Sodiq Yusuff was the biggest favorite on the entire UFC Vegas 61 fight card, and he proved why in rapid-fire fashion.
Taking on short-notice opponent Don Shainis after his original bout against Giga Chikadze was scrapped, Yusuff took out all his frustration and proved he was clearly the better fighter. As soon as the action started, Yusuff blasted Shainis with a series of vicious knees in succession.
It looked for a moment that Yusuff might get the knockout, but he then switched his strategy by snatching a guillotine choke and falling down into guard. It only took Shainis a split-second to tap out to end the fight.
The official stoppage came just 30 seconds into the opening round.
“I was expecting a much higher-ranked fight,” Yusuff said afterwards. “I’ve had a lot of pauses in my career that was out of my hand. High risk, low reward, but fighter’s fight.
“I knew I was going to be able to find shots coming up the middle but don’t sleep on my jiu-jitsu.”
Yusuff has remained a tough out for anybody in the featherweight division and this latest performance marks his second consecutive victory in a row. With the lightning quick submission, Yusuff is now looking to take a stab at another higher-ranked opponent when he returns in 2023.
“I would love to meet up with ‘The Korean Zombie’ [Chan Sung Jung],” Yusuff shouted. “‘Korean Zombie’ we could do this in January, it would be awesome.”
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