LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s bantamweight division should be paying attention to Da'Mon Blackshear.
Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson with one of the rarest submissions in the game: a twister. There’s only been two other twister submission wins recorded in the 30-year history of the UFC. This, at least for Blackshear (14-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC), should send a statement to the rest of the fighters competing at 135 pounds.
“It puts a lot of guys on notice, and they’re going to be a lot more hesitant to go to the ground with me,” Blackshear told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight press conference.
Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson (15-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) for his second straight win. Blackshear said he knew the move was a possibility, given some things he had picked up in preparation.
“He got into turtle, and it was something I had seen on film,” Blackshear said. “Whenever someone takes him down, he likes to get in that turtle position. I threw one hook and he kind of flattened out. I went in to try to get the twister. I had to re-adjust my grip a couple of times because he pushed it over his head and I ended up going for the rear-naked choke kind of grip. But I slide it up to his temple to press and crush his spine.
“When I was in there, putting pressure on, I’m like, ‘I have to break this dude’s spine for him to tap,’ and that’s what I was able to do.”
As far as the historic win, Blackshear is happy to be one of the few to pull the twister off in the octagon.
“I knew it was pretty rare, but I didn’t know how many times it’s been hit. It’s definitely something I wanted to do,” Blackshear said. “I wanted to make history – most strikes thrown, or anything. I made history, so it’s good.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
