Chimaev overwhelms, submits Holland in 1st round

Khamzat Chimaev put together another dominant performance at UFC 279, submitting Kevin Holland with a D'Arce choke 2:13 into the first round of the co-main event Saturday.

Chimaev moves to 6-0 inside the Octagon and 12-0 overall with the victory.

The Swedish fighter didn't waste any time against Holland, immediately shooting across the Octagon to try and bring his opponent to the ground. While Holland was able to briefly fend off the attacks, a relentless Chimaev continued the assault with multiple submission attempts until he had the winning one locked in.

It was the fourth time Chimaev absorbed zero strikes inside the Octagon, according to UFC research analyst Michael Carroll.

The defeat snapped Holland's two-fight win streak.

Chimaev was originally scheduled to fight Nate Diaz in the main event, but doctors advised him to stop cutting weight Friday morning, and he came in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit.

As a result, the UFC was forced to shuffle the top three fights on the card, bumping Ferguson up to face Diaz and giving Chimaev the catchweight bout (180 pounds) against Holland.

Diaz beat Ferguson via fourth-round submission in the final fight of his UFC contract.

Li Jingliang and Daniel Rodriguez, the original opponents of Ferguson and Holland, respectively, were booked to fight. Rodriguez won via split decision.