Skip to content

Lee nets controversial tapout win over Chiesa in UFC Oklahoma City main event

Sean Pokorny / USA TODAY Sports

A highly anticipated grudge match was besmirched with an unceremonious end on Sunday.

After trapping Michael Chiesa in an airtight rear-naked choke, Kevin Lee was declared the winner of UFC Fight Night 112's lightweight main event by technical submission at the 4:37 mark of Round 1 in Oklahoma City.

Chiesa wasn't actively working to escape the submission, but didn't tap, hence his immediate outrage at referee Mario Yamasaki's decision to wave the contest off. The much maligned official boasts a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which only made the stoppage all the more questionable.

The sour end to the evening's headliner gave Chiesa the gumption to make a postfight demand for an immediate rematch in Lee's native Detroit, which the UFC is slated to visit in December. "The Motown Phenom" appeared content with how it all ended, however, as he challenged top-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov to a dance on the same card.

Yamasaki's gaffe unjustly cast a pall over Lee's impressive performance against a solid jiu-jitsu practitioner in Chiesa. The pair predictably looked to make it a grappling match in short order, with Lee taking Chiesa on a ride with an emphatic slam just over a minute in.

After staving off a triangle choke attempt from his lightweight foe, Lee worked his way to back control and laced shot after shot to Chiesa's dome to create the opening he needed to sink in the choke. "Maverick" initially attempted to fight his way out of it, then surprisingly abandoned the strategy while Lee still put the screws to him - with his own calling card, no less - although he may very well have opted to ride out the round's final seconds. But whether Chiesa had intended to gut it out or was actually flirting with dreamland (or both), Yamasaki had already seen enough, much to the fighter's chagrin.

With the dust somewhat settled, Lee now finds himself on a five-fight win streak, with each of his last three victories coming via rear-naked choke. Chiesa, on the other hand, sees his run of three consecutive wins snapped and his attempt to avenge his slighted mother go unfulfilled in a return from a 14-month layoff.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox