Misha Cirkunov loses UFC split decision in drop to middleweight

Light Heavyweight fighter Misha Cirkunov is seen during the UFC official weight in in Richmond, B.C., Friday, Sept. 13, 2019 (Jonathan Hayward/CP).

LAS VEGAS -- Canadian middleweight Misha Cirkunov, moving down from light-heavyweight, lost a split decision to Poland's Krzysztof Jotko on a UFC Fight Night card Saturday.

The judges scored it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Jotko (23-5-0), who raised his record in the UFC to 10-5-0.

"I was a little bit scared but when I took him down at the end I knew I won the fight," said Jotko, who bodied Cirkunov down to the ground in the dying seconds.

It was a close fight with UFC Stats crediting both fighters with 41 significant strikes over three rounds. Cirkunov, a Latvian-born Toronto fighter who has trained out of Las Vegas in recent years, completed five of 17 takedown attempts while Jotko was good on 1-of-3.

Jotko, bouncing back from a loss to Sean (Tarzan) Strickland in May, has now won four of his last five -- a run that includes a split-decision win over Canadian Marc-Andre (Power Bar) Barriault in July 2019

Cirkunov (15-7-0) has lost three out of his last four and fell to 6-5-0 in the UFC after winning his first four outings in the promotion. His last seven fights (three wins, four losses) had all ended in the first round.

In the all-Brazilian main event at the UFC's Apex production facility, Thiago Santos won a 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 decision over Johnny Walker.

Santos (22-9-0) is ranked fifth among 205-pound contenders while Walker (18-6-0) is No. 10.

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