Ben Nguyen shocks Tim Elliott with 49-second submission victory
Ben Nguyen made a huge statement on Saturday night with a first-round rear-naked choke finish against former "Ultimate Fighter" winner Tim Elliott.
Nguyen was originally scheduled to meet former title contender Joseph Benavidez on the card, but an injury forced him out of the fight so Elliott stepped up to the challenge to replace him.
Unfortunately, things didn't go his way as Nguyen went on the attack almost immediately after the referee started the first round.
Nguyen came out firing before landing a vicious head kick that Elliott seemed to eat, but it seemingly rattled him and left the veteran flyweight on wobbly legs.
Best known for his grappling, Elliott then attempted to take the fight to the ground, but he did so with an ill-advised head and arm takedown, which exposed his back and allowed Nguyen to take advantage of the position.
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Almost immediately, Nguyen locked his legs around Elliott's body before doing the same with his forearm under his opponent's chin. A few seconds later as Elliott's faced grimaced from the choke, he tapped out and gave Nguyen the win at just 49 seconds into the opening round.
With the win, Nguyen moves to 18-6 overall and 4-1 in the UFC and sent a message to UFC president Dana White, who openly admitted over the weekend that the promotion has considered getting rid of the flyweight division where he fights.
"Was that a boring fight? Was that a flyweight fight? Hell yeah!" Nguyen shouted.
Nguyen will undoubtedly move into the top 10 with this win and considering his impressive performance it's tough to imagine the UFC doesn't give him a higher-ranked opponent for his next fight.
