Edson Barboza defeated Makwan Amirkhani in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning, while British heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall added to his burgeoning reputation with a second successive victory in the promotion.
Brazilian Barboza knocked down Amirkhani twice in the second round at Flash Forum to eventually take the bout by unanimous decision, 30-26, 30-27, 29-28.
Meanwhile, Aspinall took out stand-in Alan Baudot with a TKO in the first round, a little less than three months after announcing his arrival in the UFC with a 45-second knockout during the inaugural Fight Island in July. He moves to 9-2 in MMA.
“I felt the fight was good, I felt that my performance was OK, could have been better,” the Englishman said afterwards. “I was stepping in a little bit too close, but I’m still learning, so I’m going to make mistakes in there. Luckily, I didn’t get the consequences of my mistakes, so everything went smooth, thank God.
“It was a lot easier this time, but I didn’t find it too difficult the first time to be honest. It’s not different than any other fight, at the end of the day, I’ve got to get in there and fight a massive guy who is looking to take my head off, every time, whether I’m fighting in the UFC or on a local show, it doesn’t matter. I’m fighting a big, dangerous guy, so I’m nervous every time.
“I’d like to fight –late dropout] Sergey Spivak because I did a full training camp for him and I fought and won and he’s without a fight now. The next time the UFC comes to Fight Island, we should get that on for sure.”
Elsewhere on the main card, Ilia Topuria defeated Youssef Zalal via unanimous decision, Dricus Du Plessis won on debut by seeing off Markus Perez via a first-round knockout, while MarcinTybura took a unanimous-decision victory against Ben Rothwell.
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UFC Fight Night 5 - in pictures
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Cory Sandhagen (R) punches Marlon Moraes of Brazil in their bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Marlon Moraes (R) of Brazil punches Cory Sandhagen in their bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Cory Sandhagen (R) kicks Marlon Moraes of Brazil in their bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Cory Sandhagen (L) kicks Marlon Moraes of Brazil in their bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Cory Sandhagen has his arm raised in triumph after his victory over Marlon Moraes in their bantamweight bout during UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC -
Edson Barboza (L) of Brazil attempts to submit Makwan Amirkhani of Finland in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Edson Barboza (L) of Brazil punches Makwan Amirkhani of Finland in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Makwan Amirkhani (L) of Finland punches Edson Barboza of Brazil in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Edson Barboza of Brazil celebrates his victory over Makwan Amirkhani of Finland in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Marcin Tybura (L) of Poland punches Ben Rothwell in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Ben Rothwell (L) punches Marcin Tybura of Poland in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Marcin Tybura of Poland celebrates his victory over Ben Rothwell in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Dricus du Plessis (R) of South Africa punches Markus Perez of Brazil in their middleweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Dricus du Plessis of South Africa celebrates his victory over Markus Perez of Brazil in their middleweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Markus Perez (L) of Brazil kicks Dricus du Plessis of South Africa in their middleweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Tom Aspinall (L) of England punches Alan Baudot of France in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Tom Aspinall (R) of England punches Alan Baudot of France in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Tom Aspinall of England punches Alan Baudot of France in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Tom Aspinall of England celebrates his victory over Alan Baudot of France in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Ilia Topuria (R) punches Youssef Zalal of Morocco in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Youssef Zalal (L) of Morocco kicks Ilia Topuria in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images -
Ilia Topuria (R) celebrates his victory over Youssef Zalal of Morocco in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
