T.J. Grant didn’t miss a beat in his new UFC weight class.

The Cole Harbour native, a former welterweight, made his debut in the lightweight class on Saturday night in Washington, D.C., and defeated Shane Roller by arm-bar submission in a preliminary match on the UFC Live 6 card.

The win improves Grant’s UFC record to 4-3 in his first bout since last December. He is 17-5 overall.
There was some controversy around the referee’s decision to stop the contest in the third round, as Roller argued he hadn’t verbally submitted.

“He did yell out,” Grant told UFC.com. “He made a pain noise. I know he did, I’m not making it up, and the ref obviously heard it as well and that’s why it was stopped.”