UFC Fight Night 71 results: Kevin Lee submits James Moontasri with first-round choke

Kevin Lee

SAN DIEGO – After an odd double eye-poke, Kevin Lee came out of the recovery period and quickly tapped out James Moontasri for a first-round win.

Kevin Lee (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) got his takedown and smoothly secured the fight-ending rear-naked choke on Moontasri (8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) shortly afterward.

The lightweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 71 event at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

After trading some kicks early, the fighters also traded simultaneous eye-pokes. After a dual recovery period from the rare exchange, Lee shot and got a takedown and methodically worked to Moontasri’s back. Once there, he secured his hooks and worked for the rear-naked choke.

Moontasri initially fought it off, but with the choke deep and no way to escape, he finally was forced to tap out.

The stoppage came at 2:56 mark of the opening round.

Lee has now won four straight fights since a UFC-debut loss to Al Iaquinta. Moontasri falls to 1-2 in his past three bouts.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 71 results include:

• Kevin Lee def. James Moontasri via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:56
• Alan Jouban def. Matt Dwyer via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
• Sam Sicilia def. Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jessica Andrade def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rani Yahya def. Masanori Kanehara via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Sean Strickland def. Igor Araujo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-26)
• Kevin Casey def. Ildemar Alcantara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Lyman Good def. Andrew Craig via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:37

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 71, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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