Alex Oliveira, Mark Smith (©UFC)

Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, 32, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was one of the winners at “UFC 248.” It was the Brazilian mixed martial arts veteran’s 10th win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Featuring 11 MMA matches, including two title bouts, the UFC held “UFC 248” at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on March 7, 2020. In the seventh bout of the evening, Oliveira competed against Max “Pain” Griffin, 34, of Sacramento, California, USA in the welterweight division.

Mark Smith served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the welterweight contest was left in the hands of the judges.

Two judges saw it 29-28 in favor of the fighter in the red corner while one judge scored it 29-28 in favor of the fighter in the blue corner. In the end, Smith raised the hand of Olivieira, who was declared the winner via split decision.

Losing to Olivieira downgraded the professional MMA record of Griffin to 15 wins and 8 losses. On the other hand, the Rio de Janeiro native now has 21 wins, 8 losses, 1 draw and 2 No Contests.

Including Brazil and the U.S., 12 other countries were represented at “UFC 248.” The others were Argentina, China, Cuba, Denmark, Georgia, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia and the U.S.

Griffin was one of the 10 representatives of the U.S. Olivieira was one of the two fighters who represented Brazil.

In the main event of the evening, UFC Middleweight Champion Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya, 30, of Auckland, New Zealand successfully defended his belt from Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero, 42, of Pinar del Rio, Cuba and Miami, Florida, USA. The Nigerian-Kiwi champion won via unanimous decision.

In the co-main event, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, 32, of Olsztyn, Poland challenged UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion “Magnum” Zhang Weili, 30, of Hebei, China. The Chinese defending champion won via split decision.

Born in Rio de Janeiro on February 21, 1988, Oliviera has been competing professionally since 2011. The first nine UFC opponents he defeated were KJ Noons, Joey Merritt, Piotr Hallmann, James Moontasri, Will Brooks, Tim Means, Ryan LaFlare, Carlos Condit and Carlo Pedersoli.