In what was a back-and-forth grappling match throughout, T.J. Grant proved to be more skilled than former Oklahoma State wrestler Shane Roller. After coming out on top after several scrambles, Grant finally was able to secure a submission in the final round of the fight.
After Roller looked for multiple guillotine choke attempts throughout the bout, it was a guillotine choke attempt by Grant that led to the end of the fight. As Roller freed his head from the submission attempt, Grant quickly transitioned to an armbar, which caused Roller to yell in pain.
While Roller didn’t tap, his verbal cry forced the referee to call a stop to the fight at 2:12 of the third round. Roller looked upset with the decision initially, but he likely would have dropped a decision had the fight continued.
“I have a lot of pride when I fight and I fight to win,” Grant told the UFC in a press release obtained by Bleacher Report. “We had great submission exchanges back and forth, as well as on our feet and I feel like that’s what the fans want to see. I knew I had a short window to slap that thing on and I did my best to execute the arm bar as quickly as possible. I got it on him, he yelled and the ref stopped it. It’s as simple as that.”
Coming off of a loss to Ricardo Almeida, Grant’s win over Roller continued his pattern of alternating wins and losses since April 2009. Roller, who was knocked out by Melvin Guillard in his previous Octagon appearance, has now lost two in a row.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com, LowKick.com and TheMMACorner.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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