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Ex-NBA Stephenson Submits Former No.2 Pick Beasley

5/24/2026

48 9 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Lance Stephenson submitted Michael Beasley with a rear-naked choke at 1:26 of round 1 in Las Vegas.
Beasley, the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA draft who last played for Shanghai Sharks in 2022, faced Stephenson, a 2010 second-round pick with ten NBA seasons, who body-locked, took him down and applied the choke.
Beasley said he will stick to boxing while Stephenson joked about his hood roots and a possible rematch.

History

Historical Context

UFC 1 debuted on 12 November 1993 in Denver, where Art Davie and Rorion Gracie staged an eight-man, $50,000-prize tournament that introduced the octagon and showed how a smaller Brazilian-jiu-jitsu specialist could defeat larger martial artists. That crossover spirit now resurfaces in Las Vegas as former NBA players Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson trade basketball skills for mixed-martial-arts competition.

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Story summary

Lance Stephenson submitted Michael Beasley with a rear-naked choke at 1:26 of round 1 in Las Vegas.
Beasley, the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA draft who last played for Shanghai Sharks in 2022, faced Stephenson, a 2010 second-round pick with ten NBA seasons, who body-locked, took him down and applied the choke.
Beasley said he will stick to boxing while Stephenson joked about his hood roots and a possible rematch.

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