NEW YORK – Roosevelt Roberts took a big risk fighting Mateusz Rebecki on five days’ notice at UFC 295, and it did not go well for him.
After Roberts (12-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) stepped in as a replacement to fight the streaking Rebecki (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC), and missed weight prior to the contest, it seemed he might’ve bitter off more than he could chew. That proved to be the case, because the fight ended with a verbal submission at the 3:08 mark of Round 1 at Madison Square Garden.
It was slick work from Rebecki, who used bottom position to roll into an armbar near the cage, and Roberts was forced to yell out that he was done and have referee Mike Beltran step in.
Check out the replay below (via X):
A smooth finish for Mateusz Rebecki 😮💨
Stream #UFC295 NOW on ESPN+ ▶️https://t.co/2KZBNgp0yD pic.twitter.com/0tj9F3Xhix
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 12, 2023
The winning streak continues for @RebeckiMateusz 👏
With that submission he moves to 3-0 in the UFC! #UFC295 pic.twitter.com/Pdk0FvKQ7n
— UFC (@ufc) November 12, 2023
Rebecki has now won 16 consecutive fights dating back to his lone career loss in September 2014. Roberts has dropped four straight under the UFC banner.
“I’m really happy because I won in the most famous arena in the world,” Rebecki said during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “This was my biggest dream. Thank you everybody for coming. And Dana (White), please do a UFC event in Poland. We want to fight for you. … I want to fight somebody from top 15.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC 295 results include:
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:08
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Nazim Sadykhov declared majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
- Jared Gordon def. Mark Madsen via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:42
- John Castaneda def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jamall Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:49
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
