UFC: Dan Ige spoils Edson Barboza’s featherweight debut with big split decision win
- Ige makes it six wins in a row at featherweight and calls out Yair Rodriguez, Jeremy Stephens, Calvin Kattar, and ‘The Korean Zombie’
- The 28-year-old tells UFC president Dana White to tune in – ‘if you didn’t know, now you know’
The featherweight division “shark tank” has a new contender after Dan Ige dispatched 145-pound debutant Edson Barboza by split decision at UFC on ESPN on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Ige (14-2), who is now on a six-fight win streak, secured the win despite being dropped in the first round from a Barboza (20-9) right hook. All three judges scored the fight 29-28, two of them for Ige.
The 34-year-old Barboza, who dropped down from the lightweight division, also landed a painful-looking body kick but finished the final round defending Ige’s ground and pound. Barboza is now on a three-fight losing streak.
“I woke up and was freaking shaking dude,” Ige said, describing what it was like to fight one of MMA’s most dangerous strikers. “But when I get to the arena, I don’t care who’s in front of me. I get my win.
“That’s six in a row. It’s not easy to do in the shark tank that is the featherweight division.”