Julian Marquez gets his hand raised after defeating Maki Pitolo at UFC 258.
Julian Marquez rallies late for a come from behind submission win over Maki Pitolo
Julian Marquez secures last minute submission win over Maki Pitolo.
UFC 258 goes down tonight from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The cards main event will feature a welterweight title bout between two former teammates as champion Kamaru Usman defends his throne against Gilbert Burns. This is the third time the two are scheduled to fight. They were booked to headline UFC 251 in July, but Burns tested positive for COVID-19 so Jorge Masvidal replaced him. The UFC then booked the fight for December, but Usman asked for the fight to be pushed back and now the fight finally takes place tonight.
In the co-main event, fan favorite Maycee Barber returns to the octagon after a 13 month layoff after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL which she suffered during her last fight. Barer’s opponent will be Alexa Grasso who made an impressive flyweight debut in her last beginning her UFC career at strawweight.
The main card will kick off with middleweight fight between Maki Pitolo and Julian Marquez.
Pitolo (13-7) will look to get things back on the winning path. Since joining the UFC in 2019, Pitolo has posted a 1-3 record including back-to-back losses to Darren Stewart and Impa Kasanganay.
Marquez (7-2) will be fighting for the first time since July of 2018. He in last outing her suffered a split decision defeat to Alessio Di Chirico. That loss snapped a five-fight winning streak.
Here’s how the Pitolo and Marquez fight went down with a round-by-round and scoring. For a full list of UFC 258 results, click here.
Round 1
Pitolo comes out swinging heavy shots and the two get after it right away. After Pitolo came out swinging, the two go into the clinch with Pitolo pushing Marquez into the fence.
Pitolo lands some nice heavy shots before securing a takedown along the fence with three and a half minutes left in the round.
Marquez is trying to escape and in the process he just avoided a possible submission as he was briefly in a bad position.
Pitolo with a lot of pressure as he’s all over Marquez.
The two make their way back to the feet, but Pitolo is still smothering Marquez as he has him clinched against the fence.
Marquez makes a nice move and got a hold of Pitolo’s neck. He tried for a submission, but Pitolo defended it. In the final ten seconds of the round, Marquez lands a huge punch that landed square and caught Pitolo’s attention.
MyMMANews scores it 10-9 Pitolo
Round 2
Marquez starts right were he left off. He lands some nice clean strikes, but in the process he lands a low blow and the referee stops the action.
The fight resumes and the two trade heavy shots before Pitolo gets a brief takedown.
Pitolo is rag dolling Marquez now and clearly he has a big advantage in the clinch and wrestling department.
As Pitolo gets aggressive, Marquez counters and nearly gets two chokes. Despite not securing a submission, Marquez is now on top of Pitolo and is landing heavy shots.
Pitolo then gets out of danger, gets on top of Marquez and he’s in full mount with a little over a minute to go in the round. He rides the round out from on top of Marquez.
MyMMANews scores it 10-9 Pitolo
Round 3
Marquez comes out aggressive as he knows he needs a finish. He’s loading up on all his strikes.
Pitolo lands a low leg kick and that hurt Marquez.
Marquez is landing at will and Pitolo is bleeding. Marquez continues to land huge shots and Pitolo is hurt.
With Pitolo hurt on the feet, he shoots in for a takedown and he lands it. Pitolo locks in a choke and it is tight.
Marquez fights out of it and is able to escape back to the feet. Pitolo immediately tries for clinch, but Marquez isn’t having it.
Marquez lands some heavy bombs and Pitolo is badly hurt. Marquez drops Pitolo and goes right for an anaconda choke. The choke is secured and it’s in tight. Pitolo taps and the fight is over.
Great fight. Possible Fight of the Fight honors here. What a comeback by Marquez.
Official Result: Julian Marquez defeats Maki Pitolo by submission (anaconda) – Round 3 (4:17)
