Davey Grant looked to be seconds away from losing his fight to Raphael Assuncao before pulling off a rare submission in the third round.
During Saturday’s UFC Las Vegas preliminary card, Grant and Assuncao battled it out, and in the third, Assuncao worked for a takedown when Grant grabbed the fence.
Referee Keith Peterson stopped the action to take a point away, but he didn’t put the fighters back in the same position. Grant ended up landing a spinning back-fist that hurt Assuncao before locking in a reverse triangle that put his opponent to sleep with just 17 seconds left in the fight.
Check out the video of the wild sequence below.
Davey Grant put Raphael Assuncao to sleep with a reverse triangle #UFCLasVegas
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) March 11, 2023
(via @espnmma) pic.twitter.com/AgL2ooX4bU
Following the result, Assuncao put his gloves in the center of the octagon and announced his retirement from the sport.
Raphael Assuncao retires after #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/UOfECadh2c
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) March 11, 2023
The 40-year-old ends his career with a pro record of 27-10, which includes a 12-7 run inside the octagon since making his promotional debut in March 2011 at UFC 128. Prior to that, Assuncao had a five-fight run in the WEC.
Grant earned his second straight victory with a third-round finish after stopping Louis Smolka in the third round in his prior outing at UFC Vegas 54 in May 2022.
