Gilbert Burns nabs submission win over Alex Oliveira to stay undefeated
Gilbert Burns capped an exciting back-and-forth battle with Alex Oliveira in the third round with a straight arm bar submission Saturday night. The finish came at 4:14 of the third round of their UFC Fight Night main card bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"I knew I had to go out there and finish the fight," Burns said.
The fight began with Burns scoring a takedown on the dangerous striker Oliveira and landing good shots from on top. Before long, however, Oliveira got back to his feet and pressed Burns against the cage.
At the end of the round, Oliveira opened up with punches and possibly stole the opening stanza. In the second round, the former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion Burns was much more focused on getting the fight to the ground.
Burns pressed Oliveira against the cage, on the feet and briefly got a takedown, before Oliveira got back up and broke free. A clearly exhausted Oliveira kept swinging with big, looping punches, but mostly missing.
Eventually, he began to find his mark, but just as Burns did as well. Both men connected with their own big left hooks.
The round ended with Burns bleeding near his right eye and with both men trading power punches. In the third round, Burns got a takedown quickly and moved right into the mount position.
As Oliveira looked to have the position nearly reversed, Burns locked up an oma plata shoulder lock with his legs. The submission specialist nearly turned the hold into a sweep, but Oliveira kept an arm of his opponent pinned to the mat, preventing it.
However, Burns kept working and did indeed complete the sweep, moments later. From there, Burns locked up a triangle choke from the mount and then switched to an arm bar, forcing the tap-out.
The win improves Burns' record to 10-0. Oliveira's loss is just the second of his career, and his mark dips to 10-2-1.
