What was expected to be a high-octagon co-main event at UFC Winnipeg had bantamweights Charles Jourdain and Kyler Phillips facing off.
Canada’s Jourdain went into the bout looking at it as an opportunity to break into the top 15, given Phillips had previously been ranked. “The Matrix,” meanwhile, said this week that he wasn’t focused on the numbers.
The two all-action fighters kicked things off for the Winnipeg crowd, with Phillips applying pressure early. Jourdain drew some oohs and ahhs with his first flying knee of the night, living up to his nickname, “Air Jourdain.” Disregarding the flashiness, Phillips continued to push forward, landing the first takedown of the fight.
Having submitted four of his past five opponents, Jourdain threw up a triangle choke from the bottom, but to no avail. Phillips used the opportunity to advance position, transitioning forward on the ground.
After around three minutes of control from Kyler Phillips, Jourdain was able to return to his feet, swarming the American with a number of strikes. Some damage began to show around Phillips’ eye as a close, competitive round came to an end.
More pressure from Phillips followed in round two, as he found an early trip to bring Jourdain back to the mat. The Canadian stayed tricky off his back, eventually working his way up while landing strikes in the process.
The temperature turned up in the back half of round two, with Phillips looking a bit spent after absorbing several shots to the body from Charles Jourdain. Trying to shore up his defense, Phillips leaned on his weight to hold Jourdain along the cage, but it wasn’t long before the Canadian slipped free and opened up with heavy striking.
With 30 seconds left in the round, Jourdain threw everything he had at Phillips to put a stamp on it, including a rolling thunder kick that just missed as the clock hit zero.
Likely even at 1–1 after two rounds, it was anyone’s fight heading into the third. Phillips opened well on the feet, lulling Jourdain into a sense of security before changing levels for a takedown.
It was short-lived on the ground for Phillips, but once Jourdain got back up, the American continued to find success on the feet, even as Jourdain seemed to catch a second wind.
Another flying knee came from Jourdain in an attempt to shift the momentum of round three, but Phillips smartly used his grappling to tie up the off-balanced Canadian and bring him back down.
Impressively, Jourdain made it back to his feet once more, using a kimura grip to rotate out from underneath Phillips. He went back to the flying knee again- this time landing clean on Phillips’ left eye, cutting him open in the biggest moment of the fight. Jourdain pressed forward with a flurry, knocking Phillips off balance multiple times before partially landing another rolling thunder as the final seconds ticked away.
With the fight going to the scorecards, the hometown fighter, Charles Jourdain, was awarded a unanimous decision victory, setting himself up for ranked opposition next. Jourdain moves to 18-8-1, with three consecutive victories to his name. On the other side, Phillips drops to 12-5-0, facing his third straight loss since defeating Pedro Munhoz back at UFC 299.
Official Result: Charles Jourdain def. Kyler Phillips via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3)
