Today is the 20 year anniversary of the UFC, so it feels only appropriate to do one more list. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article based on the greatest upsets in UFC history. I’ve always enjoyed writing about topics that people tend to forget. There were some upsets that people had forgotten about. Most MMA fans remember knockouts and how brutal they were. What they tend to forget are submissions that aren’t shown on every pay-per-view video package.
Submissions always tend to be under appreciated, especially if you look at the video package before every pay-per-view. They show mostly knockouts and slams, which is unfortunate. With so many Jiu-Jitsu practitioners who watch every pay-per-view, you’d think they give some more appreciation. That’s just a minor complaint; let’s get onto the list. Once again, this is an UFC only list. Fabricio Werdum’s triangle choke on Fedor Emelianeko won’t be on the list, as great as it was. Even though UFC bought out Strikeforce, that fight was under the Strikeforce banner.
10. UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon- Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Nate Diaz was just coming up in the UFC, after winning season five of “The Ultimate Fighter”. After clamoring for a tougher opponent, they gave him Kurt Pellegrino who was also a black belt in BJJ. Pellegrino was all over him in the first round and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he was going to finish Diaz. After spending most of the fight on his back, Diaz started to look for different submissions to threaten Pellegrino and to get better positioning.
He managed to pull off a sweep on Pellegrino and then landed a few punches. Pellegrino held onto Diaz’s left leg and threw him down for another slam. Similar to Stefan Struve holding onto Pat Barry in the triangle choke position, Diaz held on for a guillotine despite being slammed. The difference from the Struve-Barry fight was that Diaz transitioned the guillotine into a triangle choke after he didn’t have enough leverage. There was no escaping the triangle choke. It tends to be forgotten about, but it was incredible how Diaz managed to submit someone as accomplished as Pellegrino after being slammed. Who could also forget Diaz flexing and taunting, before Pellegrino even tapped? Sounds just like a vintage Diaz brother moment.
9. UFC 46: B.J Penn vs. Matt Hughes
Some people may find this too low since it was such a major upset. The reason why it ‘s not that high was because BJ Penn managed to pull that submission rather easily. He was in top control and seemed to be landing good punches against Matt Hughes. After taking a few punches, Hughes went for a transition and ended up giving his back. For some reason, he raised his neck and stretched his arms out rather than protecting it for a potential rear-naked choke. He got caught instantly, after Penn landed a few punches to divert Hughes’ attention away from defending the potential rear naked choke. Penn made him tap within seconds.
The choke couldn’t have been more basic, when you look at how Benn set it up. It was such a monumental upset though, which is why it had to be on the list. Hughes was on such a dominant streak as the welterweight champion. Nobody saw him losing, let alone being submitted in the first round. This was one of the many fights that shows why BJ Penn is not only a Hall Of Famer, but one of the most respected fighters to ever step foot in the octagon.
8. UFC 117: Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida
The last win in the legendary career of Matt Hughes couldn’t have ended gone better. Hughes showed off his improved striking by landing a vicious left hook that dropped Ricardo Almeida. Nobody could ever imagine Hughes submitting the third degree BJJ black belt, who was one of Renzo Gracie’s top students. When Hughes grabbed onto Almeida’s neck, it seemed like he was going to attempt a guillotine. Then he never cranked his body back, which made me believe this he may have tried to set up a d’arce choke. It was hard to understand what was truly going on.
Then the camera zooms in and you see Almeida start to fade away. Once Hughes elevated his knees off the mat, it led to more pressure and Almeida went to sleep. It turned out to be called the “David Schultz front headlock”. Besides Frank Mir’s submission over Pete Williams known as the “Mir lock”, I’ve never seen a submission that I had to do actual research on to find out what it truly is. The fact that he pulled it off against Almeida was even more extraordinary to witness. I’m still not sure why this submission doesn’t get more praise. Almeida wasn’t a big star in the UFC, but his grappling and submission credentials are phenomenal.
7. UFC 95: Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen
Demian Maia has one of the best ground games in MMA today. The reason why he’s such a tough opponent for anyone is not only his BJJ, but also his grappling ability. He’s beaten Gabriel Gonzaga before in a grappling contest, which is absolutely ridiculous to think about considering Gonzaga is a heavyweight. Now looking back on it, maybe people shouldn’t have been completely shocked that Maia tossed Chael Sonnen over his head for a lateral drop takedown.
