Kyle Daukaus got his first official finish in the octagon with a buzzer-beater submission to put Jamie Pickett away in the opening round of their UFC Vegas 48 co-headliner.
It was a very impressive showing from Daukaus, who dominated the entire way before wrapping up a D’arce choke that forced Pickett to tap out just before the horn sounded. The official stoppage came at exactly 4:59 of the first round. Daukaus picked up his second UFC win.
“I felt him tap before the bell rang,” Daukaus said afterward. “It felt great. I want to call out Tony Ferguson. I have more D’arce chokes. So I’m going to go for the ‘D’arce Knight.’ My new nickname.”
Daukaus used fast hands on the feet in order to set up a takedown, bringing Pickett to the ground as he looked to advance position. Pickett did a good job not allowing Daukaus to maintain control as he scrambled back to his feet, but he was still stuck in the clinch, which led to another trip down to the canvas.
Daukaus was just relentless as Pickett consistently found himself stuck underneath the Philadelphia native, trying just about everything to escape. Even when Pickett did manage to get back to standing, Daukaus was coming after him with rapid-fire punches, which set up the final grappling exchange of the fight.
After the action again hit the floor, Daukaus wrapped his arms around Pickett’s head and arm to secure the D’arce choke, but it looked like he might run out of time. Instead, Daukaus just took that as a challenge to sink the submission even deeper, and Pickett was finally forced to tap.
Daukaus looked better than ever on Saturday night to get the win, and now he’ll turn his attention to help his brother Chris prepare for his own fight coming up against Curtis Blaydes at the UFC Columbus card on March 26.
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