Watch: When Misha Cirkunov submitted Jimmy Crute with a Peruvian necktie at UFC Fight Night 158

Misha Cirkunov pulled off a rare submission win via a Peruvian necktie against Jimmy Crute at UFC Fight Night 158 in 2019.

Cirkunov kept his composure on the brink of defeat as Crute rained down punches on him. Not only did the Latvian survive, but he somehow managed to sweep Crute and win the battle for position. Cirkunov was then able to lock in a Peruvian necktie from mount. The submission forced Crute to tap out at the 3:38 mark of the opening round.

The performance earned Cirkunov his fourth submission win in the UFC and handed Crute his first career defeat. During the post-fight interview, Cirkunov said:

“The main thing for me was to stay calm. I can take a punch, I can take a kick, I can take all that. I’ll be back, I’ll show you great fights again."

Watch Misha Cirkunov's Peruvian necktie finish against Jimmy Crute below:

Cirkunov's finish was only the second instance of the Peruvian necktie being used in the octagon. The first time it was successfully executed in the UFC was at UFC Fight Night 14 in 2008. C.B. Dolloway busted out the choke to put Jesse Taylor away in the first round.

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Misha Cirkunov's unsuccessful middleweight debut

After a lackluster run as a ranked light heavyweight, Misha Cirkunov decided to drop to 185 pounds. He was welcomed by fellow UFC veteran Krzysztof Jotko on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker earlier today.

Misha Cirkunov successfully made the cut to middleweight. However, he fell short in his first fight in his new division. After three rounds of a highly competitive bout, Jotko escaped with a narrow split decision. The Polish fighter used his standup to thwart Cirkunov's takedown attempts.

At the end of three rounds, two judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Jotko, while a lone judge gave Cirkunov the 29-28 nod. Speaking in his post-fight interview, Jotko said:

“I was a little bit scared. When I take him down in the end, I knew I win the fight. I keep a very high pace from the beginning to the end.”

The Latvian is now on a two-fight losing skid. He was beaten by Ryan Spann prior to his UFC Vegas 38 defeat. Meanwhile, Jotko bounced back from his loss to Sean Strickland at UFC Vegas 25.