The back half of the UFC Oklahoma City card certainly picked up steam, and an entertaining scrap between Tim Boetsch and Johny Hendricks brought fight fans to the main event of the evening. In it, lightweights Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee squared off, with just a wee bit of bad blood between them. Could this fight top the last three bouts on the UFC Fight Night 112 card?
There was no touch of gloves between the pair to start things off. Chiesa looked to utilize kicks early, as Lee pressed the action. Chiesa then scored the takedown, and as Lee made his way back to his feet, Chiesa looked for a guillotine. Lee managed to hoist Chiesa up; the choke was gone but Chiesa looked to latch on to an arm. Lee slammed him down, but Chiesa worked for a triange from his back. With Lee defending, he then went to work inside Chiesa’s guard. Lee then took the back, and looked to get under the chin. When that didn’t work, still with a body lock sunk in, Lee started landing some hard punches to the sides of Chiesa’s head. With Chiesa letting his guard down just a moment to catch his breath, Lee snuck his arms in.
What happened next was unbelievable — as Chiesa in a bad spot, but still holding on, ref Mario Yamasaki waved the fight off, without Chiesa ever having tapped or gone out! With not a lot of time left in the round, this was a brutal stoppage they may have impacted the outcome of the fight.
After the fight, Lee stated he felt it would be four more rounds of the same, but said he’d run the fight back if necessary.
Kevin Lee def. Michael Chiesa by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 4:37
