- Moraes gets a slender nod against his compatriot
- Aldo was furious with the decision and quickly left the ring
Marlon Moraes was awarded a narrow split decision win on the judges' scorecards against Jose Aldo, spoiling the 33-year-old's bantamweight division debut at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Moraes edged a slender win over a reinvigorated Aldo (28-6), a decision that didn't go down well with the Vegas crowd or Aldo.
Moraes (23-6-1), coming off the back of a loss to bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo last time out, launched his onslaught immediately as he landed a series of punishing head kicks on the advancing Aldo.
Aldo, a former three-time UFC featherweight champion, took a little while to find his feet at the new weight, but steadily warmed to his task and dominated the middle round, twice shaking his opponent.
It seemed like the decision was going to go down to the final round and with Aldo consistently the aggressor and Moraes beginning to mark up badly, Aldo clearly thought he had done enough down the home straight, even raising his hands in triumph as the seconds ticked away in the third stanza.
But it wasn't to be for the veteran, who made seven successful defences as featherweight champion, as he lost the call and hastily departed the ring, visibly upset by the judges' decision.
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.