"Zalal stayed outside, looking light on his feet to start the fight. It wasn't long before the affair hit the mat, with Zalal changing levels and exploding into a takedown. Emmett found himself trapped, unable to escape with Zalal working on a triangle, then an arm-bar. Emmett tried to stack Zalal up, but couldn't, and all of a sudden, Emmett gave the verbal tap. A huge, huge win for Youssef Zalal, who has won five straight since returning to the UFC in early 2024."
"Ranked #9 coming into the fight, Zalal isn't likely to jump too far up the 145lb rankings given Emmett was only one spot ahead of him. Still, it's the sort of statement victory "The Moroccan Devil" needed after a lackluster decision victory over Calvin Kattar in his last outing - something Zalal mentioned in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan."
At UFC 320, Youssef Zalal defeated Josh Emmett by arm-bar submission at 1:38 of round one, extending his winning streak to five since returning to the UFC in early 2024. Zalal used footwork to set up a takedown, transitioned to a triangle, and secured an arm-bar as Emmett could not escape. Emmett, 40, had been hoping for a late-career title shot but gave a verbal tap after being trapped. Zalal entered the bout ranked #9 and may not climb far due to Emmett's adjacent ranking, yet the finish served as a clear statement. Zalal called out Lerone Murphy post-fight.
Read at Cageside Press
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