Alice Ardelean just made UFC history, and maybe earned Submission of the Year honors, too.
On Saturday, Ardelean squared off with Polyana Viana on the prelims of UFC Vegas 117, scoring a second-round submission via a UFC-first leg lock from closed guard.
Ardelean started strong, getting the better of most of the striking exchanges. In the second round, Ardelean landed a takedown, that lead Viana to put her in her closed guard, even securing a body-lock from the bottom. That turned out to be a mistake
though, as Ardelean stepped her body across the trailing, and used her weight to compress the leg into Viana’s body, forcing a verbal tap.
Official Result? Alice Ardelean def. Polyana Viana via Verbal Submission (Capsule Lock) at 4:36 of Round 2.
After the fight, Ardelean was overjoyed with the result, explaining that she learned the move from TikTok, saying that it creates a sort of calf-slicer on the opponent.
Heck of a way to get your first finish in the UFC, doing something that’s never been done before.
