Quillan Salkilld Details Potential Injury Following Submission Finish Over Mateusz Gamrot: “I Actually Felt It”

Quillan Salkilld achieved an impressive first-round submission victory at UFC Vegas 120, though it appears he may have sustained an injury during the contest.

Salkilld faced his most prominent opponent to date, Mateusz Gamrot, last Saturday. The Contender Series veteran delivered a strong performance, securing a first-round rear-naked choke victory. At just 26 years old, Salkilld is rapidly ascending the lightweight rankings, with Gamrot being the No. 6-ranked fighter according to the Meta rankings panel prior to their bout.

While Salkilld has significantly boosted his career prospects, he now faces the possibility of a layoff due to a potential injury. Speaking on the UFC Vegas 120 post-show on Paramount+, Salkilld recounted the moment he believes the injury occurred (via MMAFighting).

“There was a wrestling exchange at the start where he grabbed my ankle,” Salkilld stated. “If it was training, I would have kind of gone with it to not hurt the knee. He had my ankle and it turned to like 90 degrees. Because I was being stubborn in that position, I didn’t want to accept any bad position. I turned into it and forced it. Usually I didn’t want to do that because I’m always scared about hurting my knee in training.

“This one, I just went into it and heard a little pop. Even when I had that rear-naked choke, I actually felt it. I was like f*ck, if I don’t get this, my knee’s going to be sore later. In round two or three, it would have been [sore]. It’s a bit sore now.”

Salkilld has been undefeated since suffering a submission loss in his professional MMA debut in early 2021. In addition to his 13-fight winning streak, Salkilld has finished his last four opponents in the first round, including a notable head kick knockout against Nasrat Haqparast.