UFC London erupts after crowd favorite Paul Craig makes a statement with dominant middleweight debut [Video]

Paul Craig surprised the MMA community with a new set of skills that earned him a devastating TKO finish at UFC London. Craig is primarily known for his lethal submission game and he was often criticized for relying too much on submissions. However, he stopped a respectable grappler Andre Muniz with devastating elbows to the head in his middleweight debut.

The UFC London card was largely lacking dramatic moments and exciting finishes for the most part. However, the audience erupted with excitement as Craig pulled off the unexpected trick out of his hat and demolished his opponent to announce his arrival in the 185 lbs weight class. You can watch the finish and crowd reaction below, courtesy of ESPN MMA’s official Twitter handle:

Former UFC light heavyweight contender Paul Craig made his middleweight debut against Andre Muniz at the UFC London card. The first round was spent in the feeling-out process as the two men exchanged kicks at a distance to figure out the range. Muniz secured a takedown towards the end of the round.

The second round saw both men exchange takedowns but Craig got the better of his opponent towards the end of the round. While everyone expected the Scottish fighter to aggressively pursue takedowns, he rained down elbows on Muniz. The referee called a stop to the contest after Muniz failed to protect himself.

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Paul Craig improved his striking skills over the last six months

Paul Craig’s jiu-jitsu skills are some of the best in the upper weight classes. However, he had failed to back it up with a respectable striking game so far in his career. All of it changed in his middleweight debut. During the post-fight interview, Craig revealed that he spent a long time improving his striking and stated:

“We worked on so much striking over the last six months. I knew that the body kick was going to be a weapon and we utilized it well. He respected it too much, allowing us to get in tight and take him down twice in that last round.”

Paul Craig further stated that Muniz presented solid submission defense when the fight hit the ground. As a result, Craig found it easier to finish the fight via strikes rather than wasting time in attempting submissions.

The UFC middleweight division has traditionally lacked grapplers throughout its history. Paul Craig can certainly go a long way if he can utilize his grappling and newfound striking in a proper way.