TAMPA, Fla. – Michael Chiesa made a big statement at UFC on FOX 19, scoring the biggest win of his career with a second-round submission of Beneil Dariush.
The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 19 event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. It aired on FOX following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX.
Dariush (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) got the better of the early striking exchanges in Round 1, forcing Chiesa (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) to push in and initiate a clinch against the cage. They went back to distance and Chiesa finally landed a series of punches before the two clinched against the cage once again. Dariush continued to score better with punches and knees before driving in for a takedown, which he completed with just 10 seconds left in the round.
Chiesa was the man who scored the takedown in the second round, taking Dariush’s back and immediately looking to lock in a rear naked choke or face crank. While Dariush defended the choke well, Chiesa locked his elbow across the jaw and squeezed until Dariush was forced to tap out at the 1:20 mark of Round 2.
Dariush had a five-fight winning streak snapped in the fight while Chiesa is now riding his own three-fight winning streak.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 19 results include:
For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 19, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Tampa.)
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