Luke Sanders lands left hook followed by rear-naked choke to beat Maximo Blanco
UFC newcomer Luke Sanders made quite an impression in his debut after landing a picture perfect left hook to drop Maximo Blanco before finishing the fight with a rear-naked choke just a moment later.
At 10-0, Sanders was a solid prospect coming into the night, but he had to fight an uphill battle against a veteran like Blanco, who has blazing speed and devastating power.
It was actually an early submission attempt from Blanco that had Sanders in trouble, however, after the Venezuelan fighter got the fight to the mat and nearly locked in an arm triangle choke.
Sanders eventually slipped free and worked his way back to the feet where he uncorked a dynamite left hook that blasted Blanco in the jaw before he crashed down to the mat.
1st RD knockdown + submission finish? Now THAT is how you make a @UFC debut! Well done, @CoolHandMMA. #UFCBoston https://t.co/WKTtECP9s3
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 18, 2016
Sanders followed him to the ground and quickly wrapped his legs around Blanco's body before getting his arm under the chin to lock on the rear-naked choke.
As the anaconda like grip tightened, Blanco's faced grimaced and he had no choice but to tap out and give Sanders the win in his UFC debut.
The stoppage came at 3:38 into the first round.
Sanders looks like an interesting prospect for the future, not to mention he was actually fighting at featherweight on Sunday instead of his regular weight class at 135-pounds.
