SALT LAKE CITY – Thales Leites spent much of his three-round battle with Chris Camozzi in back control. The jiu-jitsu expert’s skills gave the feeling of a ticking clock and the fight ending choke was finally locked in in the final round.
The middleweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 92 event at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Camozzi (24-11 MMA, 9-8 UFC) and Leites (26-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) quickly became a clinch battle against the cage. Leites scored a takedown and took the back as Camozzi stood back up. Leites went into backpack mode, riding the back of Camozzi as he attempted to get away from the grappling specialist.
Camozzi allowed Leites to ride his back for the remainder of the round while managing to avoid any submission threat.
Leites scored with a takedown quickly in Round 2. Camozzi couldn’t keep him from advancing position and again gave up his back in the ensuing scramble. With the submission not coming easily once again, Leites rode out the round landing punches to Camozzi’s head.
Knowing he was down on the scorecards, Camozzi opened Round 3 with a flurry of heavy punches. His final mistake was trying to lock in a guillotine choke and abandoning the striking game. Leites took advantage and again scored a takedown and quickly advanced to back control.
This time, Leites was determined to close the show from dominant position. After a hand fight, Leites sunk in the choke to secure the tap at the 2:58 mark of Round 3.
Leites halted a two-fight losing skid with the victory while Camozzi had a three-fight winning streak snapped.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 92 results include:
- Thales Leites def. Chris Camozzi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:58
- Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Zak Cummings via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Trevor Smith def. Joseph Gigliotti via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Maryna Moroz def. Danielle Taylor via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Court McGee def. Dominique Steele via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marcin Tybura def. Viktor Pesta via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:53
- David Teymur def. Jason Novelli via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:25
- Teruto Ishihara def. Horacio Gutierrez via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:32
- Cub Swanson def. Tatsuya Kawajiri via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Justin Ledet def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 92, check out the UFC Events section of the card.
(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Salt Lake City.)
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