UFC Fight Night 117 results: Jussier Formiga chokes out Ulka Sasaki in first round, calls for title shot

With a brilliant first-round submission win, Jussier Formiga kept himself in the middle of the pack of flyweight title contenders.

Formiga (20-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) forced Ulka Sasaki (20-5-2 MMA, 3-4 UFC) to tap to a first-round rear-naked choke, then asked for a title shot next. Formiga got the finish with 30 seconds left in the first round.

The flyweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 117 event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, near Tokyo. It aired on FXX following prelims on the same channel.

Sasaki got off to a good start in the striking game, picking his shots – including some to the body, which kept Formiga a little hesitant to try to get inside. But two minutes in, Formiga caught a Sasaki kick and used it to land a solid punch.

With two minutes left, Formiga scooped the taller Sasaki up and took him to the canvas. He tried to pass from half-guard while eating short punches from Sasaki. But he brilliantly took Sasaki’s back and worked for a rear-naked choke with 75 seconds to get it done. He kept after it, wearing his Japanese opponent down. And finally, Sasaki had no choice but to tap with the choke deep under his chin.

Formiga got back in the win column after a decision loss to upcoming flyweight title challenger Ray Borg in March. Sasaki heads back to the loss column after a June win over Justin Scoggins. He has dropped two of his past three.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 117 results include:

• Jussier Formiga def. Ulka Sasaki via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:30
• Keita Nakamura def. Alex Morono via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Syrui Kondo def. Chan-Mi Jeon via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
• Shinsho Anzai def. Luke Jumeau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Daichi Abe def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 117, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Japan.)