Sidelined due to injury since July 2018, Julian Marquez scored an exciting come from behind victory over Maki Pitolo, submitting his opponent in the third round of their middleweight bout.
Pitolo went after Marquez as soon as the fight began, and after landing a couple hard shots, the two clinched against the fence, with Pitolo landing a flush elbow before taking the fight to the mat. There, the Hawaiian controlled the action for a long spell, and even when the two stood, he continued to wear on his foe with his grappling until Marquez nearly locked in a guillotine choke. Pitolo got loose, but he ate a couple hard shots just before the round ended.
An inadvertent low kick by Marquez brought a momentary halt to the action early in round two, and when the fight resumed, the two traded until Pitolo scored a pair of takedowns. As he looked for a third, Marquez locked up a guillotine choke, and while Pitolo escaped, he found himself in trouble on the mat until he reversed position and then controlled the fight from the top for the rest of the frame.
Marquez unloaded on Pitolo early in the final round while also looking for an opening for his guillotine choke, but the Hawaiian weathered the storm, then took the fight back to the mat. Soon, he had a choke in, but Marquez was able to get loose and find a spot for his strikes. With a little over a minute left, he rattled Pitolo with his strikes, and as the fight went to the mat, he sunk in the anaconda choke that forced Pitolo to tap out at 4:17 of round three.
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