Though it did not come without a considerable amount of controversy, “Dynamite” Danielle Taylor picked up her first UFC victory tonight at UFC Fight Night 101: “Whittaker vs Brunson” in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Taylor narrowly edged out Seo Hee Ham in a featured strawweight bout.

Tonight’s fight was marred by two eyepokes that left Ham unable to see out of one eye, but she outstruck Taylor in round one and appeared to have won the second round after mounting her before the bell. Two judges disagreed and returned baffling 30-27 scorecards for Taylor, who took the win.

Taylor (8-2-0) threw quick punches while circling to the side early on and time was called after Ham (16-8-0) was poked in the left eye. Action resumed and Ham scored with a hard one-two, then followed up with straight left hands that caused Taylor’s forehead to swell above her eye. Taylor connected with a nice right hand, but Ham rocked her with an overhand left and Taylor backpedalled. Ham landed more left hands and Taylor replied with a head kick, but Ham continued to get the better of the exchanges on the feet in the final 30 seconds.

Ham remained effective with straight lefts in round two, but Taylor snuck in occasional right hands while circling to the side. Ham countered a right hook with a quick combination and she remained the aggressor in the fight. Taylor lunged in with two right hands and she followed with a body kick. More rights landed for Taylor later on, but Ham reversed a takedown and she finished the close round with punches from the top in mount.

The fighters traded punches throughout the first two minutes of the final round, and Taylor mixed things up with right hands to the head and body. Ham’s right eye began to swell up and both women landed quick combinations. Taylor fired off a big right hook and landed a head kick, but Ham was unfazed. Taylor stuffed a takedown and poked Ham in the eye once again, but the referee instructed Ham to fight on. Taylor landed big punches and took Ham down as the bell sounded to end the controversial round.

One judge correctly scored the fight 29-28 for Ham, but he was overruled by a pair of 30-27 scorecards for Taylor. Ham previously suffered another contentious decision loss in Australia when she faced off against “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings in March.

Winner: Danielle Taylor by Split Decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 8-2-0.

(Photo Credit: UFC)