UFC On ESPN 52 took place on December 2nd, 2023 and in an unbelievable twist of fate, two of the preliminary card fights ended when a fighter managed to slam his way out of a submission. Slams are generally not allowed under most BJJ rulesets, but it’s a perfectly legal and legitimate way to escape a submission during an MMA fight. While slam knockouts aren’t impossible to find in MMA, there have only been a handful over the thirty years that the UFC has been going. That’s what makes it so crazy to see it happens twice on the same night, and in actual fact the slam knockouts came in back-to-back fights as well.
First up was a lightweight battle between Drakkar Klose and Joe Solecki. Solecki controlled Klose’s arm and swung his legs around for an armbar, but he couldn’t control his posture and he paid dearly for it. Klose stood up and slammed him onto the ground, where his head bounced off the canvas and the referee quickly called an end to the fight. In the next fight, Zachary Reese was on his back in a welterweight fight against Cody Brundage when he set up a triangle choke. Brundage hoisted him up high into the air and slammed him down, forcing Reese to release the triangle choke. He followed that up with strikes and the referee had to call an end to the fight.
UFC On ESPN 52 Full Results
Arman Tsarukyan defeats Beneil Dariush via KO – Knee and Punches (Round 1, 1:04)
Jalin Turner defeats Bobby Green via KO – Punches (Round 1, 2:49)
Deiveson Figueiredo defeats Rob Font via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sean Brady defeats Kelvin Gastelum via Submission – Kimura (Round 3, 1:43)
Joaquim Silva defeats Clay Guida via Decision – Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dustin Stoltzfus defeats Punahele Soriano via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 2, 4:10)
Preliminary Card
Miesha Tate defeats Julia Avila via Submission – Face Crank (Round 3, 1:15)
Cody Brundage defeats Zachary Reese via KO – Slam and Punches (Round 1, 1:49)
Drakkar Klose defeats Joe Solecki via KO – Slam (Round 1, 1:41)
Rodolfo Bellato defeats Ihor Poteria via TKO – Punches (Round 2, 4:17)
Jared Gooden defeats Wellington Turman via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 2, 1:11)
Veronica Hardy defeats Jamey-Lyn Horth via Decision – Split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
The full UFC On ESPN 52 event replay, including the Cody Brundage and Drakkar Klose winning by slamming their way out of submissions, is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.
