Four years after he lost to Edson Barboza, Paul Felder got his revenge.
The UFC 242 co-main event between Felder (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Barboza (20-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) was a rematch of their July 2015 fight.
In the first meeting, Barboza outpointed the up-and-coming Felder en route to a unanimous decision victory. The bout was entertaining enough in the eyes of the promotion to earn the UFC on FOX 16 “Fight of the Night” honor.
The rematch saw much of the same excitement and violence as the first meeting, but ultimately had a different outcome.
Midway through the opening round, both men were wearing the barrage of strikes they absorbed. A swollen Barboza used his jab to bust Felder’s nose early, and an inadvertent clash of heads only made the situation more messy.
In the second round, Felder returned the favor after Barboza scored an unusual takedown. “The Irish Dragon” utilized sharp elbows from his back to split open Barboza. Both men had their moments in Round 3, visibly pushing their cardio in the sweltering arena.
The judges’ scores were tallied and all three differed. While one judge saw the bout 30-27 in favor of Barboza, the other two scored it 29-28 and 30-27 in favor of Felder.
The victory is Felder’s second straight. He has won five out of six outings since February 2017. For Barboza, the loss is his second in a row and the fourth in his last five contests.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 242 results include:
- Paul Felder def. Edson Barboza via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
- Islam Makhachev def. Davi Ramos via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Curtis Blaydes def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (ground and pound) – Round 2, 2:22
- Diego Ferreira def. Mairbek Taisumov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
- Joanne Calderwood def. Andrea Lee via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Lerone Murphy declared split draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)
- Sarah Moras def. Liana Jojua via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:26
- Ottman Azaitar def. Teemu Packalen via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:33
- Belal Muhammad def. Takashi Sato via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:55
- Muslim Salikhov def. Nordine Taleb via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:26
- Omari Akhmedov def. Zak Cummings via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Don Madge def. Fares Ziam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
