Video: Cyril Asker Discusses His First UFC Victory Over Dmitry Smoliakov

In the opening bout of the entire year for the UFC, France’s Cyril Asker dominated betting favorite Dmitry Smoliakov and wound up stopping him in the first. Asker scored a takedown against the cage and from there, he transitioned easily from side control to full mount.

It didn’t take long before “Silverback” was raining down a seemingly endless torrent of punches from the top position. Smoliakov covered up well and blocked the overwhelming majority of the strikes, but after about a minute of endless attacking from full mount and with Smoliakov unable to escape, the referee had no choice but to intervene at the 2:41 mark.