UFC 318 results: Patricio Freire notches first win in promotion with decision over Dan Ige

USA Today

20-07-2025

Patricio Freire now has a win under the UFC banner after getting past Dan Ige.
Freire (37-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC), one of best champions from the Bellator era, won his sophomore appearance in the UFC by winning a unanimous decision (29-29, 29-28, 29-28) over Ige (19-10 MMA, 11-9 UFC). The featherweight bout served as the second fight on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
The fight started off at a methodical pace as neither fighter rushed the feeling-out process. "Pitbull" secured a nice takedown sequence midway through the round as the first big action of the fight. Ige did well to prevent damage and scrambled to his feet. Freire leaped forward with a knee for a nice connection, but the crowd wasn't very happy with the overall offering in the opening frame.
Round 2 started off at a similar slow pace, but Ige offered a good combination. The boo birds continued to chirp as the fight reached the midpoint of the round. That's when things changed out of nowhere. "Pitbull" cracked Ige with a hard left hand, dropping him to a knee. The swarm from Freire was on, but Ige survived the moment. Although the finish was no longer in play, Freire kept the pressure on with a nice takedown with some ground and pound before heading back to the stools.
Needing to change the fight in a hurry, Ige cracked Freire with a hard head kick early in the final round. Freire held on to avoid follow-ups, though. A low kick from Ige paused the fight momentarily, but on the restart, Freire kept Ige busy with takedown attempts, and caught a kick to bring the fight to the ground until the final horn.
All three judges scored the first two rounds for Freire and the final for Ige.
With the win, Freire successfully rebounds from his UFC debut loss to former interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 in April. "Pitbull" entered the UFC on he heels of a Bellator title defense against Jeremy Kennedy last March. On the other side, Ige fails to keep momentum going after a third-round finish of Sean Woodson, which also took place at UFC 314.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 318 results