Mario Bautista had other plans for what was expected to be an all-out battle.
In a bantamweight preliminary bout at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 57 event, Bautista quickly submitted Brian Kelleher before the halfway point of the opening round. The MMA Lab standout took Kelleher to the mat, and after “Boom” was able to get back to his feet, Bautista quickly got things back down — where he slyly moved to mount, took the back, and slapped on a rear-naked choke to get the tap.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:27 into Round 1.
Check out the video of Bautista’s second UFC finish above.
With the win, Bautista moves to 4-2 inside the octagon, which also includes a second-round TKO win over Miles Johns at UFC 247 in February 2020, along with a pair of unanimous decision victories over Jay Perrin and Jin Soo Son. Saturday’s finish was Bautista’s first win via submission in just under four years.
Kelleher has now lost two straight and is 3-3 over his six most recent appearances.
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