Belal Muhammad (right) competes against Sean Brady in their welterweight bout during the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. AFP

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Muhammad Mokaev defeated Malcolm Gordon via third-round submission at UFC 280 at Etihad Arena on Saturday, to make it three wins in a row.

After a frenzied start on the feet, Mokaev aggressively went for takedowns, putting his wrestling skills on full show in the close to 15-minute match.

Even when Mokaev controlled him against the fence, the more skilled Gordon defended well off of his back, suffering minimal damage.

Mokaev seemed to have the advantage on the scorecards, but Gordon proved to be no pushover on the ground, taking Mokaev's back at the conclusion of round two and doing the same in round three.

However, Mokaev's stronger ground game gave him the upper hand as the third round came to a close, he threw up an arm bar from bottom position and forced the submission at 4:26 into the third round.

Belal Muhammad made a huge statement by stopping Sean Brady and giving the previously unbeaten welterweight his first career loss.

Belal put up a strong performance, applying constant pressure and a quick-striking strategy that gradually wore out Brady.

After finally knocking the native of Philadelphia unconscious with a punch, Muhammad continued to torture Brady with a barrage of consecutive strikes, forcing the referee to save him from further harm. The second round's official stoppages occurred at 4:47.