Michael Chiesa only needed one takedown to find a finish against Tony Ferguson today at UFC on ABC 7, latching onto a rear-naked choke in the opening round to force the veteran to tap out.
Round One:
Calf kick for Ferguson. Chiesa circling on the outside while feeling out with his lead hand to keep Ferguson at bay.
Body kick lands for Chiesa. Nice left hand for him. Chiesa caught by a punch as he tried to throw his own.
Solid calf kick for Ferguson. Ferguson stalking as Chiesa circles. Straight left for Chiesa. Calf kick for Ferguson.
Chiesa into the clinch, works around to the back and brings him to the mat. He quickly goes for the rear-naked choke and has the body lock in too. Ferguson in big trouble here and he’s not able to get out of it, so he’s forced to tap out.
Chiesa gets the rear-naked choke finish at 3.44mmins of the opening round and unfortunately for Ferguson that means he now has the unwanted distinction of having the longest losing streak in UFC history, which has reached 8 fights.
Afterwards Ferguson looks like he’s going to retire, but he says he’s only leaving one glove in the Octagon, leaving open the possibility that he might one day try to return.