SINGAPORE—“I told you so,” roared Josh Culibao moments after he took a split decision against Korean Seungwoo Choi in a featherweight bout in the preliminary card of UFC 275 in Singapore last Sunday.
Culibao indeed promised victory—his second straight in the UFC—during media day last June 8.
In the first round, Culibao rocked Choi with a flurry of solid strikes and it looked like the Korean was going down early. But somehow, Choi was able to send Culibao on the backpedal with his own shot.
In the second round, Culibao once more hurt the Korean and sent him to the canvas but again, Choi rebounded.
In the third, Choi was able to get Culibao on his back and tried to slip the choke. The Fil-Aussie attempted an armbar but unable to get a lock on it, he instead managed to keep Choi’s arm away from completing the choke.
With about 15 seconds left in the third and final round, Culibao slipped out and now threw some strikes on Choi’s head. The bell rang and Culibao ran atop the Octagon to celebrate.
Judges Howard Hughes and Evan Field scored it 29-28 for Culibao while Anthony Dimitriou gave it to the Korean, 29-28.
Culibao knocked Choi down twice and had 51 significant strikes to Choi’s 46. He also had 69 total strikes to the 64 of the Korean.
“Choi showed his class and he easily could have won this as well,” said Culibao after the match. “But I was confident that I had this. I’ll say this, these Koreans are tough. It’s no myth.”
With the victory, the Sydney, Australia-born Culibao (his parents hail from both Boracay and Pampanga) raised his mixed martial arts record to 10-1-1 including 2-1-1 in the UFC.
The triumph over Choi is his second as he defeated Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in May of 2021.
“This is a huge second win as it has been a very emotional ride and couldn’t have done it without my team. Hopefully, I can be included in UFC Paris.”