Alonzo Menifield Takes Split Decision Over Iwo Baraniewski at UFC 331
Alonzo Menifield won a close one with a broken thumb and a late push.
The light heavyweight veteran beat undefeated Iwo Baraniewski by split decision on Saturday at UFC 331 inside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The cards read 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28. Two judges gave Menifield the last two rounds. One judge gave the Polish prospect the first and the third.
Menifield injured his thumb in Round 1 and kept throwing anyway. He showed the damage after the fight and still finished the 15 minutes on his feet.
Baraniewski had never seen a second round as a professional. He was 9-0 with every win ending inside the first five minutes, including UFC knockouts of Ibo Aslan, Austen Lane, and Junior Tafa.
The first round looked like the version of Baraniewski that arrived as a favorite. He beat Menifield to punches and won that frame on all three cards.
Then the fight stretched. Menifield kept coming. Baraniewski slowed. The veteran started landing the heavier shots as the minutes piled up.
Menifield entered as a sizable underdog at 38. He had just stopped Zhang Mingyang in May and now has back-to-back wins.
The decision moved him to 19-6-1. Baraniewski fell to 9-1 and took the first loss of his career.
Media scorecards split the same way the cageside judges did. Some saw Menifield’s late work as enough. Others thought Baraniewski’s early damage and volume still covered the night.
Menifield called his opponent awesome afterward and downplayed the thumb. He said his problems do not compare with what homeless people face.
That is the veteran version of Atomic. He does not sell the injury. He sells the fact that he stayed in the pocket with it.
Baraniewski still has the power that flattened three UFC opponents in Round 1. Saturday answered a different question. His gas tank and his decision-making past the five-minute mark are now on tape.
A first loss at 27 does not erase a knockout streak. It does change how the 205-pound division books him.
Menifield is a month from 39. Ranked around No. 14 coming in, he is not jumping into a title conversation on a split decision.
He is staying employed and collecting another upset that younger finishers were supposed to prevent.
No rematch or ranked follow-up has been announced. Baraniewski will have to prove the first 15-minute fight of his career was a lesson and not a ceiling.
Menifield already proved he can win ugly with one hand screaming at him. That has been his UFC story for years. On Saturday it was just louder.