OTTAWA — Toronto light-heavyweight Misha Cirkunov added to his growing reputation with an impressive third-round submission of hard-throwing Moldovan Ion Cutelaba on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 89 Saturday night.

Cirkunov, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, looked comfortable striking in a fight that was spent mostly on the feet until the final round when he took Cutelaba down and adeptly locked in an arm-triangle choke at one minute 22 seconds.

"I will fight anybody," said a pumped-up Cirkunov. "Give me anybody."

Cirkunov, who has yet to go the distance in the UFC, has won seven straight including three in the UFC.

The two exchanged bombs early and Cirkunov (12-2-0) went down about a minute in. But he bounced back up and later, in the round, escaped mount when both men went to the ground.

Cutelaba (11-2-0 with one no contest) had won his last seven fights in the first round, needing just eight seconds to dispatch his last opponent. The UFC newcomer had never gone past the second round before.

Rory (Red King) MacDonald faced American Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson in a battle of top welterweight contenders in the main event at The Arena at TD Place. MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who fights out of Montreal, was one of 10 Canadians on the 13-fight card.

Canucks went 4-1 on the eight-fight undercard.

Charlottetown lightweight Jason Saggo ended Brazilian Leandro Silva's four-fight unbeaten streak (3-0-0 with one no contest) in the UFC with a 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 split decision.

Saggo (12-2-0) got Silva to the ground and controlled most of the first round. He continued to frustrate the Brazilian the next two rounds. Silva (19-3-1 with one no contest) ended the bout throwing blows down at a grounded Saggo but it was too little too late.

Earlier, Toronto middleweight Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou won a drab unanimous decision over Sam (Smile'n) Alvey.

Theodorou (13-1-0) kept Alvey at distance with a barrage of kicks in a fight that drew boos for its lack of action. Alvey (26-8-0 with one no contest) could not find a way to get his offence going as Theodorou ground out the 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 win.

Both men were coming off losses — Alvey to Derek Brunson and Theodorou to Thiago Santos. Alvey's return to the cage was delayed by a broken jaw in training.

Theodorou, always on the move, circled and tried to connect with kicks in an uneventful first round that saw a patient Alvey wait for a counter. Theodorou tried unsuccessfully for a takedown in the second round that saw the two men clinch at the fence and the crowd get restless.

"There wasn't a finish, but I outlanded him." said Theodorou. "It takes two to dance and I was the only one dancing."

Alvey was cornered by his pregnant wife Brittany (McKey) Alvey, a former winner of "America's Top Model."

The Theodorou-Alvey contest was followed by an all-action bantamweight fight that saw Jose Soto choke out Chris (The Real Deal) Beal at 3:39 of the third round to snap a three-fight losing streak that started with a loss to then-champion T.J. Dillashaw on one day's notice.

Beal (10-3-0) had been getting the better of Soto (16-5-0) on the feet but was caught in the third when Soto wrapped him up like a pretzel.

Randa (Quiet Storm) Markos of Windsor, Ont., ranked 14th among 115-pound contenders, used a busy attack to win a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 decision over Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger. The two traded strikes with Markos, content to take a punch to deliver two, showing heavier hands.

Markos (6-4-0) was the lone fighter on the card to miss weight, coming in at 117.5 pounds — 1.5 over the strawweight non-title limit. She forfeited 20 per cent of her purse to Jones-Lybarger (6-3-0).

Colby (Chaos) Covington, a former two-time All-American at Oregon State, used his wrestling skills to subdue Quebec City welterweight Jonathan (the French Spider) Meunier before flooring him with a spinning back fist and choking him out at 4:06 of the third round.

Meunier, making his UFC debut as a late injury replacement for Alex Garcia, spent much of the fight on his back. Covington (9-1-0) didn't do much damage, whoever, and Meunier (7-1-0) was busy trying for submissions from the bottom in the second round.

Russian Ali (Puncher) Bagautinov, ranked 10th among flyweight contenders, beat up Geane (The Revolutionary) Herrera on the ground en route to a unanimous 30-27 decision. Herrera (9-2-0) tried several submissions but had no answer for the Russian.

Bagautinov (14-4-0) bounced back from two straight setbacks, including a loss to 125-pound champion Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson.

Polish middeweight Krzysztof Jotko laid out Tamdan (The Barn Cat) McCrory with a vicious left to the temple at 59 seconds of the first round. McCrory (14-4-0) didn't know what hit him, absorbing a couple of hammer-fists on the ground before the referee mercifully stepped in.

It was the fourth straight win for Jotko (18-1-0).

The soldout show was the UFC's first in Ottawa and 20th in Canada.

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