Darren Stewart submits Maki Pitolo
We’ve had a great night of fights so far tonight at UFC Fight Night 174, which is going down live at the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our feature fight of the evening showcased a middleweight match up between Maki Pitolo and Darren Stewart. Pitolo had gone 1-1 inside the octagon prior, while Stewart had a 4-4 (1 NC) UFC record prior. Both of these men needed a win tonight.
Both of these men are knockout artists, with seven of Pitolo’s 13 wins coming via knockout, and seven of Stewart’s eleven wins coming via knockout. It was surprising to see it go the way it did, but it was a great fight while it lasted.
Each fighter immediately opened up with a barrage of strikes to start round one, but nothing significant landed and they then started the feeling out process. Stewart started stalking Pitolo, walking him down trying to land jabs, amongst other strikes, while Pitolo was holding his own on the back foot. He even stunned Stewart momentarily with a beautiful left hook, but Stewart immediately recovered and resumed.
Stewart ducked under a spinning back fist attempt from Pitolo and backed him up against the fence. Pitolo reversed him and went for a takedown, only to get his neck wrapped up during the transition. This marks the first submission win of Stewart’s career, and his first finish in a little over two years.
Official result: Darren Stewart def. Maki Pitolo via submission (modified guillotine choke) at 3:41 of round one.
Stewart improves his record to 12-5 (1 NC) with his victory tonight. Click here for a full recap on tonights fights and results.
