The battle of top-10 welterweights Vicente Luque and Michael Chiesa was expected to be a classic battle of striker versus grappler. Yet, the striker shocked everyone in the Toyota Center and made a star grappler tapout.

Vicente Luque scores stunning submission win at UFC 265

For the first few minutes of the pair’s bout at UFC 265, Chiesa was a constantly moving target as he circled the cage and let his Brazilian foe try to chase and cut him off. It seemed odd at first, but when he stopped a few times and landed strong punches on Luque, it proved the strategy was sound. Eventually, he landed a couple of shots that opened up a cut on his opponent, which made Luque get aggressive and attack. That was a mistake, as “Maverick” landed a big takedown on the sixth-ranked welterweight.

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Once in Chiesa’s world, the fifth-ranked 170-pounder showed his skills and worked to back control, and then threatened rear-naked chokes and a neck crank. The crank seemed deep, but Luque defended well and was able to scramble free. In the midst of the scramble as both men looked to stand up, Chiesa left his neck open assuming his foe would want to separate, but instead Luque saw the opening and snapped up Chiesa’s neck in a d’arce choke.

All in attendance, and at home, assumed The Ultimate Fighter winner would find his way out of the hold, but instead Luque showed he had some submission tricks of his own and made the grappling star tap with 1:35 left in the opening round. A shocking finish to a short but entertaining fight.

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The win was a fourth straight for the 29-year-old and puts him right into the discussion for the winner of the UFC 268 welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.

The loss ends a four victory streak Chiesa had going and is his first loss at welterweight. It is the fourth time he has been submitted in five losses.