Edson Barboza showed tremendous resolve and determination in a majority decision win over Danny Castillo in a featured bout on the UFC on FOX 9 prelims.
Barboza was dominated in the opening round, getting rocked, wobbled and bloodied by Castillo, eating 48 strikes along the way.
The Brazilian withstood the attack and rebounded in the final two rounds, outstriking Castillo 38-19 in the final 10 minutes and hurting him with several kicks to the body.
Many thought the fight would be called a draw, but despite the dominant first round from Castillo, only one judge scored it 10-8, which resulted in the majority decision.
Barboza improved to 13-1 and has now won three straight in 2013. Castillo, meanwhile, dropped to 16-6 and lost for just the second time in home state of California.
Canadian Sam Stout makes UFC history in win
Also on the prelims, rising welterweight Ryan LaFlare improved to 3-0 in the UFC and 10-0 as a pro after handing TUF 11 winner Court McGee a loss via unanimous decision. The win was LaFlare’s second in the last five weeks; the Lindenhurst, N.Y., native beat Santiago Ponzinibbio last month in Brazil.
In flyweight action, former Bellator champion Zach Makovsky defeated UFC and WEC veteran Scott Jorgensen by unanimous decision. Makovsky is now 3-0 at 125 pounds and an emerging title threat. It was Makovsky’s UFC debut.
Abel Trujillo put on an impressive performance in a TKO win over Roger Bowling. Trujillo landed 43 significant strikes and five takedowns in 6:35 en route to stopping Bowling early in the second round. The two fought to a no contest in August after Trujillo landed what was deemed to be an illegal knee and Bowling couldn’t continue. Bowling is now winless in his last four bouts.
Bobby Green used a combination of speed and crisp boxing to take a unanimous decision over veteran Pat Healy.
In the opening bout of the evening, Alptekin Ozkilic picked up a win in his UFC debut, defeating Darren Uyenoyama by split decision. Ozkilic is now 9-1 and a highly touted prospect in the flyweight division. Uyenoyama, who was stopped by Joseph Benavidez in April, has now lost two straight in the UFC.
