UFC 179 results, photos: Gilbert Burns catches Christos Giagos with armbar late in first

RIO DE JANEIRO – Gilbert Burns isn’t sneaking up on anyone with his jiu-jitsu these days, but as he proved with a first-round submission win over Christos Giagos, maybe he doesn’t need to.

Submission specialist Burns (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) locked up an armbar late in the opening frame, then went belly-down with it to wrench Giagos’ (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) arm far past the point of comfort, forcing him to tap at 4:57 of Round 1.

The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 179 event at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and the main card on pay-per-view.

Burns wasted little time getting this fight to the floor, using a double-leg takedown to plant Giagos on his back against the fence early on, then passing his guard and moving into mount, all while peppering Giagos with short punches from the top throughout. After taking Giagos’ back and locking in an arm triangle, Burns transitioned to an armbar attempt with time winding down in the first, and initially it seemed as though Giagos might be saved by the bell.

But even as Giagos bought himself some time with his defense, Burns cinched the lock on tighter and rolled to his belly to extend the limb and crank up the pressure on the elbow. With his arm bending several degrees in the wrong direction, Giagos had no choice but to tap.

With the win, Burns maintains his perfect record as a professional, notching his second straight victory in the UFC. Giagos snaps a four-fight winning streak with the loss.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 179 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 179, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Rio.)