Topuria, Barber dazzle in UFC Fight Night

MANILA, Philippines – The $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus might have a bitter taste for Josh Emmett. After all, he was brutalized by Ilia Topuria for five rounds in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida last Sunday. 

And at age 38, Emmett is now coming off a second consecutive loss (the previous defeat was to Yair Rodriguez, who submitted him in the second round with a triangle choke), and one wonders if he should hang it up.

That is for another day. 

For now, Topuria is being feted as a top challenger to UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Topuria, who hails from the country of Georgia, teed off on Emmett and after five rounds, made the latter’s face barely recognizable. Although Emmett showed a lot of heart in trying to hold on and fight, it was a one-sided bout in favor of Topuria and it reflected on the judges’ scorecards, 50-42, 50-44 and 49-45. Topuria thus notched his 14th win overall — while remaining undefeated — and sixth straight in the UFC.

"I was expecting to knock him out in the first round, but the guy is really, really tough,” noted Topuria of Emmett after the unanimous decision win. “I want to say thank you to Josh for bringing so much energy inside the cage. I showed once again that no one can match my level of skill inside the cage. I want what I deserve, which is to take the UFC belt. I want to show Alex (Volkanovski) his world is going to end and mine is going to start."

This fight was Topuria’s third straight bout where he took home the $50,000 bonus (first fight of the night with two previous performances of the night awards).

Emmett’s record fell to 18-4.

In the co-main event, women's flyweight #11 Maycee Barber stopped Amanda Ribas in the second round and ran her win streak to five with a second-round stoppage win. 

Ribas came out strong, but Barber defended well and bloodied her up in the first round, then both engaged in scrap until Barber got on top and finished by TKO. 

Said Barber, who should now receive some respect after her win over a Top 10-ranked foe, "I think I just warned the whole 125-pound division, I'm back! I feel like Amanda and I made it fight of the night. I'm a shark, when I see that blood, I'm coming for it. My coach all week said 'I see a head kick' and I put that across her face so I feel really good. I'm going to keep warning these girls!"

For her strong effort, Barber (now at 13-2-0) was given the performance of the Night Award and bonus along with David Onama, who knocked out Gabriel Santos in the second round of their main card bout.

It was a disappointing loss for Ribas who after winning her first four UFC matches has alternated with a loss then a win in the last five fights.

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