishwoman Melissa Dixon.

“Russian Ronda” managed to knock her opponent down in the first round, and in the final five minutes effectively threw her over her hip, but those were the only successes for the Russian in a fight that was generally controlled by Dixon, who dominated Alexeeva both in the standup and in the parterre.

Jonathan Martinez, Darren Elkins and Terrence McKinney all earned early victories.

All results from UFC Fight Night 230.