Carlos Adames Outpoints Gerome Warburton in Riyadh

Carlos Adames won a unanimous decision over Gerome Warburton in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and his first bout for Zuffa Boxing ended with all three judges scoring it for him.

The judges' cards read 100-90, 98-92 and 99-91, as BBC Sport reported. A unanimous decision means every judge picked the same winner. Zuffa Boxing is the professional boxing promotion run by the company behind the UFC, the mixed martial arts organisation.

The fight was not for a belt. Both men were fighting at super middleweight, a division with a weight limit of 168 pounds (76.2 kilograms). Adames is the WBC middleweight champion, a title in a lighter division, so this bout was a step into a different weight class rather than a defence of his crown. Warburton holds the WBC continental title, a regional belt from the WBC, one of boxing's four major sanctioning bodies, which decide who holds the sport's top titles.

Adames, who is from the Dominican Republic, improves to 26 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw. Warburton, a Welsh boxer from Colwyn Bay, moves to 18 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws.

For a casual fan, the scorecards tell the story of the night. A 100-90 card means one judge gave the winner a clear edge in almost every round. The closer 98-92 and 99-91 cards show that at least two judges saw the contest as tighter, though all three still had Adames ahead.

Zuffa Boxing's arrival has made the sport's calendar busier and its matchmaking more interesting, because a promoter's stable of fighters decides which opponents meet. Adames's debut opponent was Warburton, a fighter with a long professional career behind him. That makes the result a useful marker for Adames as he settles into his new promotion.

Warburton leaves Riyadh with a 2-loss record that now includes a defeat on a major streaming card. For him, the next question is what comes after a night where the judges sided against him.

Adames's record stands at 26-1-1 after the bout, and his next fight will be announced by his promotion.