UFC on FOX 23 results: Jason Gonzalez leaves J.C. Cottrell with regret after first-round D'Arce choke

DENVER – Jason Gonzalez’s early success against J.C. Cottrell came on the feet, but it was his skills on the mat that ultimately decided the fight.

After rocking Cottrell (17-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a well-timed uppercut early in the first, Gonzalez (11-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) reversed Cottrell’s attempts to turn the fight into a grappling match and nabbed a D’Arce choke to force the submission at the 3:54 mark of Round 1.

The lightweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 23 event at Pepsi Center in Denver. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS1 and a main card on FOX.

Gonzalez got off to a quick start in this fight thanks to his kicking game, which he put on display early. After cracking Cottrell to the body and head, he deftly avoided a Cottrell attack and countered with a sharp uppercut that sent Cottrell reeling backward.

Cottrell managed to halt the onslaught with a takedown, then spent the next few minutes attacking from top position as Gonzalez worked to defend.

But after Gonzalez scrambled up from bottom near the final minute of the fight, he caught Cottrell with one arm exposed and used it to latch onto a D’Arce choke. Gonzalez sat into the choke and squeezed, leaving Cottrell with no choice but to submit.

The win is Gonzalez’s first in the UFC, bouncing him back from a knockout loss to Drew Dober in September. Cottrell has now lost two straight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 23 results include:

• Jason Gonzalez def. J.C. Cottrell via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:54

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 23, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Vancouver.)