Dan Ige had to survive some big shots from Edson Barboza tonight at UFC On ESPN 8, but fearlessly kept the pressure up for the full fifteen minutes to claim a split decision victory.
Round One:
Right and left hook from Ige to start. Knee upstairs from Barboza. Ige wading forward again with hard punches. left hook from Ige.
Elbow strike from Barboza and then a right hand lands too and Ige drops to the mat! Barboza follows him to the mat and starts landing blows, but Ige seems to be alert.
Barboza dropping down big punches now and Ige is eating a lot of shots here, but survives again.
Ige manages to get up now. Ige back to wading forward with hooks and now a solid kick. Barboza with a leg kick now.
Solid body punch from Ige. Now a jab. body kick from Barboza. Ige swings and misses on a hook. Right hand now and an inside leg kick. Inside leg kick from Barboza.
left hand from Barboza seems to back Ige up for a moment, but then he throws a head kick in return as he tries to keep the pressure on the Brazilian.
Ige working hard and into the clinch now against the cage. Barboza gets away though. Hard right hand lands for Ige.
Body kick from Barboza. Good knee from Barboza as Ige presses forward. Outside leg kick from Barboza. Ige with a head kick that’s blocked to end the round.
Round Two
Ige working a series of jabs and then firing off both his left and right. Body kick from Barboza. Ige lands a leg kick.
THudding leg kick from Barboza. Jabs for Ige and then a body punch as he moves into the clinch against the cage. Barboza gets the thai clinch and lands a knee upstairs. Ige gets away through.
Ige closes the distance again and Barboza lands a hook. Hard overhand right from Ige. hard hook from Ige and then another. Well done from him and Barboza is bleeding from the bridge of the nose now. Power leg kick from Barboza.
Leg kick for Ige. Body kick for Barboza. Another hard kick. left hook for Ige. Barboza looking for the clinch. Body punch from Ige and an elbow to the head from Barboza.
Ige looking for a takedown now, but Barboza does well to stuff though and now he’s working to set up an anaconda choke. Ige recognises it and escapes to his feet. Left hook connects for Barboza.
Punch lands for Ige, but Barboza counters with a body kick and that seemed to hurt Ige and he looks wary for the first time in the fight. Barboza presses onwards and gets Ige to the mat. Barboza landing some ground and pound to end the round.
Round Three:
Body kick from Barboza. Ige with a left hook. jab from Ige. Body punch from Ige, but Barboza lands a nice body kick at the same time.
Barboza lands punches. Another kick from Barboza strays towards the cup but we’re ok to the continue. Winging right hook from Ige. Now a left hook. Leg kick for Ige. Kick from Barboza as Ige goes for punches.
Another leg kick from Barboza. Straight left for Ige. BOdy punch now. Barboza clinches up and lands a knee to the body and then pushes Ige to the cage.
Barboza lands a big body punch and Ige seemed to wilt from that and tries to go for a takedown, but doesn’t get it. Hard punch lands from Ige to show he’s still dangerous.
Another left hand for Ige. Hard leg kick for Barboza. Big swing and a miss from Ige. He goes for a front kick, but Barboza blasts him with the jab first.
Jab for ige and then into the clinch against the cage. He’s trying for a takedown and nicely lands it. Two left hands land for Ige. Good spot for Ige late in the fight and he lands a little ground and pound and tries to improve his position, but in the end opts to just stay on top until the final horn.
Decision:
Close fight then and in the end it’s Ige who gets the nod from two of the judges to win by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29).
