Saskatchewan’s Mitch Clarke earned the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career on the UFC 173 preliminary card.
Clarke pulled off a massive upset, submitting Al Iaquinta, in the second round of their lightweight bout.
TUF winners go perfect 3-0 on UFC 173 prelims
Iaquinta landed an early overhand right that led to Clarke stumbling to the canvas where Iaquinta landed some strong ground-and-pound strikes. Clarke briefly got back to his feet late in the round before Iaquinta dragged him back down.
Early in the second round, Clarke landed a crisp straight right hand, but rushed in aggressively and Iaquinta secured a double-leg takedown.
However, as Iaquinta looked to pass into half-guard, Clarke locked in a d’arce choke from the bottom. Iaquinta tried to fight out of it, but the referee stopped the fight 57 seconds into the second frame once Iaquinta lost consciousness.
(GIF by @Internetican)
Clarke (11-2) has won two straight in the UFC. This was the 28-year-old’s first fight outside of his native Canada and his seventh career submission victory.
Iaquinta (8-3-1) had a three fight win streak snapped. All three of his losses have been by submission.
