The UFC middleweight division was on display at UFC 297 and two contender hopefuls battled for positioning as Chris Curtis and Marc-Andre Barriault met in the octagon.
Round one began at a very stagnant pace compared to the rest of the card. Barriault chose to be strictly a counter-striker with Curtis getting frustrated with him. At one point Curtis turned his back to Barriault, walked away, turned and threw his hands up as to say ‘I thought we were going to fight’. The rest of the round Curtis accepted the role of being the one to lead the dance.
Round two Barriault picked up the pace as he began to land on Curtis and causing clashes. Barriault attacked the body with the kicks forcing Curtis to be the counter striker in a very close fight. At the end of the round the crowd booed the fighters with Curtis reacting to them with his hands up as if he was saying, ‘what more do you want?’.
Round three began like round two, but picked the pace up about halfway through. The rest of the round was a series of clinches with shots landed by both in very close. Phone booth fighting in the last 30 seconds and this one turned out to be very hard to judge.
Official Result: Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via Split Decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
