Alessio Di Chirico didn’t have an easy night of work trying to convince Julian Marquez to take a backward step. But after chipping away at Marquez (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on the feet and trying to slow his momentum with takedowns, Di Chirico (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) got the nod in the end, winning a split-decision victory with scores of 27-30, 29-28, and 29-28.

The catchweight bout (Marquez missed the middleweight limit) opened up the main card of today’s TUF 27 Finale event at Pearl Theatre at The Palms in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

For Di Chirico, the big challenge in this fight was dealing with Marquez’s constant forward pressure. While Di Chirico seemed to be the crisper striker, with better timing in the exchanges, he couldn’t seem to get Marquez to stop plodding forward behind one power shot after another.

Fortunately for Di Chirico, that pressure made Marquez easier to takedown. Unfortunately, Marquez refused to stay there, using wily sweeps and submission attempts to get back to his feet, where he continued to press the action.

By the third round, that pressure seemed to be taking its toll on Di Chirico. As he continued circling away and trying to create space, Marquez kept closing the distance and threatening with more power than precision.

In the end, however, two of the three judges saw two of the three rounds for Di Chirico, giving him the narrow split-decision win.

Di Chirico has now won two straight in the UFC. Marquez’s loss snaps a five-fight winning streak.

Up-to-the-minute TUF 27 Finale results include:

• Alessio Di Chirico def. Julian Marquez via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Montana De La Rosa def. Rachael Ostovich via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:21
• Luis Pena def. Richie Smullen via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:32
• John Gunther def. Allan Zuniga via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
• Bryce Mitchell def. Tyler Diamond via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
• Steven Peterson def. Matt Bessette via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Gerald Meerschaert def. Oskar Piechota via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:55

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Mike Bohn, John Morgan and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)