SCOTTISH lightweight Stevie Ray picked up the biggest win of his UFC career after he battled to the finish with England’s Ross Pearson in the co-main event at UFC Belfast.
The duo traded punches and kicks throughout a highly competitive 15 minutes, with each round keenly contested.
Indeed, the fight was so close that the three judges who scored the contest weren’t just split, they were miles apart.
While two judges were in agreement that Ray won the contest by three rounds to one (30-27), the third judge saw it in Pearson’s favour, also by three rounds to one.
The result gave Ray the biggest win of his UFC career, while it sent Octagon veteran Pearson to his third straight defeat.
After the bout, Ray said: “I was obviously a bit depressed after my last fight, but I got straight back in the gym and just started training again. I just knew how important it was to get back in the win column.
"Ross is a really high level guy who has been in the UFC for years, so I have a lot of respect for him. I feel like I won the fight. I feel like I landed some shots on him that were really hard.
"Ross is a veteran, but I tried to just listen to my coaches and not get too frustrated, although it was frustrating at times.
"I like exciting fights. I want to put on a show for the fans. I’ll fight anyone in the UFC. They seem to do a good job of matchmaking me. Anyone they give me I’ll fight."
And a crestfallen Pearson was left in disbelief after losing out on the scorecards once again.
“I can’t believe this happened again. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know what I have to do.
"I didn’t get hit, I knocked him down once, I ended up in the clinch trying to take him down, he ran away the entire fight, he didn’t finish with anything, I landed more than him.
"One judge gave me a 30-27, how can it be a split decision win for him?
"I don’t know what’s next. I’ll have to sit down and speak to my family, but I can’t keep doing this. I’m not going to keep coming in here and getting these bad decisions.”
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