Paddy Pimblett survives adversity to submit Jordan Leavitt in the second at UFC London
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, July 23, 2022, for UFC Fight Night 208, going down live from the o2 Arena in London, England.
Headlining the event is a heavyweight clash of contenders between no. 4 Curtis Blaydes (16-3) and no. 6 Tom Aspinall (12-2), and co-headlining is a middleweight contest between Jack Hermansson (22-7) and Chris Curtis (29-8).
Our feature fight of the night came in the lightweight division between former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett (18-3) and fellow standout grappler Jordan Leavitt (10-1).
Pimblett has gone 2-0 thus far inside the octagon, while Leavitt comes into the bout on a two-fight win streak.
Continue reading to see how this epic lightweight feature fight went down:
Official Result: Paddy Pimblett def. Jordan Leavitt via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:46 of round two
Leavitt has a good start to the first round, as he clinches Pimblett, who’s coming into him, and presses him against the fence. He secures a takedown and secures it before Pimblett is back to his feet.
Pimblett then jumps on a guillotine choke and after regaining his guard, he was quite close to securing it. But Leavitt is able to break the grip and remains on top.
Once Pimblett makes it back to his feet again he’s still having issues with being controlled along the fence. He does however end up on top in the middle of a scramble and takes Leavitt’s back for a dominant final 15 seconds of the opening round.
This is the first time in Pimblett’s UFC career he’s seeing a second round.
Leavitt presses Pimblett into the fence at the beginning of the second as well, and it appears he’s the stronger party of the two, as he’s able to keep Pimblett there for extended periods of time.
Pimblett then goes for a type of head and arm choke as Leavitt is in on his legs along the fence. It’s like a rear naked choke with an arm in, but the position leads to a vicious knee from Pimblett that drops Leavitt instantly.
Pimblett proceeds to take Leavitt’s back, trapping an arm in his body triangle, and sinking in the rear naked choke for the finish midway through round two.
Paddy Pimblett dealt with adversity in his first two UFC bouts, and he dealt with adversity again tonight, passing the test with flying colors. He’s now 19-3 as a professional, and 3-0 inside the octagon with all three wins coming via finish.
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