Nigeria's Sodiq Yusuff laments UFC loss to Edson Barboza

In the opening round of his bout with Sodiq Yusuff at UFC bout Night 230, Edson Barboza was on the verge of losing, but he pulled through to win.

The 37-year-old was repeatedly knocked down by Yusuff in the first minute, but the Brazilian-American survived and went on to dominate the next rounds and the fight as a whole.

Barboza won by unanimous decision with scores of 49-46 and 48-46 after controlling the bout from the second round.

In an effort to counter the initial onslaught and take down by Yusuff, the UFC veteran attacked him with almost 100 body shots.

Yusuff was ultimately disappointed not to get the job done in the first round, where he felt he could have been more clinical.

In a report by Eurosport, Yusuff after the fight said, “I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit disappointed.

“Usually, I try to stay optimistic but this one hurts deep. It hurts pretty deep. I’m going to be back for sure.

“I think I could have picked my shots a little bit better to get him out in the first round. I got a little bit overzealous but it is what it is.

"I’m still a young guy in the game. It sucks to lose to an OG but he is an OG at the end of the day.

“I used to watch Edson as a kid, so the fact that me and him got to put on, which I think is a performance of the night kind of fight, it’s ok.”

Yusuff is now on a losing streak and will aim to return to winning in 2024.