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The Afghan-born Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Siyar Bahadurzada returned to UFC with a victory over American UFC fighter Brandon Thatch during UFC 196.
Held at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bahadurzada submitted the Elevation Fight Team standout with a third-round arm-triangle choke.
Bahadurzada ended the fight in his favour during the last seconds of the third round as he executed repeated takedowns, applied his ground-and-pound and seized control of the match.
Being his first submission since January 2007, Bahadurzada dragged the exhausted and visibly discouraged Thatch to the mat one more time, late in the third round, latched the choke and coaxed the tapout.
Bahadurzada made a return to UFC after two years of absence that followed by two back to back losses, to Dong Hyun Kim and John Howard.
He made his debut in UFC in early 2012 by taking on the Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago and knocked him out during the initial seconds of the first round.
Bahadurzada’s deal with UFC was confirmed for the first time on November 14, 2011, with the UFC officials saying the nature of the deal is a multi-contract one which entitles Bahadurzada to take part in UFC bouts for a long time. -KP
