Ricky Simon’s activity won the day at UFC on ESPN+ 29 as he picked up the biggest win of his career over Ray Borg.

Simon (16-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) did the superior job of mixing up his offense against Borg (13-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC), a former UFC flyweight title challenger, implementing an effective game plan of striking and grappling to win a split decision by scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. Both men reveled in the battle, exchanging plenty of words (largely in good nature) over the course of 15 minutes.

The bantamweight bout was part of Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN+ 29 main card at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It streamed on ESPN+.

The pace was unsurprisingly quick to start the fight. Simon showed slightly more diversity with his striking and was able to mix in his grappling well. Borg displayed some resistance to the advances of his opponent, but Simon was a step ahead and opened the fight well.

Simon looked to continue where he left off in the second round. Borg’s output and movement left something to be desired, but he was able to slip in a number of tight shots that carried the more noticeable power of the two. Simon’s striking rate was higher and he mixed it up more, and although Borg tried to answer with a late takedown, Simon was able to stay out of danger in the grappling exchanges. Borg landed his best strike late in the round, tagging Simon with a hard body shot.

Borg came out keen to keep up the pace in the third round. He connected with punches to the head and body of Simon, and it’s not something he enjoyed. Simon pushed into grappling and had moments during the scrambles before the action found its way back to the feet. From there, Simon closed the fight strong. He stung Borg with a couple shots and avoided a late swing of momentum to ensure his victory.

Simon has won nine of his past 11 bouts, and admitted that striking was the secondary plan.

“I’m a wrestler,” Simon said in his in-cage, postfight interview. “I’m a fake striker. That’s where I do my best work.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 29 results include:

• Ricky Simon def. Ray Borg via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Andrei Arlovski def. Phillipe Lins via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Thiago Moises def. Michael Johnson via submission (heel hook) – Round 2, 0:25
• Sijara Eubanks def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Omar Morales def. Gabriel Benitez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Brian Kelleher def. Hunter Azure via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 3:42
• Chase Sherman def. Ike Villanueva via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:49