Tonight, Quillan Salkilld delivered a breakout performance at UFC Vegas 120, submitting veteran lightweight contender Mateusz Gamrot with a first-round rear-naked choke in the headliner. However, his stellar performance may have come at a price.
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During the fight, Salkilld found himself caught in a dangerous ankle-lock attempt by Gamrot that nearly cost him the fight. However, the Australian fought through the pain, managed to escape the submission attempt, and ultimately emerged victorious from the showdown.
“My leg might be sore,” Salkilld told Dustin Poirier on UFC’s Paramount show. “I don’t know, maybe. I actually hurt my other leg. There was a wrestling exchange at the start where he grabbed my ankle. If it was training, I kinda would’ve gone with it to not hurt my knee. He had my ankle, and it turned like 90 degrees, ’cause I was being stubborn in that position, because in that fight I didn’t want to accept any bad position.
“You won’t do that. I’m always scared of hurting my knee, but I just went into it and heard a little pop. And even when I had that rear naked choke, I actually felt like f— ‘If I don’t get this, my knee is going to be sore later. The round two or three would have been.. It’s sore now.”
A submission like an ankle lock can force the foot beyond its normal range of motion. As a result, it can lead to ligament sprains, tendon tears, and, in some cases, even bone fractures if a fighter fails to tap out in time. We already have a brutal and fitting example from UFC Vegas 74 in 2023.
Then, Karine Silva attacked her opponent Ketlen Souza’s leg and twisted it with considerable force, causing Souza’s knee to pop and win the fight. Had Souza tapped in time, she could have potentially avoided the injury. However, the Aussie’s case appears to be different.
Although Salkilld escaped the position, he remained trapped in the lock for a considerable amount of time. Because of that, the Aussie could have suffered some muscle fiber strains. However, a fracture appears unlikely, as he ultimately got back to his feet and finished his opponent with a choke. Still, the details remain unclear unless Salkilld or someone from his team later reveals that he suffered an injury.
With his win over Gamrot, Salkilld has now won all six of his UFC fights, with five coming by way of devastating finishes. Even more impressively, his overall winning streak has climbed to 13 fights. Tonight’s clash demanded that the Aussie make a statement, and he did exactly that.
From here, the Aussie powerhouse’s next clash will most likely come against a top-five lightweight, with the UFC potentially eyeing a stellar matchup against Paddy Pimblett or even Max Holloway. But before any of that happens, it will be interesting to see whether Salkilld has actually endured an injury or emerged from the fight unscathed.
