Canada's Misha Cirkunov loses split decision in move down to middleweight
Judges score it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Jotko, who raised his UFC record to 10-5-0
Canadian middleweight Misha Cirkunov, moving down from light-heavyweight, lost a split decision to Poland's Krzysztof Jotko on a UFC Fight Night card Saturday.
The judges scored it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Jotko (23-5-0), who raised his record in the UFC to 10-5-0.
"I was a little bit scared but when I took him down at the end I knew I won the fight," said Jotko, who bodied Cirkunov down to the ground in the dying seconds.
It was a close fight with UFC Stats crediting both fighters with 41 significant strikes over three rounds. Cirkunov, a Latvian-born Toronto fighter who has trained out of Las Vegas in recent years, completed five of 17 takedown attempts while Jotko was good on 1-of-3.
A close fight goes the other way<br><br>Krzysztof Jotko takes a split decision over Misha Cirkunov tonight at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFCVegas38?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFCVegas38</a> <a href="https://t.co/kJZGX8QMdA">pic.twitter.com/kJZGX8QMdA</a>
—@UFC_CAJotko, bouncing back from a loss to Sean (Tarzan) Strickland in May, has now won four of his last five — a run that includes a split-decision win over Canadian Marc-Andre (Power Bar) Barriault in July 2019.
In the all-Brazilian main event at the UFC's Apex production facility, Thiago Santos won a 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 decision over Johnny Walker.
Santos (22-9-0) is ranked fifth among 205-pound contenders while Walker (18-6-0) is No. 10.
