LAS VEGAS – Thiago Moises has a serious squeeze, and proved it on the main card of UFC on ESPN 38 at the UFC Apex.
It didn’t take long for Moises (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) to find the neck of Christos Giagos, and when he did, it was just a matter of time before the tap followed.
Moises found his way to the back of the standing Giagos (19-10 MMA, 5-6 UFC) and wrapped up a body triangle. From there, it was a search for the opening to slide the arm under the chin, and just over three minutes into the round, Moises locked it in to get the finish with one arm.
Check out video of the submission below (via Twitter):
The win snapped a two-fight skid for Moises, who dropped back-to-back fights to Joel Alvarez and Islam Makhachev. Prior to those setbacks, Moises put together a streak of three which included wins over Michael Johnson, Bobby Green, and Alexander Hernandez.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC on ESPN 38 include:
Thiago Moises def. Christos Giagos via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:05
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Nate Maness via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 20-25)
Chris Curtis def. Rodolfo Vieira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Carlos Ulberg def. Tafon Nchukwi via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:15
Shayilan Nuerdanbieke def. T.J. Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sergey Morozov def. Raulian Paiva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cody Durden def. JP Buys via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:08
Mario Bautista def. Brian Kelleher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:27
Vanessa Demopoulos def. Jinh Yu Frey via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)