Amir Albazi , 26, finishedMalcolm Gordon , 30, in the first round of their "Fight Island " bantamweight match Saturday.- Albazi dominated the fight from feet to floor, before taking Gordon down, passing guard, and winning with a rare triangle choke submission.
- It was the first triangle choke finish of the year.
- Watch the submission below.
FIGHT ISLAND — A young submission specialist scored a rare triangle choke finish in the first round of his
Amir Albazi had never fought for the world's premier mixed martial arts company before, and made his debut in the third of the UFC's four "Fight Island" events at the Flash Forum, which is a purpose-built, behind-closed doors venue within a quarantined area of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
For Albazi, it was a statement performance which yielded a highlight-reel finish.
The bout lasted four minutes and 42 seconds and, during that time, he limited his opponent Malcolm Gordon to only five strikes landed.
In contrast, Albazi landed 28 strikes — including jabs and kicks — but it was really his technical work on the mat that will attract headlines and put the lighter weight classes on notice.
After he got the takedown late in the round, Albazi passed the guard and saw an opportunity for a triangle choke finish — the first time that submission has resulted in a win all year.
Watch it here:
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 18, 2020
Or here if you're in a different region:
—UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 18, 2020
Albazi advanced his record to 13 wins (four knockouts, eight submissions, and one decision) against one loss.
Earlier in the preliminary card, Arman Tsarukyan appeared like a mixed martial artist to keep an eye on after he won a comfortable unanimous decision against a bloodied Davi Ramos in a lightweight bout, after Serghei Spivac narrowly out-pointed Carlos Felipe at heavyweight in the opening fight of the night.
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