Brady Hiestand and Garrett Armfield at the weigh-in for UFC Las Vegas 93. Credit: Youtube/UFC
TUF 29 finalist Brady Hiestand faced Garrett Armfield in a bantamweight bout at UFC Las Vegas 93 on Saturday.
Both men came into the bout on two straight win streaks, but Hiestand hadn’t fought in nearly a year. Perhaps looking to make up for lost time, he started strong. Armfield did the same, and within a minute Hiestand attempted a single-leg attack. But Armfield grabbed one of his arms and performed an unsightly armbar attempt, forcing Hiestand to straddle his opponent to defend. He did so, and after a minute Hiestand transitioned into a guillotine attempt.
Armfield fought through it and held the advantage in a very active and competitive fight that lasted half a round. Heistand quickly took him down again with a single leg strike. Heistand got up, he got down again, and for just a second Heistand was back on his feet. He applied a body lock and dragged Armfield down, putting his arm under his chin. Garrett Armfield somehow survived the rear-naked choke and incredibly held on until the end of the round.
The second round began with Armfield landing a check hook that sent Hiestand falling onto his back. Hiestand got to his feet, but was rocked again and fell with Armfield on top. Hiestand applied a triangle choke, with Armfield in side mount. Armfield escaped a submission attempt, got to his feet and landed a left hand, but Hiestand remained on his back.
Hiestand, although injured, was not out yet. Instead, he took Armfield’s back and locked in a body triangle. With two minutes left, he had plenty of time to attack Armfield and attempt a rear-naked choke. Armfield broke the body lock and tried to avoid the choke, but eventually got to his feet, dropped, and returned to center as Hiestand hung on. Throughout two rounds, the bout was highly active and competitive, filled with skilled grappling exchanges and bursts of stand-up action.
Thirty seconds into the third round, Heistand clinched and pinned Armfield against the fence, then dropped back and yanked his legs off. Armfield gave up his back to get up, but Heistand couldn’t take advantage, hanging on and slamming Armfield right back down. This time, as Armfield got up, Heistand climbed onto his back, applied a body lock and dragged Armfield down. This time under the neck, there was no mistake, and Brady Heistand forced the tap.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Brady Heistand defeats Garrett Armfield by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 1 minute, 52 seconds
