Unbeaten middleweight prospect Baisangur Susurkaev took the UFC by storm last year, thanks in part to making his promotional debut just days after winning a contract on the Contender Series.
At UFC 328 in Newark on Saturday, against Djorden Santos, he was in search of his third victory in the promotion, opposite Brazil’s Djorden Santos, himself 1-1 in the company.
Susurkaev has been known to play with his food in past performances, and tonight was no different from the rising star. To get things kicked off, Baisangur Susurkaev landed a front kick to the body of Santos, followed by a three-strike combination that ended with a head kick to the Brazilian.
Santos started to get his jab going, moving forward to pressure Susurkaev, but was met with a volume of low kicks that softened up his lead leg. By around two minutes left in the round, Susurkaev was wearing some damage on the nose due to the straight strikes of Djorden Santos, as the Brazilian stayed undeterred and willing to throw down.
In round two, Susurkaev began making some adjustments, switching to a high guard while leaning on his counter-striking. Though it was Djorden Santos who started to turn things up at the beginning of the round, keeping with his jab and occasionally mixing in an uppercut to stun the Chechnya native. It was clear Susurkaev was uncomfortable with the forward pressure and strike count of Santos, but the biggest strike of the round came from Susurkaev, who landed an elbow across the top of Santos’ head before pointing and returning to his showman ways.
Djorden Santos returned to his corner with a massive gash, as the cutman rushed to improve the chances of a third-round comeback. Seemingly, though, that was the turning point for Susurkaev, as the young middleweight began flowing on the feet with a number of combinations, all landing flush on a battered Santos.
With about a minute and a half left, Susurkaev engaged in a fight-ending clinch, ultimately bringing Santos to the ground. It wasn’t long before the Russian grabbed hold of his opponent’s neck, squeezing on a rear-naked choke that dispatched the Brazilian in round three.
Baisangur Susurkaev continues his hype train, moving to 12-0 as a professional and 3-0 under the UFC banner. On the other side, Santos drops to 11-3 and 1-2 with the big show.
Official Result: Baisangur Susurkaev def. Djorden Santos by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 4:11