UFC Vegas 91 video: Underdog Chris Padilla chokes out James Llontop on 5 days’ notice

Chris Padilla overcame a stacked deck at UFC Vegas 91.

The debuting lightweight signed up to fight James Llontop on just five days’ notice and went on to score a first-round submission Saturday in Las Vegas. Padilla was a 3-to-1 underdog on most books and he was facing an opponent that missed weight by half a pound.

Watch Padilla’s impressive choke-out below.

Padilla’s strategy was clear from the start: Match Llontop in the striking and look for openings for takedowns. Sure enough, Padilla managed to use his wrestling to put Padilla on his back multiple times, and his non-stop pressure prevented Llontop from mustering much meaningful offense.

With a minute left in the opening round, another Padilla takedown put him in to position to attack on the ground and Llontop had no answer as he eventually succumbed to a rear-naked choke. The official time of the stoppage was 4:33 into Round 1.

Padilla (14-6) was a replacement for Gabe Green, who himself was replacement for Lando Vannata. The third opponent proved to be a charm, though not for Llontop (14-3), who sees a 12-fight win streak snapped after losing his UFC debut.