UFC Fight Night: Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria Recap

Ilia Topuria defeats Josh Emmett via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-42, 49-45)

Ilia Topuria just had one of the most dominant performances over five rounds in recent memory. Chris Lee even went as far as to score round four as a 10-7 for Topuria, totaling a 50-42 scorecard. The story of this contest was how Ilia was able to land at will; his complete control of the range in this fight allowed him to do so. He dropped Emmett on multiple occasions and nearly finished the fight toward the end of the fourth round.

Despite being drilled with Ilia’s best shots, Josh Emmett found a way to survive until the fifth round. Not only was he still willing to march forward and compete, but the Jacksonville crowd also got behind him as soon as they realized his resiliency. The fifth round began with a firey barrage from Emmett as “U.S.A.” chants rained down from the stands. Topruia showed great composure however, took Emmett to the ground, and ended the fight on top.

Ilia admitted in his post-fight interview that he was surprised at Emmett’s durability, even going as far as to say he expected to knock him out in the first round:

In reality, I would have expected to have knocked him out in the first round but the guy’s really really tough. I want to say thank you to Josh, who brings so much energy inside the cage

Ilia Topuria post-fight UFC Jacksonville

Flyweight Bout: #9-Amanda Ribas (125) vs. #11-Maycee Barber (126)

In the co-main event of the evening, we had one of the most entertaining fights of the year. Maycee Barber, who had been written off by many after dropping two consecutive fights, had arguably the best win of her career. Maycee’s strength proved to be too much for Ribas, as she landed flush with a head kick before following up with ground and pound to finish the fight.

It feels like I just warned the whole 125-pound division that I’m back and I’m coming for all these finishes

Maycee Barber post-fight UFC Jacksonville

Other results

David Onama and Gabriel Santos went to war in a featherweight bout that saw both men in trouble at points. This was one of the more highly anticipated scraps on this card and it more than delivered. After some wild back-and-forth action, Onama stepped in with a beautiful short uppercut and put Silva out cold. Onama even paid homage to Israel Adesanya with the same bow and arrow celebration he used after knocking out Alex Pereira.

Brendan Allen continues to impress as he picked up his fifth consecutive victory inside the octagon. Bruno Silva was able to rock Allen on the feet early, but Brendan’s ability to recover allowed him to regain control of the fight. He eventually weathered the storm and came back to get a submission victory, and owned the moment on the microphone immediately following the win.

UFC lightweights, look out for Mateusz Rebecki. The Polish fighter picked up his fifteenth consecutive victory, chewing up the legs of Loik Radzhabov before landing a devastating left hand to finish the fight.

We also had one of the wildest and most reckless displays of violence in modern UFC history in the third fight of the evening. Chepe Mariscal earned a 30-27 unanimous decision victory, but that doesn’t mean Trevor Peek took it easy on him. While the bout had a handful of huge momentum swings, Mariscal was more or less the one swinging the hammer. On multiple occasions, Peek would be rocked and then proceed to swing his arms wildly, seemingly going for a combination of standing hammerfists (???). It truly is one of those things that you just have to see for yourself; credit to both men for putting on a wildly entertaining contest.