Ion Cutelaba Submits Ibo Aslan at UFC Seattle
Ion Cutelaba ended his Seattle bout with Ibo Aslan on the ground, securing an arm-triangle choke at 2:51 of Round 1. Their light heavyweight contest took place at Climate Pledge Arena on February 22, 2025. The official scorecard records the submission and exact time. It was a clear change in direction after the opening exchanges, when Aslan’s power was expected to pose a threat on the feet.
The clip above is a third-party fight recap from Punch Plan, not a full-bout recording. Its sequence shows the central shift: after the fighters exchanged punches, Cutelaba changed levels, got Aslan down, and worked to top position. The official result names the finish as an arm-triangle choke. Aslan tapped at 2:51, giving Cutelaba a first-round submission win in a bout that lasted less than three minutes.
The finish rewarded Cutelaba’s decision to take the fight away from a striking exchange and test Aslan’s defense on the mat. The opening had been competitive, with both men throwing hard shots, but the takedown and transition to mount gave Cutelaba a more stable position from which to attack. Once the choke was locked in, Aslan had to submit. The speed of the finish made the bout one of the early stoppages on a Seattle card that featured several decisive results.
Cutelaba’s career has continued to swing between finishes and setbacks since that night. He submitted Oumar Sy with a guillotine choke at 4:24 of the first round in March 2026, then lost to Navajo Stirling by second-round TKO on June 20. The official March scorecards record the Sy submission, while the promotion’s June result lists Stirling’s stoppage at 3:23 of Round 2. Those later outcomes add perspective to the Seattle win: Cutelaba followed it with more submission success, but his most recent bout ended in a loss.
Aslan entered Seattle after a six-fight winning run, which made the defeat a notable interruption in his momentum. He later returned to the cage, but most recently lost to Iwo Baraniewski by knockout at 1:29 of Round 1 on December 6, 2025. His official fighter history lists that result. The Seattle matchup therefore sits between two distinct phases for Aslan: a long run of wins before Cutelaba, followed by several losses against top-level opposition.
Cutelaba’s victory over Aslan remains a compact example of how quickly a fight can turn when a strong grappler finds top position. The exact finish was an arm-triangle choke, not a generic submission, and it came at 2:51 in the opening round. The result, later context, and preserved recap together show both the moment that decided the bout and how each fighter’s form developed afterward.
