Toshiomi Kazama’s nickname may be the “Silent Finisher,” but he made a lot of noise with the way he scored a victory over Charalampos Grigoriou at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night.
Kazama was hit with a big left hand about 20 seconds into the second round, which saw him dropped to the mat. Grigoriou followed him there and unleashed devastating ground-and-pound.
To everyone’s surprise, though, the referee did not stop the fight and Kazama survived the flurry.
Toshiomi Kazama Goes From Nearly Being Stopped To Scoring Submission Win At UFC Fight Night
Kazama quickly got himself back into the fight with his grappling ability. Grigoriou tried to fight fire with fire, but playing into that strength proved to have a devastating mistake.
The Japanese prospect was able to lock up a triangle choke and scored a submission victory just one minute after looking like he would be the one getting finished at the Apex.
Kazama breaks a two-fight losing skid and perhaps saved his UFC roster spot with the win, going 0-2 prior to tonight since a win over Keremuaili Maimaitituoheti on Road to UFC.
Grigoriou, who scored a win on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, is now 0-2 in the Octagon.