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#4: Ignacio Bahamondes busts out a rare choke to take out Rong Zhu
The last time UFC fans saw Ignacio Bahamondes in action, he ended the night of Roosevelt Roberts with a spinning wheel kick. It was a surprise to see the Chilean fighter not showcased on last night’s main card.
In the end, though, ‘La Jaula’ was still able to pick up one of the event’s most explosive finishes. He even managed to deliver another low-percentage move for the victory – submitting Rong Zhu with a slick brabo choke.
While it took Bahamondes until the third round to take out his Chinese foe, it was clear from the off that the fight was essentially his to lose. Standing at 6’1”, ‘La Jaula’ towered over his opponent and immediately made that reach count, as he largely kept Rong at the end of his strikes.
It was clear by the third round that Rong needed to switch things up. When he attempted to do so with a takedown, Bahamondes immediately stuffed the shot and quickly locked up the choke. Moments later, the Chinese fighter was forced to tap.
Incredibly, this was the first submission win of Bahamondes’ MMA career – making the fact that he used a rare choke variant to pull it off even more impressive. Right now at least, it seems the sky is the limit for him in the UFC.
#3: Arman Tsarukyan opens up Joel Alvarez in one of the UFC’s bloodiest fights
Outside of last night’s main event, the lightweight bout between Arman Tsarukyan and Joel Alvarez definitely felt like the best fight on the UFC Vegas 49 card.
Alvarez was coming into the fight off the back of four straight wins in the octagon. Meanwhile Tsarukyan was recognised as the dark horse of the lightweight division thanks to his own four-fight win streak and his close bout with Islam Makhachev.
The fight indeed delivered some excellent action, but when it was all said and done, it was Tsarukyan who came away with the win – and he claimed it in violent and bloody fashion.
Clearly sensing the striking threat of Alvarez, Tsarukyan wasted no time in taking him to the ground. From there, the Armenian fighter began to feed him a nasty diet of elbows.
One of those elbows opened the Spaniard up like he’d been hit with a machete, and from there, ‘El Fenomeno’ was in serious trouble. Blood gushing from his head like a faucet, it was a minor miracle that he survived the round.
Sadly for him, he didn’t survive the second. Tsarukyan again took him down to begin the stanza and began to destroy him with strikes again, reopening the cut and painting the mat red with blood. It came as no surprise to see referee Chris Tognoni step in at the two minute mark.
This wasn’t as explosive as Tsarukyan’s standing knockout of Christos Giagos, but it was horrifically brutal in its own way. This showing cemented the Armenian’s spot as the most dangerous man outside the top ten at 155lbs right now.
