Scotland’s Paul Craig has made his name from producing remarkable come-from-behind victories, often by triangle choke. And the fan-favourite Scot repeated the feat at UFC London with another dramatic submission win.

Craig took on Ukrainian light heavyweight contender Nikita Krylov and, for more than three minutes of the first round, it looked like one-way traffic as Krylov took Craig to the mat, stifled the Scot’s submission threat and set to work punishing him with strikes while looking for submission openings of his own.

But, despite finding himself pinned to the mat and on the receiving end, Craig was still working for an opening and, with just over a minute to go in the round, he found one.

With Krylov posturing up to land heavy strikes, Craig saw his opportunity and struck, as he locked up his signature submission, the triangle choke, to force Krylov to tap at the 3:57 mark.

The submission extended Craig’s incredible 100 percent finish rate, and gave him his 13th career submission victory. Remarkably, it was also his fourth UFC victory by triangle choke.

Craig’s win improves his overall record to 16 wins, 4 losses, with one draw. But, more importantly, it extended his current win streak to four as he underlined his credentials as a serious threat to the division’s best at 205 pounds.

And “Bearjew” doubled down on that statement, by issuing a challenge to former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith for a five-round main event bout in Glasgow, Scotland in June.

If the UFC grants Craig’s wish, the octagon will return to Scotland with a ready-made main event, and a chance for Craig to catapult himself right into the light heavyweight title conversation.

UFC London: Official Results

MAIN CARD

  • Tom Aspinall def. Alexander Volkov via submission (straight armbar) – Round 1, 3:44
  • Arnold Allen def. Dan Hooker via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:33
  • Paddy Pimblett def. Kazula Vargas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:49
  • Gunnar Nelson def. Takashi Sato via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
  • Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:52
  • Ilia Topuria def. Jai Herbert via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:07

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Makwan Amirkhani def. Mike Grundy via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 0:57
  • Sergei Pavlovich def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:03
  • Paul Craig def. Nikita Krylov via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:57
  • Jack Shore def. Timur Valiev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
  • Elise Reed def. Cory McKenna via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Muhammad Mokaev def. Cody Durden via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:58

[Photo: @bigpaulcraig on Instagram]