Contender Series alum, Ko Seok-Hyun has turned in a shock win tonight in his Octagon-proper debut at UFC Baku, handing fan-favorite welterweight, Oban Elliott a unanimous decision defeat in the pair’s featured preliminary card outing.
Ko, who fought in September of last year the Apex facility, earned a unanimous decision win over Igor Cavalcanti on the Contender Series — and made his debut tonight in Azerbaijan against Welsh contender, Elliott.
And suffering just his third professional defeat, Elliott found himself on the wrong side of a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeat after landing four consecutive victories including his own Contender Series success.
Landing in the Octagon off the back of a decision win over Kaik Brito, Elliott had turned in a trio of victories over Val Woodburn, Preston Parsons, and an impressive knockout over Bassil Hafiz at UFC 309 last year.
With tonight’s decision defeat, Elliott must return to the drawing board for the first time since he dropped a second round knockout loss to Madars Felminas four years ago under the banner of Cage Warriors.
