UFC 207 results: Niko Price taps Brandon Thatch with first round arm-triangle choke

LAS VEGAS – Niko Price spent much of the first round trading submission attempts with Brandon Thatch in a frantic back and forth.

But after Price (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took Thatch’s (11-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) back in the final minute, he made his positioning count, eventually locking up an arm-triangle choke to force the tap at the 4:30 mark of Round 1.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 207 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following an additional prelim on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.

Price and Thatch got after each other right away in this one, mixing it up on the feet before Price used a knee in the clinch from Thatch to transition into a takedown.

But when the fight hit the floor, initially it was Thatch who threatened with a submission from the bottom. Thatch used a kimura group off his back to nearly flip Price over, at one point wrenching his arm nearly all the way behind his back.

Price stayed calm, however, and managed to move into side control before freeing his arm. From there, he went on the attack, seizing Thatch’s back as Thatch attempted to scramble to his feet, then moving off to the side for an arm-triangle choke.

Thatch fought his way through the first choke attempt, but Price dug the next one in even deeper. With just 30 seconds left in the round, Thatch was forced to submit, giving Price the win in his UFC debut.

With the victory, Price remains unbeaten as a professional. Thatch has now lost four straight.

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