Carlos Adames made a winning start under the Zuffa Boxing banner on Saturday, taking a ten round unanimous decision over Gerome Warburton in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 13 at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.

Adames, the WBC middleweight champion, did not have his title at stake. The bout was made at a 165 pound catchweight, and it played out as a chase. Warburton, a Welsh southpaw, spent most of the night on the move around the outside of the ring, and Adames answered by going to the body, where he landed the heavier shots whenever he closed the distance. Warburton had a brief spell of success in the eighth round and made it to the final bell, but there was never much doubt about the winner.

Adames was candid about it afterward. “He was just surviving,” he said of Warburton, adding that both men could have done more. Adames improves to 26-1-1 with 18 knockouts. Warburton is now 18-3-2.

In the co-feature, Jason Moloney of Australia won a clear unanimous decision over Andres Teran in a ten round bantamweight bout. The judges had it 98-92, 99-91 and 97-93. Moloney moves to 30-4, while Teran, who had stopped Floyd Diaz on a Zuffa card in June, falls to 19-3.

Bruno Surace opened the main card by handing Kamil Bednarek the first loss of his professional career. Surace took a unanimous decision over ten rounds at super middleweight by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. The Frenchman is now 27-1-2. Bednarek drops to 17-1.

The upset of the night came on the preliminary card, where Alexander Castro beat Radzhab Butaev by majority decision in a ten round middleweight fight. Two judges scored it for Castro, 97-93 and 96-94, and the third had it even at 95-95. The two traded body work at close range for long stretches, and Castro did enough of it to get the nod.

Heavyweight Jakhongir Zokirov needed only one round. Brandon Colantonio did not come out for the second, and the fight went into the books as a corner retirement at the end of the first.

Dariial Kuchmenov edged Ivan Ortiz by split decision in an eight round lightweight bout. The cards read 77-74 and 76-75 for Kuchmenov and 76-75 for Ortiz.

Light heavyweight Rakhmatullo Boymatov scored the quickest finish of the day, knocking out Moro Inusah Kanla at 1:29 of the first round.

Two Saudi fighters won their professional debuts. Welterweight Rayan Awaji stopped Sudais Lubega at 2:15 of the third round after scoring a pair of knockdowns along the way. Featherweight Abdulaziz Alotaibi swept all three cards 40-35 against Ezra Ssaili over four rounds.

The card streamed on Paramount+ in the United States and Canada and aired on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

During the broadcast, Zuffa Boxing announced that it will return to The Venue in Riyadh in December for Zuffa Boxing 14. Aaron McKenna will defend his IBF middleweight title against Jevgenijs Aleksejevs in the main event, with Jack Massey meeting Andrew Tabiti in a ten round cruiserweight co-feature. Zak Chelli against Jesse Hart at light heavyweight and Ryan Rozicki against Gaetan Ntambwe at cruiserweight are also on the card.

Zuffa Boxing 13 complete results

Carlos Adames def. Gerome Warburton, unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, 98-92)
Jason Moloney def. Andres Teran, unanimous decision (98-92, 99-91, 97-93)
Bruno Surace def. Kamil Bednarek, unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 96-94)
Jakhongir Zokirov def. Brandon Colantonio, corner retirement, end of Round 1
Alexander Castro def. Radzhab Butaev, majority decision (97-93, 96-94, 95-95)
Dariial Kuchmenov def. Ivan Ortiz, split decision (77-74, 76-75, 75-76)
Rakhmatullo Boymatov def. Moro Inusah Kanla, KO, Round 1, 1:29
Rayan Awaji def. Sudais Lubega, TKO, Round 3, 2:15
Abdulaziz Alotaibi def. Ezra Ssaili, unanimous decision (40-35, 40-35, 40-35)