Joanderson Brito Scores Submission, Drops Shorts Saturday Night

Joanderson Brito (19-5-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) entered the fabled Octagon for the first time in 2026 on Saturday night during the prelims  of UFC Vegas 118 at Meta Apex. Heading into the weekend's card, he was looking to build off of a unanimous decision victory against Issac Thomson (9-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in the final UFC event to be streamed on ESPN+ last December.

Standing across from Brito in UFC Vegas 118 on Saturday night was Jordan Leavitt (13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC.) He was hopeful to stretch his winning streak to three fights at the Apex facility after besting Yadier del Valle (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) during UFC Houston this past February by way of unanimous decision.

Although this fight was slated for an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round at featherweight on the undercard, Joanderson Brito needed less than a full round to complete his assignment. With under a minute to go on the opening-round clock, he secured a front choke to force Leavitt to tap out. 

Joanderson Brito Takes Off Trunks After UFC Vegas 118 Victory

In the immediate aftermath of the win on Saturday night in the Apex, Joanderson Brito paid homage to a now-classic moment in UFC history from 2018's UFC 229 by dropping his pants like Derrick Lewis did after knocking out Alexander Volkov that night.

As soon as he arrived backstage to meet with the media following his submission, Brito was asked why he acted in such a way.

"Honestly, it's pretty hard for me to say why," Joanderson Brito began, translated to English. "I wasn't even supposed to go up on the cage and that happened, too, but I was just super motivated, super happy for my win. Overall, I'm just super happy. It's also my 10th fight in the UFC, so I'm just super happy to be here."

Joanderson Brito on Plan of Attack in Jordan Leavitt Fight

Celebrations aside, Joanderson Brito also took time at the podium to discuss what went into the fight that was.

"Honestly, first thing's first, I had to defend a takedown and just do what I do up top," he said. "As the fight was going on, I got a feeling of it. I was defending pretty good and I saw that some of my strikes were hitting, so I was like, 'Yeah, let's see how this goes.'"

When the topic of discussion came to Brito's defensive tactics during his contest versus Jordan Leavitt Saturday night, he mentioned that his opponent didn't provide too much of a challenge once the cage door closed. 

"I felt some of that knee that he was throwing," Brito admitted, "but I was like 'Either I'm going to defend it here, or I let the knee go in.' I just let the knee hit a little bit so I could defend the takedown a little bit better."

Lessons Learned from Saturday's Contest

While Joanderson Brito is a veteran of 25 professional MMA fights, there are still takeaways to be had from every bout inside the cage. Saturday's fight with Jordan Leavitt was no exception.

He delved into one particular takeaway backstage on press row.

"One of the things that I've learned a lot is to be more patient," he told the media. "Me and my coaches will practice a lot of this. Honestly, that's one of the biggest key points of this fight. I felt like the was completely there, just waiting for the right moment."