UFC Jacksonville results: Biggest winners, loser from ‘Emmett vs. Topuria’ last night

UFC Jacksonville went down yesterday (June 24, 2023) inside VyStar Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., featuring a headlining Featherweight scrap that saw Ilia Topuria absolutely dominate and brutalize a tough-as-nails Josh Emmett for 25 minutes (see it again here). In the co-main event, Maycee Barber took it to Amanda Ribas in a bloody women’s Flyweight bout, stopping her in the second round via technical knockout (TKO).

Biggest Winner: Ilia Topuria

“El Matador” put on perhaps the best performance of his career by brutalizing Emmett for five rounds, putting on a masterclass in the boxing department. Topuria’s attach was crisp, tight with little to no wasted movement. There were times where I felt I was seeing flashes of a young Cain Velasquez in there. Credit to Emmett, he took Topuria’s best and kept on ticking, but perhaps he was too tough for his own good because he was left battered an bruised and will be feeling it for days to come. But that’s what true warriors are made of. But It’s Topuria’s time to shine and he should expect a huge leap in the rankings into the Top 5. There are some, Daniel Cormier included, who feel that “El Matador” should get the winner of Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez, which is set for UFC 290 in July, and I am not one who is going to go against that argument.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Runner Up: Maycee Barber

Barber also put in her great performance in what was a back-and-forth bloody affair against Ribas. Barber has always been known for her pace, but when she has her foes hurt she goes into another gear. And that’s just what she did when she busted up Ribas during the fight. Seeing blood was almost a motivate to take it to another level for “The Future,” who took several big shots and was busted up herself in the fight. Still, Barber prevailed and ultimately put away the Brazilian bomber in round two. Barber will now crack the Top 10 after picking up her fifth straight win to go along with a $50,000 post-fight bonus award. She was once touted as a “Future” champion, and over the last two years she has shown why, especially with her latest conquest.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

Biggest Loser: Zhalgas Zhumagulov

Just when you think it couldn’t happen again, Zhalgas Zhumagulov lost his third straight split-decision, this time coming up short to UFC newcomer, Joshua Van. It was the fact that he couldn’t catch a break on the judges scorecards that Zhumagulov teased an early retirement, only to come back and lose another one. To be fair, I felt it should’ve been unanimous for Van, but that fact that it was split will keep Zhumagulov up at night contemplate his future. It’s a future that may not continue inside the Octagon because he has now lost four straight and six of seven overall inside the Octagon.

For complete UFC Jacksonville results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.