Gauge Young vs Thiago Moises — Fight recap

Gauge Young defeated Thiago Moises by split decision after three rounds at 5:00 on Apr. 18, 2026. Young’s cleaner, higher-volume striking made the difference, as he landed 122 of 226 significant strikes at a 53% rate compared with Moises’ 45 of 101 at 44%.

The key damage edge belonged to Young, who scored the fight’s only knockdown and consistently mixed his output across targets, landing 62 head strikes, 27 body strikes, and 33 leg strikes. Moises pursued the grappling route, completing 2 of 15 takedowns and holding a 2:33 to 1:07 advantage in control time, but he could not sustain enough offense from those positions to offset Young’s work at range.

Young largely controlled the cage as the striker, forcing Moises to shoot repeatedly and making the split verdict hinge on whether takedown attempts and brief control outweighed more effective damage. The win strengthens Young’s case for a tougher lightweight matchup.