Submission Underground 18 delivered a night full of action, including a higher number of submissions in regulation time than their last few events. One notable exception from Chael Sonnen’s grappling promotion was the dethroned absolute champion, Craig Jones, who recently went on record to say that he might be done competing for SUG due to their choice of five-minute round times followed by EBI overtime rules. Nevertheless, he wasn’t ever going to be the main event in their eighteenth event as that privilege went to the new champion, Mason Fowler, who was scheduled for his first title defense against Vinny Magalhaes.
All of the preliminary card matches went at the highest pace possible with three out of five ending in regulation time. In the opening match of the main card, Kody Steele finished off an incredibly busy weekend after taking on Dante Leon at FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One just two days before. He got the win over Bryan Nuro in a flawless display that saw him lock up the heel hook finish in just a hair over the two-minute mark. The next two matches felt like they were over in a flash as Keith Krikorian got the win over Rafael Domingos by Triangle Choke and Steele’s training partner, William Tackett, also finished his opponent, Gabriel Checco in under three minutes.
The Co-main event then saw a tough matchup between Kendall Reusing and Leah Taylor that saw Reusing dominate the start of regulation time before nearly succumbing to a quick Kneebar attempt before the time ran out. The first EBI overtime period of the main card didn’t last for very long though as Reusing secured the Armbar to win by fastest finish. The main event between Fowler and Magalhaes was something of an anti-climax after the fantastic buildup, with the entire regulation period being contested on the feet with neither man scoring a takedown or pulling guard.
They then met for three rounds of EBI overtime that was characterised by repeated Armbar attempts from Magalhaes that Fowler managed to stack and escape each time. Fowler’s choice of overtime position was the back in all three rounds and although Magalhaes escaped each time, he managed to maintain the position for longer than Magalhaes did, going on to win by fastest escape time in overtime.
Submission Underground 18 Full Results
Mason Fowler defeats Vinny Magalhães via Fastest Escape in Overtime
Fowler retains the SUG Absolute Championship
Kendall Reusing defeats Leah Taylor via Submission – Armbar, Round 1 of Overtime
William Tackett defeats Gabriel Checco via Submission – Neck Crank, 2:50 of Regulation
Keith Krikorian defeats Rafael Domingos via Submission – Triangle Choke, 2:12 of Regulation
Kody Steele defeats Bryan Nuro via Submission – Heel hook, 2:19 of Regulation
Preliminary Card
Hunter Colvin defeats Emil Fischer via Submission – Rear-Naked Choke, 4:06 of Regulation
Aaron Tiegs defeats Alex Larmey via Submission – Cross-Collar Choke, 3:36 of Regulation
Andy Varela defeats Nick Ronan via Submission – Neck Crank, Overtime Round 1
Andrew Alexander defeats Pablo Alfonso via Submission – Rear-Naked Choke, 4:42 of Regulation
Alan Sanchez defeats Justin Renick via Submission – Rear-Naked Choke, Overtime Round 1
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