Roland Delorme submitted fellow Canadian Nick Denis with one second remaining in the first round of their bantamweight bout at UFC on FOX 3.
The two Canucks put on a fan-friendly performance that delighted the New Jersey crowd.
Both men came out swinging with Denis landing the more effective strikes and defending Delorme’s takedown attempts. Midway through the round, the North Bay, Ont., native Denis, who now lives in Montreal and trains at Tristar gym, had Delorme on wobbly legs and landed several big knees and follow-up punches but Winnipeg’s Delorme persevered.
After regaining his bearings, Delorme rocked Denis with his own series of strikes and finally managed a takedown with about 20 seconds left in the first round.
After the fight hit the mat, he used his strong grappling skills to quickly take Denis’ back and sink in a rear naked choke with 10 seconds left before the bell. Denis couldn’t hold on and was forced to tap at the 4:59 mark.
“I’ve seen in his last fight when he gets in trouble, he sticks his neck out a lot and I figured once I get him there, I’ll be able to finish him, but it was a matter of getting him there,” Delorme said after the fight.
The 28-year-old admitted he was hurt by the shots he took early in the contest.
“He’s a good striker and he hits hard,” Delorme added. “I was rocked but whatever, it comes with the territory. I always get rocked and come back, it’s not a big deal to me.
“I never quit. I don’t care if there’s one second left or two rounds left, I never quit.”
Delorme, who gave a shout-out to his home gym Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts, improved to 8-1 as a pro, while Denis fell to 11-3.
In other preliminary action Karlos Vemola was victorious in his middleweight debut, submitting Mike Massenzio with a second-round rear-naked choke.
The Ultimate Fighter 14 featherweight finalist Dennis Bermudez earned his first UFC win by defeating Pablo Garza by unanimous decision.
WEC veteran Danny Castillo beat UFC newcomer John Cholish by unanimous decision in a lightweight bout.
Louis Gaudinot choked John Lineker unconscious with an arm-in guillotine in the second round of their 128-pound catchweight fight (Lineker missed weight by three pounds). Gaudinot and Lineker went back and forth in a barnburner that showed what kind of action the 125-pound division can bring.
England’s John Hathaway topped Germany’s Pascal Krauss with a unanimous decision in a grueling, three-round welterweight affair.
TUF 14 bantamweight winner John Dodson won a unanimous decision over Tim Elliot in a furiously-paced flyweight bout.
TUF 12 finalist Michael Johnson won a unanimous decision over TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson.
