Two-time UFC flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez got back on the winning track with a nifty submission win over Tim Elliott in the featured bout on the UFC 172 preliminary card Saturday in Baltimore.
After several early takedowns, sweeps and submission attempts from Elliott, Benavidez gained a dominant position and locked in a modified arm-in guillotine. Both of Elliott’s arms were trapped so he had to tap out with his feet, something not often seen in the Octagon.
(GIF courtesy @ZProphet_MMA)
“He made me fight. I had no choice. I got him with that Joe-Jitsu,” said the entertaining Benavidez, who called the move a Joa Constrictor guillotine. “I’ve been working on my top control so much and glad I got to show it.”
Benavidez improved to 20-4 with his only losses coming to Demetrious Johnson twice and Dominick Cruz twice. The loss was Elliott’s second straight in the UFC.
Also on the prelims, Benavidez’s Team Alpha Male teammate Danny Castillo knocked out Charlie Brenneman in a battle of lightweight wrestling standouts.
The fighters went back and forth with grappling exchanges in the first round, but 21 seconds into the second frame Castillo landed a huge overhand right that put Brenneman to sleep.
(GIF courtesy @ZProphet_MMA)
Castillo (17-6) has won three of his last four and picked up his seventh in the UFC since moving over from the WEC in 2011.
“I’m really thankful for being in this sport for this long,” an emotional Castillo said after the fight. “I have an amazing corner [that] was telling me [the right hand] was there. I’m happy it landed.”
Japanese MMA legend Takanori Gomi beat Isaac Vallie-Flagg in a bloody, fan-friendly unanimous decision. Gomi (35-9, 1 NC) has now gone the distance in three straight outings, something he hadn’t done since 2002. Vallie-Flagg has lost his last two UFC bouts.
In the opening fight of the night, The Ultimate Fighter 18 alumnus Chris Beal knocked out UFC newcomer Patrick Williams with an exemplary flying knee in the second round of their bantamweight bout.
(GIF courtesy @ZProphet_MMA)
Beal is now 9-0 as a pro with the win, while Williams dropped to 7-4.
In women’s bantamweight action, Bethe Correia improved to 2-0 in the UFC and 8-0 as a pro with a unanimous decision victory over Jessamyn Duke. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was in the corner of Duke, whom she trained on TUF 18.
