Ilia Topuria took a step up in competition for his first UFC headliner Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. – and passed with flying colors.
For 25 minutes, Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) took it to a tough and durable Josh Emmett (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) before he was named victor by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-42, 49-46). The featherweight bout was the UFC on ABC 5 main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Topuria set the tone early. His approach was methodical, calculated, and explosive. Each combination was thrown with bad intentions. As the fight progressed, the gap between Topuria and Emmett grew.
In Round 4, Topuria battered Emmett with a series of flooring punches. Emmett went down and worked back up against the fence, only to be knocked down again.
Topuria slid into mount but Emmett did just enough to appease the warnings from referee Marc Goddard. At the end of Round 4, Emmett was busted, bloodied, and swollen. His left eye, which had taken accumulated damage from the opening bell, was nearly shut.
How did Emmett survive round 4!? 😲 pic.twitter.com/yhyOBl9xYv
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 24, 2023
After an examination from the cage-side doctor after Round 4, Emmett was cleared to go out for the final round. When he received the news, Emmett pumped up the crowd, who showed their appreciation.
Seemingly reignited, Emmett landed a punch that seemed to briefly stun Topuria. That was the most success Emmett scored in the fight, however, as Topuria went back to his dominant ways en route to the final horn.
Topuria swept the scorecards across the board with the exception of one round on one judge’s cards. There were multiple 10-8 scores and even a rare 10-7.
WHAT A FIGHT, FOLKS!!!!!! 👏👏👏 #UFCJacksonville pic.twitter.com/lIgir9SW4s
— UFC (@ufc) June 24, 2023
After the fight, Topuria indicated he’d like to be next for the winner of the July 8 featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290.
With the victory, Topuria has now won back-to-back fights against UFC-ranked contenders. In December, he dismantled Bryce Mitchell en route to a second-round submission win.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ABC 5 results include:
Ilia Topuria def. Josh Emmett via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-42, 49-46)
Maycee Barber def. Amanda Ribas via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:42
Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa declared no contest (Tafa suffered accidental eye poke) – Round 1, 0:29
David Onama def. Gabriel Santos via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:13
Brendan Allen def. Bruno Silva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:39
Neil Magny def. Phil Rowe via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Randy Brown def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mateusz Rebecki def. Loik Radzhabov via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:36
Tabatha Ricci def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Joshua Van def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Chepe Mariscal def. Trevor Peek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jack Jenkins def. Jamall Emmers via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Sedriques Dumas def. Cody Brundage via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
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