UFC 258 video: Julian Marquez submits Maki Pitolo to cap wild PPV opener

The pay-per-view portion of UFC 258 started with a bang as Julian Marquez got the nod.

There’s a line of thought in the mixed martial arts world that states it’s always the fight cards that don’t look like much on paper that end up delivering the best action.

[autotag]Julian Marquez[/autotag] and [autotag]Maki Pitolo[/autotag] did their part to make this a reality for UFC 258 on Saturday night. The middleweight bout was bumped up to the main card in the wake of several fight fallouts, and it kicked off the pay-per-view in grand style.

Pitolo (13-8 MMA, 1-4 UFC) arguably got the better end of the first two rounds, both of which were all action. Then the third round featured wild swings before Marquez (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who was fighting for the first time in more than two years, finished things at the 4:13 mark of the final frame.

“I know you guys were saying this guy’s done, this guy’s done, but guess what? This guy was not done,” Marquez said in his post-fight interview.

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After escaping Pitolo’s top position and getting back to his feet, Marquez landed a flurry of lefts and rights, then landed a brutal knee to the head in the clinch. Pitolo went for a desperation takedown, but Marquez easily switched position and landed a nifty anaconda choke for the tap, which you can see below (via Twitter):

Up-to-the-minute UFC 258 results:

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