In a remarkable display of strategically-applied jiu-jitsu at ONE 161, Brazil’s Rodrigo Marello submitted Russian sambo champion Ruslan Bagdasarian in just fifteen seconds. Marello’s performance marks the fastest submission in ONE Championship history.
Marello versus Bagdasarian has been touted as a classic matchup between Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Russian sambo, with both men having previously won world titles in their respective grappling disciplines. In an interview with Grappling Insider’s Ben Coate prior to the match, Marello announced his intent to weaponize his highly dangerous guard game in order to get the edge on a more top-heavy sambo specialist.
That strategy panned out well for Marello, who went for an immediate guard pull, before sweeping his opponent into an aggressive entry to the ankle lock. The battle was over almost before it began.
If you didn’t see this moment – and no one would blame you, given that you could have blinked and missed that tap, even if you were watching the match live – catch up on all the action from the ONE 161 card via the ONE YouTube stream.
