Bashi Submits Calderon in 67 Seconds at UFC Vegas 124

Austin Bashi needed just 67 seconds to remind everyone why he arrived in the UFC with so much promise. The Michigan featherweight took Carlos Calderon down, took his back and locked in a rear-naked choke at 1:07 of the first round on Saturday, November 7, at UFC Vegas 124, ending the night before it had barely begun for the short-notice newcomer.

The finish, on the preliminary card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, was the fastest and most emphatic statement of an evening that kept producing them. Bashi had entered the bout needing a win after a unanimous decision defeat to Jose Delgado in July, and he delivered one in the most decisive way possible, improving his professional record to 15-2 and his UFC record to 2-2.

Bashi wastes no time

Calderon came out swinging, exactly as a debuting fighter on four days' notice might. The former Fury FC featherweight champion had stepped in after Lucas Brennan withdrew with a complete ACL tear, and he pressed forward looking to land early. Bashi met the aggression with a level change, scored the takedown and moved straight to the back.

The choke was in before Calderon could defend it properly. Bashi slipped his arm under the chin, locked in the rear-naked choke and forced the tap at 1:07 of round one. Both featherweights had weighed 145.5 pounds the day before, and both knew what was at stake. For Bashi, it was a return to winning ways and a reminder that both of his UFC victories have now come by first-round rear-naked choke. For Calderon, whose professional record fell to 11-5, it was a harsh introduction to the Octagon, but one that came against an opponent who gave him no time to settle.

Petersen steals it at the death

If Bashi's win was the night's quickest finish, Thomas Petersen's was its most dramatic. The heavyweight appeared to be heading for a draw with debuting Gabriel Lorenco, only to rally in the closing seconds of the third round and finish the fight with punches at 4:47, just 13 seconds before the final horn.

Lorenco, who entered the bout at 8-2, had given Petersen plenty of trouble and looked capable of surviving to the scorecards on his promotional debut. Petersen, now 12-5 overall and 4-4 in the UFC, weathered the scary moments and kept pressing until the opening came. The late stoppage spared him a draw and gave the preliminary card its second heavyweight talking point of the night.

Finishes and decisions across the prelims

The opening bout of the night set the tone. Jose Souza knocked out Jonny Parsons with an uppercut at 4:16 of the first round, a clean finish that brought the early crowd at the Meta Apex to its feet. Seok Hyeon Ko followed with a far more measured performance, shutting out Wellington Turman on all three scorecards, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27, in a unanimous decision win at welterweight.

Andre Petroski added another stoppage in the middleweight division, finishing Mantas Kondratavicius with punches at 4:39 of the second round after a sustained beating that left little doubt about the outcome. Murtazali Magomedov then edged Jose Delano by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards, while Karine Silva beat Gabriella Fernandes by the same 29-28 unanimous scoreline in the women's flyweight division.

Ollie Schmid closed the preliminary card with a unanimous decision win over Keiichiro Nakamura, also 29-28 on all three scorecards, in a featherweight bout that went the distance. Across the eight preliminary fights, the card produced four finishes and four decisions, a balance that kept the action moving from the 5 p.m. ET start on Paramount+ through to the main card.

Main card under way in Las Vegas

The main card opened with Mitch Raposo edging Marcos Degli by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards, in a flyweight bout that went the full three rounds. Raposo was a step ahead across all three rounds, and the win set up the rest of a main card built around the heavyweight headliner.

That headliner pairs Waldo Cortes-Acosta, the sixth-ranked heavyweight, with Johnny Walker, the Brazilian who moved up from light heavyweight and knocked out Mick Parkin with a flying knee at UFC 332 in October. Cortes-Acosta weighed 262 pounds at Friday's weigh-in, with Walker at 239 pounds. Cortes-Acosta arrived on a two-fight losing skid, having dropped decisions to Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov, while Walker carried the momentum of his heavyweight debut into his first main event at the weight.

The bout was put together on nine days' notice after the original main event, Sean Brady against Gabriel Bonfim, was scrapped when Brady was sidelined with a staph infection. With 14 bouts on the card and the early fights already delivering finishes, the Apex crowd had plenty to cheer long before the heavyweights walked to the Octagon.

For Bashi, though, the night was already won. Sixty-seven seconds, one takedown, one choke, and a prospect back on track. The rest of UFC Vegas 124 still had its story to write, but the preliminary card had already given the promotion its highlight.