UFC Fight Night 172: Andre Fili narrowly edges past Charles Jourdain in thrilling encounter

In the lone featherweight clash of the UFC event today, we saw Andre Fili take on Charles Jourdain. The fight was the third fight on the main card of the UFC event and was a step-up fight for the younger prospect, Charles Jourdain, who took on a more experienced fighter in Andrei Fili. It was one of the better fights on a seemingly lackluster card.

Well - this will be fun 🍿 #UFCVegas2 pic.twitter.com/uJc5cayZiT

— UFC (@ufc) June 14, 2020

Andre Fili entered the fight after dropping a unanimous decision Sodiq Yusuff in his last fight. This was Andre Fili's 15th UFC fight and he entered the octagon with a record of 20-7. His UFC outing was an important one this time around cause a loss to a younger prospect tends to push fighters down by a lot.

Charles Jourdain entered the fight on a relatively positive note having secured a big win in his last fight when he defeated Doo Ho Choi. Charles Jourdain entered10-2 the fight with a record 10-2 with a UFC record of 1-1. This was an important fight for Jourdain as it was his opportunity to prove that he was someone who could take on higher-ranked UFC fighters and that his win against Choi was a legit one.

Andre Fili defeated Charles Jourdain by split decision

BY SPLIT DECISION! 💪 @TouchyFili gets the close decision from #UFCVegas2. pic.twitter.com/vfv1qgHX2S

— UFC (@ufc) June 14, 2020

The opening round of the fight saw an aggressive start from both the fighters. Charles Jourdain unleashed a series of kicks on Andre Fili. The round was action-packed. Most gave it against Andrei Fili because of the volume Charles Jourdain was throwing.

Round two is where the split decision nature of the fight becomes clear. Both Andre Fili and Charles Jourdain again delivered a high volume action round. The two threw a lot of strikes so it became a bit difficult to score who landed what.

The final round was pretty tilted towards Andre Fili. He used takedowns to establish control and got a sharp edge over the younger prospect.

Andre Fili defeated Charles Jourdain via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

In the post-fight interview, Andre Fili said he didn't feel he performed as hard as he could but made it clear that he felt he won the fight, "I don't understand. I really feel like I didn't perform as hard as I could have, but I'm my hardest critic. I don't know how you could see that fight and score it for him." Andre Fili also added that he now wanted a higher ranked fighter, "I want a big name. I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm a regular UFC fighter and I'm not a regular UFC fighter."