Ilia Topuria Upends Tough Josh Emmett To Take Lopsided Decision at UFC on ABC 5

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Ilia
Topuria passed the toughest test of his career Saturday after
outclassing Josh Emmett
(50-44, 50-42, 49-45) in the
UFC on ABC 5 main event at Vystar Veterans Memorial Stadium in
Jacksonville.

Coming in ranked No. 9 in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight standings, Topuria
(14-0) has been stellar throughout his five fight UFC run, but a
showdown against No. 5 Emmett was a clear step up in competition.
Both fighters willingly kept the fight on the feet and Topuria took
advantage. Using short, efficient crisp counters, Topuria pierced
Emmett on the feet and had the former interim title challenger
leaking blood early in the bout.

Emmett’s (18-4) toughness was on full display, but the 38-year-old
contender was a step behind “El Matador” all evening. Topuria’s
efficiency forced Emmett to rely heavily on haymakers and out of
range combinations. As the fight went on, Topuria mixed in heavy
leg kicks to further break down Emmett’s guard.

Despite dropping Emmett multiple times throughout the fight, the
finish never came for Topuria, but the performance was a
masterclass. Topuria should easily have a place waiting for him in
the Top 5 and a potential title shot could be in the near
future.

Surging Barber Continues to Impress

In the co-main event, flyweights Maycee
Barber and Amanda
Ribas stole the show with a high-paced gritty war that left
both fighters blood soaked after two rounds.

No. 11 ranked Barber (13-2) spent little time blooding No. 9 Ribas
in Round 1 and nearly ended the fight after dropping the Brazilian
with a barrage of punches. Ribas lasted the round and almost turned
the tables on Barber in the second frame.

With Ribas coming on strong and drawing some blood of her own,
Barber once again put together a collection of shots to wobble and
floor Ribas for good. Barber would stamp her place in the Top 10

with a few finishing blows that forced referee
Keith
Peterson to step in with 1:18 left in the round. Barber’s win
was fifth straight since her February 2021 loss to current champion
Alexa
Grasso.

Eye Poke Halts Anticipated Slugfest

The lone heavyweight showdown of the day between Austen Lane
(12-3 1 No Contest) and Justin Tafa
(6-3, 1 NC) was over before it started. Referee Dan Miragliotta
called the bout a “no contest” after Tafa took an awful, but
accidental, poke to his right eye early in the first round. After
receiving five minutes to recover, Tafa’s eye looked even worse and
it was clear that he couldn’t continue.

Onama Shines for Factory X

Whatever was said in David
Onama’s corner after the first round was exactly what he needed
to hear. The “Silent Assassin” made some noise in the featherweight
division after brutally knocking out Gabriel
Santos in the second round (4:13) Saturday afternoon.

Onama (11-2) had issues finding his preferred stance against Santos
and his debut fight with Factory
X looked to be in danger. Whenever Onama fought from an
orthodox stance he would repeatedly eat overhand rights over his
74-inch jab, but when Onama switched to southpaw, he had
difficulties with Santos left straight. On the ground, Santos kept
Onama cautious with dangerous armbar attempts and went back to his
corner feeling confident.

The beginning of the end started with a pair of thudding elbows
from Onama midway through the second round,
Santos’ lights were officially shut off after Onama
landed a right hand from the basement that put Santos out cold,
giving Onama his third win in his last four fights.

Allen Conquers Silva in Slugfest

No. 13 ranked middleweight Brendan
Allen has called for a Top 10 matchup and one could be coming
his way soon after finishing Bruno Silva
in the first round of their 185-pound showdown on Saturday.

Allen weathered Silva’s storm early but took some heavy shots
before landing some of his own.
Allen put Silva flat on his back with with a right hand before
finishing him off with a rear-naked choke at the 4:39
mark. Allen had a big wish list post fight and called for a title
shot with UFC middleweight kingpin Israel
Adesanya or a title eliminator bout against Jared
Cannonier. Allen’s won his last five fights and his last three
by rear-naked choke.

Continue Reading »
UFC Jacksonville Prelims: Van Dazzles in Octagon Debut