Matt Riddle makes Chris Clements submit in third round at UFC 149 – UFC News
Matt Riddle, the surging young American welterweight, put forth the Canadian UFC fans an epic showdown and collected an impressive submission win over Canadian Chris Clements, in the third round of the three-round bout held on July 21, 2012.
The duo met on the fight card televised live from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. UFC 149 was headlined by the five-round bout between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao with the interim UFC bantamweight title up for grabs.
The showdown also witnessed Tim Boetsch take on Hector Lombard in a three-round non-title bout.
Riddle, 26, was entering his career’s 10th bout, boasting seven wins. The American lad is not a top-notch welterweight and is somewhat striving hard to make his way up the rankings.
Also known as ‘Deep Waters’, Matt was coming off a split decision win over Henry Martinez. Moreover, another aspect that shifted the odds in favour of the Canadian belligerent was the experience factor.
Chris was entering his career’s 16th mixed martial art bout, boasting 11 wins. Also known as ‘The Menace’, Clements is widely known as one of the best knockout pounders in the welterweight division.
The Ontario hailing brawler has pinned 10 of his opponents by sheer knockout and above all holds the unique record of collecting ‘the fastest knockout win’. Chris nailed Lautaro Tucas in just three seconds eventually setting a new world record in the history
of mixed martial arts.
All these advantages went in vain as it was Matt who outfoxed Chris in all the significant aspects. Matt showed great resilience and agility and attempted a successful takedown in the very first round.
At one moment, the referee halted the bout as Chris was all folded up in great pain due to a strike that connected his liver. The bout-referee depicted it as a below the belt shot and gave Clements ample time to recover.
During the whole bout, Riddle exhibited impressive grappling techniques. The second round witnessed the duo take the bout on foot. It was the third round, when after the passage of two minutes and two seconds Matt grabbed Chris in his lethal arm-triangle
choke.
Clements instantly tapped out. The bout ended and the referee pronounced Matt as the winner via submission. After the bout, Matt stated, “I got out there and had a good time. My arm triangle went from OK to outstanding. I trained hard and improved on a lot
of things, and I think it showed out there. I used my grappling to try and take him to the ground because I knew Chris was a world-class striker. He landed some good elbows, but I played my strengths and it worked.”
With this win, Matt has collected his seventh career victory whereas Chris has received his fifth career loss and first in UFC.
Tags: