Brian Minto lost a split decision to Israel Adesanya in the championship bout of a Super 8 cruiserweight tournament eliminator Saturday night in New Zealand.

Minto, 40, of Butler won his first two fights in the eight-boxer tourney. Each bout was scheduled for three rounds.

He began the tournament with a second-round TKO of Monty Filimaea (10-11-1), 28, of New Zealand. Minto then reached the title match by scoring a unanimous decision over Daniel Ammann (30-8-1) of Australia.

Now 41-9-4 with 26 knockouts, Minto was the most seasoned boxer in the tournament. Adesanya, 25, of New Zealand, entered the competition having lost his lone pro boxing match. That was a unanimous decision to Ammann on Nov. 22 of last year.

Adesanya does have an extensive background in kick-boxing and mixed martial arts and hopes to join the UFC before the end of this year. He was considered a co-favorite in the Super 8 tourney with Minto entering the competition.

The Minto-Adesanya bout was scored a draw after the three rounds. By Super 8 tournament rules, a fourth round was fought to determine the winner and judges awarded that round to Adesanya.

Minto could not be reached for comment over the weekend.