Michael Chiesa wasted no time in making his presence felt at welterweight.
After missing weight for his summer clash with Anthony Pettis at 155lbs, Chiesa realised that the time had come to move up a division and he looked significantly more comfortable at 170lbs on Saturday night.
Chiesa was paired up with welterweight legend Carlos Condit at UFC 232, a match-up welcomed by Chiesa, who made no secret of the fact that he grew up a massive fan of ‘The Natural Born Killer’.
Chiesa looked significantly larger than Condit and dragged his opponent to the mat at will but was forced to fight off a couple of submission attempts from Condit’s back in the early stages.
The Ultimate Fighter 15 winner moved to 15-4 with an unusual submission of his own, however, as he cinched up a kimura before creatively altering the leverage on Condit’s left shoulder.
Rather than use the traditional method, Chiesa took his right hand away from his left forearm and used his hips as the fulcrum to extend Condit’s arm and drew the tap with just a minute on the clock in the second round.
Michael Chiesa locks in the nasty kimura and finishes it with one arm!
A huge win over Carlos Condit, top quality grappling on display 🙌#UFC232 pic.twitter.com/e5157StYN5
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) December 30, 2018
After getting the better of a former interim welterweight champion, Chiesa intends to remain at his new weight class and move up the ranks, calling out division mainstay Neil Magny for a clash in 2019.
