Kirk vs Ribovics

Who won Kirk vs Ribovics?

Esteban Ribovics beat Kamuela Kirk by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of UFC 290, on Saturday 8th July 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Esteban Ribovics.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

Kirk vs Ribovics stats

Kamuela Kirk stepped into the octagon with a record of 12 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 6 by submission.

Esteban Ribovics made his way to the cage with a record of 11 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 5 by submission.

Kamuela Kirk's UFC record stood at 1-2-0, while Esteban Ribovics' came in at 1-1-0.

The stats suggested Ribovics had an advantage in power over Kirk, with a 55% knock out percentage over Kirk's 42%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Kirk had a slight advantage over Ribovics, with a 50% submission rate over Ribovics' 45%.

Kamuela Kirk was the older man by 3 years, at 30 years old.

Ribovics had a height advantage of 1 inch over Kirk. Despite this, he had 6-inch reach advantage.

Kirk was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 4 more fights, and made his debut in 2014, 1 year and 10 months earlier than Ribovics, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 7 more professional rounds, 33 to Ribovics' 26.

Kirk vs Ribovics form

Kirk had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Damon Jackson at UFC Fight Night on 12th March 2022 by submission in the 2nd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Makwan Amirkhani at UFC Vegas 28 on 5th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Daniel Swain at LFA 107 on 14th May 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round at Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls.

Before that, he had defeated Guilherme Santos at LFA 97 on 15th January 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Hartman Arena, Park City.

He had been beaten by Bruno Souza at LFA 84 on 10th July 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls.

Activity check

Kirk's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 9 months and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Kirk vs Ribovics?

Kamuela Kirk was a 13/10 (+130) underdog going into the contest, while Esteban Ribovics made his way into the ring at 31/50 (-160) with oddsmakers.