UFC 246 results: Diego Ferreira chokes Anthony Pettis into submission

Make it six in a row for Diego Ferreira.

[autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag] celebrated his 35th birthday in style Saturday night.

At UFC 246, Ferreira (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) submitted former UFC champion [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (22-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) at the 1:46 mark of Round 2. The rear-naked choke topped off a dominant, one-sided showing.

The lightweight bout opened up the UFC 246 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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In the opening round, Ferreira showed unusual rhythm from the get-go. Lifting his leg up and down, Ferreria hopped into the pocket when pressuring Pettis.

The Brazilian lightweight mixed up his striking with his grappling roots. In the second round, Ferreira was able to get Pettis’ back. From there, the 35-year-old fighter sank in a rear-naked choke. Soon after it was locked, Pettis tapped.

With the victory, Ferreira has won six straight fights dating back to January 2016. A member of rising Dallas powerhouse Fortis MMA, Ferreira continues his ascent up the 155-pound rankings. In his most recent fightprior to UFC 246, Ferreira upset Russia’s Mairbek Taisumov by unanimous decision.

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As for Pettis, the loss is his second in as many outings. Prior to UFC 246, Pettis dropped a three-round unanimous decision to Nate Diaz at UFC 241 in August. The former UFC lightweight champion Pettis has competed in three weight classes since 2016. UFC 246 was marked return to lightweight after back-to-back welterweight fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 246 results include: