Jeremiah Wells pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year earlier tonight (Sat., Aug. 15, 2026) at UFC 330 LIVE on Paramount+ from inside Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Penn., as the 39-year-old veteran stunned welterweight contender Myktybek Orolbai with a third-round submission (ninja choke).
This was expected to be a fun watch to spark the UFC 330 “Prelims” undercard, but Orolbai was a heavy betting favorite to overwhelm Wells with his pressure and wrestling and more or less cruise
to another victory at 170 pounds. Wells, who entered this weekend with a solid 5-2 UFC record, was going to have to show up and show out in order to get past the Kyrgyz fighter. He was fighting in his hometown, but Wells was still looking at an uphill battle from the opening bell.
Surprisingly, Wells was able to clip Orolbai a few times in the early going to earn a little respect. That didn’t last that long, though, as Orolbai was in hot pursuit of a takedown and some complimentary ground-and-pound. Wells did enough to ward off a finish, but he was eating some hard shots along the way. It appeared as if Orolbai was going to grind out another five minutes to close out the fight, but Wells had different plans.
Out of nowhere, Wells landed a solid right hand that stung Orolbai to begin the third round. Orolbai tried to score another takedown to regain his composure and gain the upper hand, but Wells stuffed it and simultaneously locked up a tight ninja choke. Wells squeezed as hard as he could and ended up putting Orolbai to sleep. It was pretty brutal, but a tremendous upset by Wells.
Check out the video highlights below:
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