UFC Fight Night 123 results: Davi Ramos chokes out gritty Chris Gruetzemacher in third

Davi Ramos did nearly everything he could think of to knock Chris Gruetzemacher out.

When it almost resulted in Ramos (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) wearing himself out instead, he dragged Gruetzemacher (13-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) to the mat and slapped on the rear-naked choke to force the submission at the 0:50 mark of Round 3.

The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 123 event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of the rest of the card on FS1.

Ramos got off to a quick start, attacking Gruetzemacher with punches and knees in the early going, then continuing to batter him on the feet throughout the round as Greutzemacher displayed his resilience simply by remaining conscious.

But after another blistering start to the second failed to put Greutzemacher away, Ramos seemed to fade a bit under the force of his own labors. That’s when Greutzemacher turned up his own offense, forcing Ramos to rely more on takedowns to halt his momentum, which only left him even more exhausted by the time he headed for his corner at the end of the round.

After a short rest to collect himself, Ramos came out for the final round thinking takedown first. A slick transition off an unsuccessful double-leg attempt helped Ramos take Greutzemacher’s back, and from there it was a simple trip to the mat, where Ramos immediately latched on the choke and forced the tap.

The victory gives Ramos his first UFC win in two tries after a loss in his debut this past March. Greutzemacher has now lost two straight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 123 results include:

• Davi Ramos def. Chris Gruetzemacher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 0:50
• Trevin Giles def. Antonio Braga Neto via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:27

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Fresno.)