Siyar Bahadurzada

AOPNEWS | March 5, 2016

Tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a welterweight showdown, Afghan MMA fighter Siyar Bahadurzada defeated American fighter Brandon Thatch in round 3 via submission (arm triangle).

According to the official UFC website, Bahadurzada went into the fight as the underdog (-310/+260). Also, many thought this fight was going to be a striking war, however, through out the match, Bahadurzada stayed patient, calm, and outgrappled Thatch. Bahadurzada had a total of 4 take-downs in the match and performed some strong ground and pound action in all three rounds. At the end of round 2, Thatch looked exhausted while at his corner. With 50 seconds left on round 3, Thatch eventually gave in to an arm triangle Bahadurzada put him in.

Bahadurzada submitting Thatch in UFC 196

Speaking to UFC announcer Joe Rogan after the match, Bahadurzada dedicated the fight to his 21 year-old recently deceased cousin. He also mentioned to Joe that he was a little disappointed with his own performance, to which Joe Rogan seemed shocked and replied that “he was being very hard on himself” and that it was an “excellent performance”. Bahadurzada dominated Thatch round after round before finally submitting him. With this win, Bahadurzada’s record is now 22 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw. He breaks his 2 fight losing streak in the UFC.

The fight was the main preliminary fight of UFC 196 – McGregor vs. Diaz. In the main event, featherweight champion Conor McGregor was supposed to take on Brazilian lighweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. However, Nate Diaz stepped in after dos Anjos withdrew because of an injury to his foot.