The moment wasn’t too big for Quillan Salkilld.
Making his main-event debut, the Australian’s run of first-round finishes continued Saturday night as he defeated veteran Mateusz Gamrot with a rear-naked choke at 4:25 of the first round of their non-title lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Salkilld (13-1 MMA) survived a Gamrot (26-5 MMA) leg-lock during an extensive grappling exchange in the scheduled five-round fight before working to the back and locking in the finish, earning the biggest victory of his career while extending his winning streak to 13 fights.
Salkilld, who has now won his past four fights and five of his last six in the first round, called for a step up in competition after the victory.
“I think I deserve someone who’s in the top five or close to it,” Salkilld said.
Following the victory, the No. 12-ranked Salkilld positioned himself for a matchup near the top of the lightweight division, while the No. 8-ranked Gamrot absorbed a setback against one of the division’s fastest-rising contenders.
Saturday’s event marked the UFC’s return to Las Vegas after two events abroad, in Abu Dhabi on July 25 and then Belgrade last Saturday.
In the co-main event, Diego Ferreira (20-7 MMA) landed more than 135 significant strikes across 15 minutes to earn a unanimous decision against Billy Quarantillo (18-8 MMA) in their lightweight bout. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Ferreira, a Texas-based Brazilian who kept Quarantillo on the defensive in Quarantillo’s first Octagon appearance in more than 600 days after suffering a knee injury and his first lightweight fight since 2017.
Darren Elkins’ UFC retirement fight ended unceremoniously as Yadier del Valle (11-1 MMA) needed one left hook to secure a TKO stoppage 35 seconds into the opening round of their featherweight bout. Del Valle quickly closed the show against Elkins (29-13 MMA), spoiling the longtime veteran’s final Octagon appearance while rebounding from the first loss of his career in February.
“I’m thankful for it all … don’t ever give up on yourself,” Elkins said following the loss.
Strawweight Alexia Thainara (15-1 MMA) utilized a relentless pace and a variety of takedowns alongside unorthodox striking to earn a unanimous decision against former strawweight contender Amanda Lemos (15-7-1 MMA), taking the cards 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 in their all-Brazilian matchup.
Unbeaten welterweight Ty Miller (8-0 MMA) opened the main card by stopping Billy Ray Goff (9-5 MMA) via TKO 15 seconds into the third round. Miller, 26, unleashed punches against the fence to force the stoppage, extending his perfect professional record while handing Goff his third straight defeat.
The UFC returns to Philadelphia for the first time since 2019 next Saturday, bringing UFC 330 to Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The event is headlined by a championship doubleheader featuring UFC welterweight titleholder Islam Makhachev of Russia defending his belt against Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry, and Brazil’s Mackenzie Dern defending her strawweight title against Canada’s Gillian Robertson.
–Field Level Media
