UFC 166 results and photos: Tony Ferguson chokes out Mike Rio in return
- from http://www.mmajunkie.com/ on Oct 19, 2013
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HOUSTON – Tony Ferguson said he felt ring rust the first couple seconds of his return to the octagon – and then it went away.
Did it ever. Ferguson, fighting for the first time since a May 2012 loss in which he suffered a broken arm, choked out Mike Rio with a D’Arce choke less than two minutes into their fight.
The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 166 event at Toyota Center in Houston. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and the pay-per-view main card.
Rio peppered a left jab early trying to set up a takedown, but it wasn’t there. Seconds later, though, he landed a left hook, then worked hard for a takedown that Ferguson again defended. Another takedown attempt from Rio was stuffed a minute in.
Back on the feet after his successful sprawl, Ferguson landed a solid left hand and Rio was on wobbly knees. He took advantage and went after Rio’s neck. Ferguson slid his arm under, tied up Rio’s arm with his legs and locked up a D’Arce choke. Seconds later, Rio had to tap at the 1:52 mark of the round.
“I’m ready for the next one,” Ferguson said. “I’m here to go after that strap and that’s exactly what I did. It usually takes me a while to get into doing what I want to do, but I was able to get into it quickly. I got the D’Arce choke and submitted him. I didn’t feel much ring rust. I came in and did what I wanted to do.”
Ferguson (14-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is back in the win column in his return for the first time since May 2012. Rio (9-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) lost his second straight following a May loss to Francisco Trinaldo in Brazil.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 166 results include:
- Tony Ferguson def. Mike Rio via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 1:52
- Andre Fili def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:53
- Kyoji Horiguchi def. Dustin Pague via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:51
For complete coverage of UFC 166, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Houston.
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