LAS VEGAS – Melissa Dixon beat Irina Alekseeva with a unanimous deccision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 230 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Dixon, who stayed unbeaten with a win in her UFC debut.
Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon
Result: Melissa Dixon def. Irina Alekseeva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Dixon (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Alekseeva (5-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC)
Key stats: Dixon had more than eight minutes of control time in the fight.
Dixon on the fight's key moment
“I’m annoyed at myself because before the fight, I was like, ‘I want to show everyone that I’m not your typical female.’ I like a ‘ding-dong’ – I like a scrap. And yes, I did that. But I felt like I did that in a very scrappy way. I like to think that I’m a more technical fighter than I gave in my performance.”
Dixon on Alekseeva allegedly holding her gloves
“Yes, my grappling was all right. I could have done even more, I think, in my grappling, but she was holding on to my gloves. So (me not getting a finish) needs (an asterisk) over it. I’m happy I won my UFC debut. Molly McCann messaged me earlier in the week saying be the first English female to win their debut, and I’ve done that, so yay to me. I want to give a better performance next time.”
Dixon on what she wants next
“I don’t have an opponent and I don’t have a date. I’m not going to be like, ‘Get me back in there as soon as possible’ because I’m not ready for jumping in there in six weeks’ time. I want to go back, build a bit more confidence in my ability to showcase to whoever’s watching this interview right now and whoever watched that fight, when I go in there next time, I’m not going to be so sloppy and I’m not going to be coming out to an interview like this, being so hard on myself.”
To hear more from Dixon, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 230.
