Paddy Pimblett made quick work of lightweight contender Benoit Saint Denis as he bounced back from his interim title loss to Justin Gaethje with a spectacular 52-second submission in the co-main event of UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena.
Pimblett locked in a choke in the opening moments of the bout and tightened his grip until Saint Denis went out.
“I’m like a spider. When I put it on you, you don’t get out.” said Pimblett, who has now won 10 of his last 11 fights. “I told everyone all week he was going to shoot in and I was going to choke him unconscious. I left him face down on the mat.”
It was only slightly more difficult for the most accomplished athlete on the card.
Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, perhaps the most-hyped prospect to enter the UFC this decade, made an impressive debut with a first-round knockout of Elisha Ellison.
Steveson, a two-time national champion wrestler at Minnesota, entered the cage as the biggest favorite in UFC history at some sports books. The 26-year-old showed he could take a punch in an early exchange, but his athleticism eventually overwhelmed Ellison and Steveson was able to end the fight with his boxing midway through the opening round.
While his resume suggests he could make a quick run to the title, Steveson has just four pro fights and is content taking a patient approach for now.
“Time will tell,” said Steveson, who lobbied for a spot on November’s Madison Square Garden Show in New York. “I’m a great athlete, a great person. I go out and I know I can do special things, as you can see. Time will tell that story.”
Also on the card, former flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval survived a war of attrition to finally submit Lone’er Kavanagh by rear-naked choke at 3:40 of the third round after a wild back-and-forth affair that had the sold-out crowd on its feet the entire bout.
King Green absorbed more than four minutes of punishment before landing a body shot that dropped lightweight Terrance McKinney and allowed Green to land a series of right hands on the ground to stop the fight just as the bell sounded to end the first round.
Winnemucca native Mario Bautista earned a unanimous decision and put his name in the mix for a potential title shot by avenging a 2019 loss to Cory Sandhagen, winning the first and third rounds against the former title challenger.
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was successful in his first bout moving up to light heavyweight as he scored a third-round knockout of Nikita Krylov.
Krylov appeared to grab at his jaw and back away after a big punch from Whittaker, prompting the referee to step in 1:01 into the final round.
Bantamweight Adrian Yanez knocked out former champ Cody Garbrandt in the first round and featherweight Luke Riley stopped Las Vegas resident Kai Kamaka III in the opening round, as well.
Wang Cong likely earned a contender fight in the women’s flyweight division by scoring a unanimous-decision win over Tracy Cortez despite being docked a point for an illegal knee. Cong won all three rounds on the scorecards in a one-sided affair.
Middleweights Damian Pinas and Ryan Gandra both scored knockout wins on the early prelims, while flyweight Alessandro Costa and bantamweight Farid Basharat also picked up wins.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
