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Daniel Zellhuber turned his takedown defense into a fight-ending submission to put away Christos Giagos in the second round at Noche UFC.
After spending the majority of the fight on the feet, Zellhuber connected with a stiff combination capped off by a hard right hand that forced Giagos to dive for his legs. Zellhuber wasted no time sprawling out on the mat, snatching an anaconda choke, and then rolling to his back to lock up the submission, which forced Giagos to tap at 3:26 in the second round.
Zellhuber immediately celebrated with a raucous crowd in Las Vegas. He admitted that Giagos caught him off guard a couple of times prior to the submission finish.
“It was a very tough fight,” Zellhuber said. “He hit me hard as f***. My coach told me just keep composed and keep doing what you’re doing. I was coming here for a knockout but this MMA so anything can happen.”
Zellhuber looks like a welterweight competing at lightweight so he had plenty of size and reach, but Giagos was still finding a way inside throughout the majority of the fight. Again and again, Giagos kept ducking down and firing an overhand right that continuously found Zellhuber’s chin.
In return, Zellhuber tried to time his strikes while using a good jab to keep Giagos at the end of his punches.
It wasn’t until that exchange in the second round when Zellhuber really connected with his best punch that forced Giagos to abandon his striking attack and turn to his wrestling. A split second later, Zellhuber had the anaconda choke locked up and he scored the submission win.
The win moves Zellhuber to 14-1 overall with a two-fight win streak in the octagon after suffering his only professional loss in his UFC debut back in 2022.
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