Dione Barbosa defeats Anna Melisano by Submission
Barbosa vs Melisano — Women's Flyweight · Du Plessis vs. Usman
Watch
More from this fight.
What happened
The result, the defining moments, and what the verdict means.
Barbosa closed distance early and took Melisano down inside the opening exchanges.
She advanced through dominant positions, mixing ground-and-pound with submission attempts.
As Melisano came up, Barbosa leapt to the back and finished with a rear-naked choke at 4:04.
- Official UFC resultsUFC Oklahoma City preliminary results
Who Called It?
How the analysts' picks held up once the cage door closed.
Analyst picks: Adam Martin Hit; Marcel Dorff Hit; Ben Duffy Hit; Keith Shillan Hit; AJ Hit; Mike Finch Hit; Half The Battle Hit; DFS By The Numbers Hit; JakeGerberMMA Hit; James Lynch Hit; The MMA Guru Hit.
All 11 analyst scorecardsWinner, method and round results11 scored · 11 hits · 0 misses
| Predicted by | Pick | Actual | Winner | Method | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · Sub · R1 | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Hit | Hit | |
| Calls Barbosa an easy first-round submission pick against the UFC newcomer. Track record: winner called in 14 of 17 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · Sub · R1 | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Hit | Hit | |
| Backs Barbosa's experience and strength at flyweight for a first-round submission. Track record: winner called in 13 of 16 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · Sub · R1 | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Hit | Hit | |
| Expects Barbosa's clinch and grappling advantage over Melisano to produce an early armbar. Track record: winner called in 13 of 16 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · Sub · R1 | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Hit | Hit | |
| Sees Barbosa's ground advantage as too large and expects her to take Melisano down and submit her quickly. Track record: winner called in 11 of 15 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Takes Barbosa to outgrapple Melisano, citing the physical flyweight matchup and Barbosa's top-control advantage. Track record: winner called in 75 of 109 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Expects Barbosa's UFC experience and grappling to overwhelm the debuting Melisano on the mat. Track record: winner called in 30 of 49 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Picks Barbosa to finish Melisano, emphasizing Barbosa's experience and well-roundedness at the price. Track record: winner called in 40 of 60 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Takes Barbosa to use her physical grappling edge against the short-notice newcomer. Track record: winner called in 77 of 112 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Takes Barbosa's UFC experience and grappling over the debuting Melisano. Track record: winner called in 60 of 90 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · to win | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Not called | Not called | |
| Picks Barbosa, expecting her to win a decision despite no betting interest at the price. Track record: winner called in 26 of 36 resolved picks. | |||||
| Historic market Favourite call, market price 83.5%. Barbosa · Sub | Barbosa · Sub R1 | Hit | Hit | Not called | |
| Picks Barbosa's experience and tested level over Melisano's inexperience, calling a submission win. Track record: winner called in 66 of 99 resolved picks. | |||||
11 of 11 nailed it.
The experts above are a lens, not credentials we conferred — analyst, fighter or betting desk.
Archive Pre-fight material — kept for transparency.
- 9-4-0
- Record
- 6-1-0
- 3-2 last 5
- Recent formRecent formWin–loss record over the fighter’s last five bouts, newest first, as carried in their UFC/FightMetric career stats.
- 5-0 last 5
- 166 cm
- Reach
- —
- —
- StanceStanceWhich side a fighter leads from — a striking term, not a religious one. Orthodox: right-handed, left foot and hand forward (the common default). Southpaw: the mirror image, right side forward (usually a left-hander). Switch: changes between the two during a fight.
- —
- 2.21
- Sig. strikes landed / minStrikes / minSignificant strikes landed per minuteAverage number of significant strikes a fighter lands for every minute of fight time — a read on striking output and pace. From UFC/FightMetric career stats.
- —
- 2.40
- Sig. strikes absorbed / minAbsorbed / minSignificant strikes absorbed per minuteAverage number of significant strikes a fighter takes for every minute of fight time. Lower is better — it means they get hit less often. From UFC/FightMetric career stats.
- —
- 64%
- Striking defenseStrike def.Striking defenseThe percentage of opponents’ significant strikes that do not land — strikes slipped, blocked or evaded. Higher is better. Not the same as striking accuracy, which counts your own strikes that land. From UFC/FightMetric.
- —
- 64%
- Takedown defenseTD def.Takedown defenseThe percentage of opponents’ takedown attempts that are stuffed. Higher means harder to put on the mat. From UFC/FightMetric.
- —
- 11:28
- Avg. fight timeAvg. timeAverage fight timeThe mean length of the fighter’s bouts (minutes:seconds) — a rough read on whether they tend to finish early or go the distance. From UFC/FightMetric.
- —
- Brazil
- Nationality
- United States
- UFC Performance Institute
- Team
- SBG Alabama / Spartan Fitness MMA
Career stats per UFC.com; recent form is each fighter's last five bouts. Numbers reflect records coming into fight night. Bars compare each stat on a fixed scale; the “Edge” marker flags the leading corner where the gap is meaningful. The snapshot plots five career rates — output, striking defense, durability (strikes absorbed, inverted), takedown defense and finish rate — each normalised on its own scale.
Pre-fight analysis — how we saw it going in
Case for Barbosa
Barbosa is the more proven grappler and the only fighter here with UFC wins — judo entries and top control that beat Belbita, Gatto and Kareckaite. Against a short-notice debutant, her Octagon experience and ability to turn the fight into a grappling test are the safest edges in the matchup.
Case for Melisano
Melisano arrives unbeaten in her last five and finishing at will on the regional scene — a knockout, a rear-naked choke and a doctor stoppage among them. On short notice against a UFC Performance Institute grappler the ask is steep, so her path is to keep it standing and swing the debut nerves onto a Barbosa who has stopped only four of nine opponents.
What We Were Watching For
- Debut on short notice: can Melisano handle Barbosa's grappling pressure without a full camp?
- Barbosa's judo against Melisano's power: does the fight live in the clinch or in open-space exchanges?
- Barbosa's finishing drought: a 44% finish rate — does she have the pop to stop a durable debutant, or is this a decision?
- Experience gap: Barbosa has UFC rounds banked, Melisano has none — how much does that tell late?
Comments are currently closed while we finish moderation and privacy controls.