LAS VEGAS – Esteban Ribovics beat Kamuela Kirk with a unanimous decision Saturday to open up the preliminary card at UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Ribovics, who rallied from a rough first round to win the second and third for his first UFC victory.
Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
Result: Esteban Ribovics def. Kamuela Kirk via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Ribovics (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Kirk (12-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Key stats: Kirk had more than five minutes more control time, most of which came in the first round. But Ribovics went on to stuff 11 of 14 takedown attempts.
Ribovics on the fight's key moment
“I never felt it was any position that was really tight. I knew I was losing the round, but I had to calm down and make sure that I didn’t put myself in a worse position than I already was. I kind of settled in and I just basically had to delete it off my memory and just go for the second round.”
Ribovics on his weight cut
“Honestly, you didn’t see the best out of me. I had a pretty hard and tough weight cut. I think it kind of took the air out of me a little bit. I have to be really professional in the upcoming months till the next fight so you can actually really see who I am. Then I will be able to show you exactly what I’m capable of. I had a couple things in my life just outside (fighting) that kind of played a part in (my bad weight cut). I think the cardio part, I should have maybe toned that down a little earlier than I did. There’s just some fine-tuning that needs to happen.”
Ribovics on what he wants next
“I just want to make sure that I fight toward the end of the year. I still want to go back and work on my wrestling work and the ground game. I just really want to fight before the end of December.”
To hear more from Ribovics, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.
