For Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, it was as simple as 1-2-3.
A takedown in the opening minute put Curtis Millender on his back, and dos Santos (21-5 MMA, 7-1 UFC) soon passed guard and moved to back control. From there, it was only a matter of time before he locked on the rear-naked choke, forcing Millender (17-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to tap out at the 2:35 mark of Round 1.
The welterweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC on ESPN+ 4 show at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. It streamed on ESPN+.
Millender had to know there was a good chance he’d have to fight off his back at some point in this bout, but he didn’t seem to have an answer for the active aggression of dos Santos’ ground game once the fight hit the floor.
In no time, dos Santos moved to half-guard, then used his elbow strikes to occupy Millender as he tried to advance to full mount.
Millender used the opportunity to create space and scramble, but dos Santos leaped to his back, trying twice for the choke before eventually slipping it under his chin and locking his palms together to squeeze for the finish. From there, Millender had no choice but to submit.
For dos Santos, that brings his current winning streak in the UFC to seven straight fights. Millender suffers his first defeat since 2015, snapping a nine-fight winning streak.
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