“UFC 223” marked the seventh time Karolina “KK” Kowalkiewicz, 32, of Lodz, Poland fought inside the UFC cage. She also earned her fifth win in the promotion by defeating Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig, 33, of Crystal, Illinois in the strawweight division.

The strawweight bout between Kowalkiewicz and Herrig at “UFC 223” ended after three five-minute rounds. It was left in the hands of the judges who gave a split decision in favor of the Polish fighter.

Two of the judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Kowalkiewicz. One judge scored it 29-28 in favor of Herrig.

In the post-fight interview, Kowalkiewicz dedicated her win to her cancer-stricken stepfather. She said she just won her fight so he should win his fight, too.

Kowalkiewicz’s UFC career started with three consecutive wins. She defeated Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos-Thomas, 32, of Ontario, Canada, Heather “Hurricane” Clark, 37, of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Rose “Thug” Namajunas, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who went on to become the reigning UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.

For the fourth time, Kowalkiewicz won inside the UFC cage on October 21, 2017. She defeated Jodie Esquibel, 31, of Albuquerque via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 118.”

On the other hand, Herrig made a successful UFC debut on December 12, 2014 by submitting Lisa Ellis, 35, of Olympia, Washington via armbar at “The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale.”

Before “UFC 223,” Herrig defeated her four most recent opponents. She submitted Kailin Curran, 26, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii via rear-naked choke, defeated Alexa Grasso, 24, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and Justine Kish, 29, of Los Angeles, California both via unanimous decision and defeated Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona via split decision.

After losing to Kowalkiewicz at “UFC 223,” Herrig now has 14 wins and 7 losses. On the other hand, Kowalkiewicz’s record improved to 12 wins and 2 losses.

“UFC 223” took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 7, 2018. In the main event, undefeated fighter Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, 29, of Dagestan, Russia fought for the UFC Lightweight Championship against Al Iaquinta, 30, of New York City, New York.

In the co-main event, Namajunas defended her title against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, 30, of Olsztyn, Poland in a rematch. Meanwhile, here is UFC President Dana White giving a “UFC 223” recap: