Asu Almabayev earns dominant UFC victory in Baku
Kazakhstan's Asu Almabayev delivered a dominant performance at UFC Fight Night in Baku, defeating American Charles Johnson via third-round submission, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the UFC.
The bout ended at the 3:33 mark of the third round when Almabayev forced Johnson to tap out with the rare Suloev Stretch submission.
The Kazakh fighter controlled the action throughout the contest, holding the advantage both on the feet and on the ground before sealing the victory with one of the rarest submissions ever seen in the UFC.
The win improved Almabayev's professional mixed martial arts record to 24 victories and three defeats. His UFC record now stands at 7-1, while Johnson dropped to 8-7 in the promotion and suffered the ninth loss of his professional career.
Another Kazakh fighter, Bekzat Almakhan, competed on the preliminary card but lost a unanimous decision to Brazil's Jean Matsumoto after three rounds.
In the main event, Azerbaijan's Rafael Fiziev knocked out Manuel Torres just 15 seconds into the second round, bringing the second UFC event held in Baku to a close.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan's Almabayev had advanced in UFC rankings.
