Alberta bantamweight Anheliger wins UFC debut by third-round TKO

LAS VEGAS — Alberta bantamweight Chad (The Monster) Anheliger won his UFC debut Saturday, stopping American Jesse (Sui Generis) Strader in the third round on the undercard of a UFC Fight Night card.

Anheliger, running his win streak to 10, felled Strader with two punishing lefts to the head and then kept throwing until referee Herb Dean stepped in at 3:33 of the round to protect the downed fighter.

"Man, I'm so happy with the win," said Anheliger. "I didn't have a great camp. The last couple of weeks did not go to plan at all. It was really tough."

Anheliger (12-5-0) said he was sick the last two weeks of the camp and had to deal with a knee injury.

"It's nothing other guys don't deal with but things snowballed pretty quick. The last two weeks were pretty stressful."

The 35-year-old from Consort, Alta., who now makes his home in Calgary, earned his UFC contract last September with a split-decision win over Tajikstan’s Muin Gafurov on "Dana White’s Contender Series."

Saturday's main event at the UFC’s Apex production facility in Las Vegas featured Brazil’s Johnny Walker (18-6-0), ranked 10th among light-heavyweight contenders, against No. 12 American Jamahal (Sweet Dreams) Hill (9-1-0 with one no contest).

Anheliger came out with a Canadian flag draped over his shoulder.

The five-foot-seven Strader had a one-inch height and 5.5-inch reach advantage. And he looked good early,

Strader (5-3-0) was the busier fighter in the first round, scoring with some leg kicks and then taking Anheliger down a minute into the fight. Anheliger fought his way back up,

The 30-year-old Strader scored another takedown midway through the round, only to have to fight off several submission attempts by Anheliger. The Canadian scored with his