SUG 18 Results: Fowler beats Magalhães in overtime

Submission Underground

Mason Fowler and Vinny Magalhães put on an epic contest for the SUG Absolute Championship.

Fresh off of beating Craig Jones for the second time (this time without controversy) at Submission Underground 17, SUG Absolute Champion Mason Fowler faced another challenger for his belt this weekend. His opponent was UFC vet Vinny Magalhães, a 3rd degree BJJ black belt and former ADCC gold medalist. Magalhães last appeared at SUG in April when he had his leg broken by a Craig Jones heel hook.

And it was Fowler who would again show that he’s the baddest man in the promotion, after he beat Magalhães via fastest escape after the completion of an epic overtime period.

In their main event Fowler started off as the aggressor, forcing the larger Magalhães against the cage before inadvertently poking him in the eye. After the contest resumed, Fowler kept the pressure on. He held Magalhães against the cage with a tight collar tie. All of regulation time would be spent, on-and-off, in this grueling position, so overtime was needed to settle this one.

Fowler won the coin flip and chose to start overtime with back control on Magalhães, the same tactic that got him his second win over Jones. From back control, Fowler locked in a body triangle and kept Magalhães trapped for quite some time. The Brazilian was eventually able to squirm out of the hold, but Fowler transitioned to an arm bar attempt. Magalhães was able to stand and shuck Fowler off to escape at the 1:08 mark.

Magalhães picked right side armbar for his start position. Fowler quickly stacked Magalhães and was able to yank his arm in just 22 seconds.

In round two, Fowler went with back control again. This time, Magalhães was able to clear Fowler’s legs and escape out the back in 36 seconds. In round two Magalhães started with right side armbar again. Fowler tried to explode out of the position again, but this time Magalhães was able to hang on and fully extend Fowler’s arm. It looked like we were in tap or snap territory, but Fowler—somehow—found a way to gracefully slip his leg between Magalhães’ arms and chin to lever open the hold.

In round three of overtime both men were understandably exhausted. Magalhães struggled with Fowler on his back in the first half of the round. It took him almost a minute to get free. In the second half, with Magalhães needing a submission to win, Fowler whipped himself out of Magalhães’ arm bar attempt in just 22 seconds.

Thanks to his quicker escapes, Fowler won and retained his absolute title.

The rest of the main card featured all finishes. Kendall Ruesing beat Leah Taylor with an armbar in overtime, William Tackett got a neck crank on Gabriel Checco in regulation, Keith Krikorian beat Rafael Domingos with a triangle in regulation and Kody Steele tapped Bryan Nuro with a heel hook in regulation.

There were all finishes on the prelim card, too with Hunter Colvin, Aaron Tiegs, Andy Varela, Andrew Alexander and Alan Sanchez all getting their hands raised.

Full Results below:

Main Card

Mason Fowler def. Vinny Magalhães– for SUG Absolute Championship– via fastest escape time after completion of Overtime

Kendall Ruesing def. Leah Taylor via submission (armbar), Round 1 of Overtime

William Tackett def. Gabriel Checco via submission (neck crank), 2:50 of Regulation

Keith Krikorian def. Rafael Domingos via submission (triangle choke), 2:12 of Regulation

Kody Steele def. Bryan Nuro via submission (heel hook), 2:19 of Regulation

Preliminary Card

Hunter Colvin def. Emil Fischer via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:06 of Regulation

Aaron Tiegs def. Alex Larmey via submission (cross-lapel choke), 3:36 of Regulation

Andy Varela def. Nick Ronan via submission (neck crank), Overtime Round 1

Andrew Alexander def. Pablo Alfonso via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:42 of Regulation

Alan Sanchez def. Justin Renick via submission (rear-naked choke), Overtime Round 1

The entire event can still be viewed on UFC Fight Pass.