Jake Matthews scores submission win with just seconds left at UFC Fight Night
Jake Matthews notched his second straight UFC win, Saturday, against Johnny Case in front of a friendly Brisbane crowd. The Aussie used expert body striking to wear Case down, impressive conditioning of his own to maintain a heavy pace and slick ground work to finish the fight in the third with a rear-naked choke.
Case tapped-out at 4:45 of the third and final round to the second choke attempt from the "Celtic Kid" in the final minute. "I knew I had to finish it. I knew he was probably up on points," Matthews said, afterwards.
"It's great ... Getting a win like Johnny Case, by far the most experienced and best guy I've fought."
In the first round, Case deftly defended a takedown attempt from Matthews and landed big elbows on the ground, to the head. Once back on his feet, Matthews connected with several hard right punches and a left hook to the head.
In the second, Matthews landed his first big body kick, making Case tighten up, slightly. Soon, Mathews scrambled to the ground and locked in a triangle choke.
Good posture, patience and timing helped him escape. From there, Case landed heavy strikes from on top.
Matthews worked up to his feet with under a minute left in the round, landed a job and another body kick. Case ended the period with another takedown scored.
The third round proved to be Matthews' best, as he buckled Case with a left punch and defended takedown attempts. With a little over a minute left in the fight, Matthews took Case's back, against the cage, and sunk in a choke from behind.
Case was able to hit an angle and escape the first attempt. Still, he was mounted and, after eating punches to the head from there, he turned and gave up his back, again.
Matthews sunk in another rear-naked choke with just seconds left in the contest, and this time got the tap. The win gives Matthews an 11-1 mark, overall, and the defeat for Case dips his stellar record to 22-5.
