Ariane Lipski scored a first-round submission win over her "Fight Island " opponent Luana Carolina in a performance so extraordinary theUFC rewarded her with a $50,000 bonus check.- Lipski finished Carolina with a kneebar that appeared to hyperextend her limb badly. She was then carried out of the arena because she couldn't walk properly.
- Lipski then told the media: "I was confident that if the fight went to the ground that I would submit her in the first round."
FIGHT ISLAND — Ariane Lipski declared herself "very happy" after a commanding UFC victory which left her opponent unable to walk out of the arena.
Said Lipski: "We studied her game, so we knew we would have to pressure her. If it got to the ground, she would try to put me in the guard because she has a good guard.
"I was very confident on the ground and I was training very hard [for] the leg lock and the foot lock, too. I feel very, very happy. I was very, very confident for the fight."
Lipski defeated Luana Carolina by a brutal kneebar submission in the first round of their women's flyweight match in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It took place at the behind-closed-doors Flash Forum venue in a quarantined area on Yas Island, built in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi government, to provide the UFC with an environment in which it can hold its international "Fight Island" events.
The victory was so one-sided, and the finish so impressive, that the UFC rewarded Lipski with a $50,000 bonus check.
But the loss was painful for Carolina. Insider witnessed from the press row the defeated fighter being carried out of the arena.
While Carolina will likely be in recovery for an indeterminate time, Lipski wants to quickly get back into the Octagon.
She said: "I'll look to the ranks, so I don't have a name, I have to talk to my head coach and to my manager to think how is the best option.
"The fight was amazing, I was very confident. I wanted to win this fight by KO, but I was confident that if the fight went to the ground that I would submit her in the first round."
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