UFC 138 results recap: Terry Etim vs Edward Faaloloto fight review and analysis

UFC President Dana White might be seriously reconsidering his theory on ring rust right about now.

The were questions about how young British lightweight Terry Etim would handle a 19 month injury layoff when he stepped into the cage last night against Chris Leben protege Edward Faaloloto.

It only took 17 seconds to have them answered emphatically. 

Etim quickly righted his ship with one of the fasted submissions in UFC history against the clearly overmatched Hawaiian.

So how did Etim pull it off? And where does each young man go from here?

There's not much to break down in a fight that only lasts 17 seconds. Etim opened with a strong leg kick and easily sidestepped Faaloloto's clumsy forward flurry. The second the Hawaiian squared up with him, Etim threw a sweet spinning back kick that looked like it connected directly to the liver.

Faaloloto tried to change levels and shoot in for a takedown but he was immediately countered when Etim grabbed his exposed neck and jumped guard with an extremely tight guillotine choke.

Faaloloto tried to shake him off but the Brit had a death grip on his neck and was not going to let go. The second the Hawaiian dropped to his knees, he allowed Etim to use hip pressure to make the choke even tighter. There was no escape for someone as clearly outclassed as Faaloloto and he was forced the tap or go to sleep on national television.

He chose the former. 

For Edward Faaloloto, it's time to go back to the local circuit. He was given Anthony Njokuani in just his third professional fight in his WEC debut and it has all gone downhill ever since. He's just not a UFC caliber fighter and he needs time to improve his skills and confidence against lesser quality opposition. There's no fighter in mind for him to face because he's 100 percent going to be cut after this performance.

For Terry Etim, what a brilliant 17 seconds. Not only are his submissions as dangerous as ever but it appears, at least in our brief viewing experience that he's got some solid kicks that have been added to his arsenal. He's clearly made a welcome return to the crowded lightweight division.

Some intriguing potential match-ups for the Brit would be fellow UK submission expert Paul Sass, Ultimate Fighter season five alumni Cole Miller of perhaps most interesting would be a quick turnaround bout against Anthony Njokuani, who had a fight with Paul Taylor cancelled this week after a freak car accident.

Regardless of whether he fights again quickly or not, the $70,000 "Submission of the Night" bonus should pay off some bills.

So what did you think, Maniacs?

Did Etim's performance deserve as much hype as it's getting? Or should the fact that his opponent was clearly outmatched get in the way?

Sound off!

For complete UFC 138 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire pay-per-view (PPV) event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.

All gifs by Zombie Prophet via IronForgesIron.com.