UFC Fight Night 33 results: Bethe Correia takes close split from Julie Kedzie

BRISBANE, Australia – In a spirited battle that ended with both fighters swinging away at the final horn, Bethe Correia did just enough to edge out a split-decision win over MMA veteran Julie Kedzie, notching scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.

The women’s bantamweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 33 event at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Australia. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 2 and MMAjunkie.

The first round set the tone for the fight, as Kedzie wasted no time getting busy with a variety of kicks while Correia scored repeatedly with the left hook. Each round seemed too close to call from there, with perhaps only a Correia takedown or two making the difference down the stretch.

“I can’t put into words how happy I am,” Correia said. “Julie was the favorite fighter and I beat her. This win will have to put me up in the division – she was ranked eighth (in the UFC), so hopefully I can progress more from here.”

Kedzie, though, thought she did enough to get the win.

“I kind of thought I won that fight,” Kedzie said. “She took me down, but I got back up right away. Nothing surprised me about that fight except the judges’ decision. I think I edged it out.”

Correia (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) remains undefeated with the victory in her UFC debut. Kedzie (16-13 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has now dropped two straight in the octagon.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 33 results include:

• Bethe Correia def. Julie Kedzie via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Takeya Mizugaki def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-28)
• Caio Magalhaes def. Nick Ring via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Justin Scoggins def. Richie Vaculik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:43
• Krzysztof Jotko def. Bruno Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Alex Garcia def. Ben Wall via KO (punches) – Round 1, 0:43

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on-site in Brisbane.