Osbourne refuses to tap as Durden's deep twister seals unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 123

Ode Osbourne absorbed a punishing twister submission attempt from Cody Durden in the first round of their flyweight bout at UFC Vegas 123, held Saturday at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, and refused to tap — even as he acknowledged the hold was deep enough to break his back. Durden went on to control the remainder of the fight with his wrestling and earned a unanimous decision.

Osbourne, known as “The Jamaican Sensation”, said the twister drained both his energy and his ability to compete at full capacity for the rest of the night. Speaking on Instagram after the fight, he was candid about the physical toll the first-round sequence took on him.

“It was difficult to fight after that first round,” Osbourne said. “He put me in a deep, deep, deep twister. That twister he got me in definitely made it hard for me to fight through the duration of the fight. Because my body, No. 1, was in so much pain, and it took a lot of the wind out of me.”

Despite the severity of the hold, Osbourne said tapping was never a consideration. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Yo, this twister is deep. But I’m gonna be having to break my back, because I’m not gonna tap.’”

Osbourne also noted that Durden’s game plan surprised him. He had expected the bout to be more of a striking contest, but Durden opted to lean on his wrestling throughout. “He definitely didn’t want to strike with me. Which I thought he would want to strike more. But he just wanted to wrestle.”

Following the defeat, Osbourne said he intends to have his back medically examined and is hopeful the damage is not serious. “Hopefully it’s nothing too drastically wrong with me. But I’m gonna have to get my back checked out,” he said, before vowing to return in better shape. “We gonna come back stronger, better.”

The loss adds to the challenges facing Osbourne at flyweight, while Durden’s ability to neutralise a dangerous striker with his grappling will strengthen his standing in the 125-pound division.