An unusual finishing sequence at UFC Fight Night 243 in Paris on Saturday that resulted in a fighter snoozing even baffled the bout’s winner.
Chris Duncan, like most viewers, was stunned when he determined Bolaji Oki was snoozing on his chest after popping out of a guillotine choke in their lightweight prelim clash at Accor Arena.
The submission itself was not unfamiliar territory. Duncan (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) adores the guillotine choke. As he squeezed Oki’s neck, however, the math didn’t add up. Something was off.
“I remember being in that moment,” Duncan told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I’ve trained with the best guys in the world. I went with them and tapped them and stuff like that. I’ve never had it in there and had it locked up and feeling how tight my hands were and where his chin was. I said to myself, ‘Why is this guy not tapping?’ I was like, ‘I have tapped every person I’ve ever trained with with this submission, and this guy is not tapping.'”
Duncan struggled to find answers and eventually aborted the attempt when he heard his coach and former UFC fighter Thiago Alves’ instructions to abandon.
“He said, ‘Chris, if it’s not on, you need to move on. You can’t just sit here and hold onto his neck,'” Duncan said. “So the next part was to let go, put my hand on the back of his neck, and slow down his posture so he can’t punch me straight away or elbow me. So I let go of his head, and I was ready for him to posture up.”
But Oki (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) didn’t posture up. He was limp. Duncan landed two short punches to Oki’s head before realizing his opponent was unconscious. Duncan notified the referee, who eventually waved the fight off, then scooted out from under the corpse-like weight of his unconscious foe.
“That’s why I was laughing,” Duncan said. “Because after the fight, I was like, ‘I can’t believe the guy went out like that. That’s f*cking insane.’ Obviously, people tap and people go out. But it was jut the way he was still on top of me. That’s why I was laughing. It was like, ‘Oh, he just went out. What the f*ck?'”
Chris Duncan puts Oki to sleep and calls the fight himself #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/b8MVcxLIUO
— Underrated Combat Sports Tribal Chief (@MMAUnderrated) September 28, 2024
The laughs continued well into the night. Rather than stick around in the arena, Duncan elected to go stream teammate Robert Whiteford’s fight that was taking place in PFL, and then grab food.
Duncan and his team went for grub at a local kebab joint. When they walked in, his fight was being replayed, much to the delight of the other patrons eating there. They got to watch Duncan’s fight over with the man himself. Then, they watch Duncan break into tears when he was notified of his $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
“One of my mates is videoing me,” Duncan said. “I’m like, ‘No, 100 percent? Double check.’ He went on Wikipedia, all these different sites, Google, and it’s all coming up. I was just moved into tears in a kebab shop. All the people who were watching me laughing and cheering were watching me crying. It’s just such a mix of emotions and it’s in the middle of this kebab shop in the middle of nowhere in France which is insane. Yeah, these stories are a massive part of the journey and sometimes you’ve just got to take yourself back and enjoy these moments.”
For now, Duncan will continue to enjoy the moment – until he gets another assignment from UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby. Whether it’s a rebooking of a previously canceled matchup, such as Terrance McKinney and Nazim Sadykhov, or a totally new one, Duncan is ready for any challenge that awaits him next.
“These fights that have already been made are something I’d like to get back due to me pulling out and stuff like that,” Duncan said. “To be honest with you, man. I don’t think I really get a say being as low-level as I am. I’m right at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to fighting. I’m nowhere near the level of these guys in the top 10. I think just take the fights they put in front of me and do really well without being stupid and taking stuff on really late notice and cutting too much too early like I did earlier.”
Regardless of name, Duncan has an offer on the table to whomever he fights next.
“If anyone wants to take me down, feel free,” Duncan laughed.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 243.
