UFC on FOX 18 results: Tony Martin chokes Felipe Olivieri out cold

Tony Martin

NEWARK, N.J. – Tony Martin took a thumping early on against Felipe Olivieri, but he turned the tables late, even if he needed all the tools at his disposal to do it.

After getting his leg kicked to shreds by Olivieri (14-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in the first couple rounds, Martin (10-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) rallied first with his striking, and then with his ground game, eventually choking Olivieri unconscious and bringing a stop to the bout at the 3:02 mark of Round 3.

The lightweight bout opened the UFC Fight Pass-streamed preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 18 event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Subsequent bouts aired on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Martin’s plan to start the fight seemed to be to rely on his wrestling to get the fight where he wanted it. That strategy worked in the opening minutes of the bout, as he slammed Olivieri to the mat with relative ease to start things off.

But with Olivieri adept at getting back to his feet, and with Olivieri’s hard leg kicks beginning to take their toll on Martin’s left thigh, Martin seemed to lose the pop necessary to finish those takedowns that initially seemed so easy, leaving him in a kickboxing match with a quicker, sharper opponent.

Martin looked lost at times in the first round, but he began to figure things out in the second. After pressuring Olivieri to try and take his kicking game away, Martin began to land his looping right hand late in the round, and even had Olivieri hurt in the final minute of the second.

With Olivieri wearing down, Martin was able to once again bring his wrestling skills into the fray. A takedown midway through the final round led to Martin taking Olivieri’s back, and as Olivieri tried to scramble to his feet, Martin locked in a tight rear-naked choke. Olivieri tried to fight it, then seemed to want to tap, but lost consciousness before he could. The result was the same either way for Martin, who proved he can make adjustments without forgetting where his true advantages lie.

The victory for Martin gets him back in the win column after a submission loss last March. Olivieri’s loss in his UFC debut snaps a three-fight winning streak.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 18 results include:

For more on UFC on FOX 18, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson contributed to this report on site in Newark.)