Marc-Andre Barriault, the Canadian middleweight fighter, secured a remarkable and long-awaited victory on home soil for the first time in his UFC career. Barriault’s flawless performance earned him a unanimous decision triumph over Eryk Anders (15-8, 1 NC) on Saturday, opening the main card of UFC 289, which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Unfortunately, Barriault lost his first two UFC fights in Canada, but he managed to turn the tables this time.

From the start of the fight, Barriault dominated the octagon and set the tone in round one with a body kick-right hand combo that sent Anders stumbling to the mat.

Anders tried to stage a recovery from the early onslaught, but the action was intense and unremitting as both fighters continued to trade shots, with the American determined to push the pace and brawl with Barriault in close range. Barriault rose to the challenge and retaliated with his punches and elbows, refusing to back down or retreat.

Round two witnessed a few accidental low blows suffered by Anders, causing a slight clutter in the proceedings. But this setback did not deter Barriault, and fortunately, the referee did not issue him any point deductions. This incident had no impact on Barriault’s superiority as he managed to counter and outperform his opponent on tight exchanges consistently.

The last two rounds had a similar pattern with Anders trying desperately to close the gap and deliver strikes while Barriault focused on his counter-attacking strategy, effectively shutting down Anders’ advances. As a result, Barriault claimed the victory, sweeping the scorecard with all the three judges giving him a perfect 30-27 score.

Barriault had a negative record in Canada before the game, having lost his previous two matches against Andrew Sanchez in Ottawa and Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 240 in Edmonton. However, third time was the charm for Barriault, who seemed snakebitten fighting in his hometown, but was finally able to break the streak and clinch an important win that could be a turning point in his career.

He now has an impressive record of winning two straight and three of his last four fights, which shows his determination and persistence to overcome setbacks and achieve his goals.