UFC Vegas 79 results: Jacob Malkoun disqualified after blasting Cody Brundage with illegal elbow

A strong start for Jacob Malkoun ended in disaster after he blasted Cody Brundage with an illegal elbow strike to bring an early end to their fight at UFC Vegas 79.

Malkoun came out of the gates firing, and once the fight hit the floor, he rained down shots on Brundage that consistently found a home. As Brundage rolled and tried to scramble free, Malkoun continued to throw punches and elbows in an attempt to overwhelm his opponent.

With Brundage turtled up on the canvas, Malkoun unloaded a massive elbow strike that landed flush to the back of the head. Referee Mark Smith immediately rushed in to pause the contest due to the illegal strike.

While Brundage attempted to recover, Smith checked out the instant replay to verify that Malkoun’s elbow was most definitely illegal. Brundage remained down on the canvas for several moments as Smith tried to find out if he would be able to continue or not.

The ringside physician soon got into the cage, and it didn’t take long to determine that Brundage wouldn’t be allowed to continue. The fight was officially stopped at 4:15 in the opening round.

Smith then decided to disqualify Malkoun for the illegal shot rather than declare the fight a no-contest. As a result, Brundage got the victory after he was not allowed to continue.

While certainly not the way he wanted it, Brundage gets back in the win column, which stops his three-fight losing streak prior to Saturday night. As for Malkoun, he falls to 1-2 in his past three appearances.