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Dan Ige is on a hot streak in the UFC. Going up against a lightweight legend in Edson Barboza, who dropped a weight class down to featherweight for the pair's fight at UFC on ESPN 8 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, Ige knew he wasn't going to get through this hurdle easily, and he was right.
In a back and forth featherweight war that lasted three rounds, Ige managed to get his hand raised via split decision, with two judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor while the third official handed the bout to Barboza 29-28. This was the greatest scalp in Ige's professional MMA career. In the post-fight interview, Ige had some words of respect and admiration for Barboza.
“I did my best to go in there and grind and push. Edson’s a tough guy. One of the best in the world."
Dan Ige and Edson Barboza went to war against each other at UFC on ESPN 8
The fight kicked off in a frantic pace as Ige flew off the gates, launching a barrage of heavy-handed shots on the Brazilian, who tried to cover up to minimalize damage. However, it didn't take long for the tide to turn Barboza's way as he retorted with a nasty cross that sent Ige crashing down on the canvas. Barboza pounced at the opportunity to take advantage of a wounded Ige, laying some vicious ground and pound but Ige showed great heart to survive the onslaught.
In the second round, even though Ige started off well, Barboza took over towards the end, landing a devastating knee flush on Ige's body. Trying to survive the round, Ige shot desperately for Barboza's legs but failed to land the takedown and fell prey to some more hammer fists from the Brazilian.
Ige tried to hit Barboza with everything he had left in the tank in the last round, throwing a few nasty overhand punches that would have put the latter to sleep if they connected cleanly. In the closing moments, Ige finally managed to secure a takedown and pounded away at Barboza from the top position until the bell rang to signal the end of the contest. started blasting away at Barboza with punches from the top.
Ige is on a six fight winning streak inside the Octagon at the moment and expressed the desire to fight the top guys in the featherweight division in the near future.
“That’s six in a row. I want the best guys in the world. I want the Yair’s [Rodriguez]. I want the [Jeremy] Stephens. I want the [Calvin] Kattars. I want the “Zombies” [Chan Sung Jung].”
