A surging American MMA fighter sent his UFC opponent to sleep with a nasty chokehold after just 76 seconds
- Andre Petroski submitted Nick Maximov with ease at a UFC event Saturday in Las Vegas.
- American MMA fighter Petroski sent Maximov to sleep with an anaconda choke after 76 seconds.
LAS VEGAS — A surging American MMA fighter sent his UFC opponent to sleep with a nasty chokehold after just 76 seconds.
Andre Petroski's three-round middleweight bout against Nick Maximov opened an 11-bout UFC card held at the Apex in Las Vegas.
Maximov told Insider and other reporters earlier in the week that he was down to fight one of the scariest fighters in the business — Khamzat Chimaev, and even called the Swedish-Russian a "fool."
Petroski appeared to punish Maximov on Chimaev's behalf as he ended his opponent's undefeated run with a first-round submission.
Petroski landed only one strike from 10 attempts but, after grappling exchanges, worked his anaconda choke and rendered Maximov asleep with the technique.
"That's my move," he told UFC commentator and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping. "That's my position that we were working with — the front headlock. It's amazing to see it work."
He then said he'd like to fight Gerald Meerschaert at the UFC's next pay-per-view show — UFC 275 on June 9 in Singapore.
Watch Petroski's brutal but brilliant finish right here:
With the victory, Petroski advanced his pro MMA record to eight wins (four knockouts and four submissions) against one loss — a 2020 defeat to Aaron Jeffery at LFA 93, mere months before he signed to the market-leading MMA promotion UFC.
He has since gone on a three-fight winning run and is unbeaten in UFC competition.
He inflicted a lot of damage on Hu Yaozong at an event Insider attended on Fight Island last year, and then called ultimate fighting "the greatest job in the world."
Petroski and Maximov opened the UFC's 54th event at its own TV studio called Apex.
Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic headline the card, which was broadcast in its entirety on ESPN+.