That being said, Sonnen rarely gets taken down being a high-level wrestler. Maia ends up having full mount, before setting up a triangle choke. Most fighters would take advantage of full mount and pound their opponents, until the ref stops the fight. He’s so confident in his ground game that he doesn’t hesitate to go on his back and attempt a triangle choke. The transition couldn’t have been smoother and Sonnen had no choice to tap. Only Jon Jones has manhandled Sonnen in such dominant fashion. That’s what makes this submission even more remarkable. I’m not sure if will ever see a fighter transition from full mount to a triangle choke ever again.
6. UFC 140: Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida
A standing guillotine is one of the most difficult submissions to pull off. You rarely see it, due to fighters constantly worrying about getting caught by a quick counter strike. Jon Jones was in perfect position to go for it, after landing a huge elbow earlier in the second round. Everyone knows Jones has the most devastating elbows from top position in MMA. Machida never truly recovered, as he was bleeding profusely for the rest of the fight. Then Jones landed a straight left counter to knock Machida down for a moment, before pushing him against the cage to set up the standing guillotine.
Machida had never been submitted before, so it was a massive achievement for Jones to be the first fighter to do it. For it to come from a standing guillotine was even more shocking. He used his strength advantage to control Machida against the cage, before dropping him unconscious on the ground. This is one submission that will always gets played over and over again. The way Machida collapsed to the ground was one of the most dramatic finishes in UFC history. It was such a gratifying moment for Jones and it was the moment, where people were starting to believe the hype.
5. UFC 52: Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg
In one of the most controversial fights in history, Matt Hughes once again makes this list. I’m still flabbergasted how Mario Yamasaki didn’t see Frank Trigg clearly kicking Hughes in the groin. In such a big title fight, you can’t miss things like that. Thankfully for his sake, Hughes managed to recover and escape Trigg’s onslaught. Then he had to escape the rear-naked choke, which he somehow slipped out of it.
How he managed to recover and pick Trigg up for the most memorable slam in UFC history was unbelievable. You’ll never see such a miraculous change in a two minute span of a fight like that ever again. Hughes went from being rocked and nearly submitted to running across the cage to slam Trigg. After taking some vicious elbows from the bottom, Trigg had to give up his back to protect himself from taking any more damage. That led to Hughes finishing him off with the rear-naked choke, which was even more surreal. He finished the fight with the same choke that he nearly lost to a few minutes beforehand. For him to come back in the fight like that and to win in such a definitive fashion, that will always be an unforgettable submission.
4. UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis- Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia
Many people believed that Chan Sung Jung beat Leonard Garcia in their first bout in the WEC. This was the long awaited rematch for Sung Jung to prove that he was the better fighter. Sung Jung took control of Garcia’s back and wrapped both of his legs around Garcia’s left leg, so it would be difficult for him to escape the hold. Similar to what Penn did to Hughes, he hit Garcia a few times just to divert his attention. What he did differently from Penn was that he used elbows rather than punches, which made it easier for him to take control of Garcia’s right arm. This leads to Garcia breathing heavily and not defending properly.
Sung Jung has control of his right arm and puts his head behind the arm to set up the twister. He turns Garcia’s entire body to his side, where Garcia’s head is being crushed into his chest. Garcia tapped with just one-second left, which made the finish even more jaw dropping. It was the first time ever in UFC history that someone won a fight by using the twister. It’s such a unique submission, but nearly impossible to pull off due to how much work you have to put into positioning to even attempt it. The fact that Sung Jung is only a blue belt goes to show you that belts don’t always mean everything. He is clearly one of the top featherweights in the world in all aspects of fighting, especially on the ground.
3. UFC 48: Frank Mir vs. Tim Sylvia
It was only a matter of time before Frank Mir was going to be mentioned. If Brock Lesnar were more experienced, I would have put Mir’s knee bar in the top ten. As impressive as that was, Lesnar was still relatively inexperienced and set himself up in that fight. Mir still has plenty of devastating submissions on his resume and nobody will ever forget him breaking Tim Sylvia’s right forearm. Sylvia was 16-0 at the time, while Mir was a heavy underdog and people believed he wasn’t going to be able to withstand Sylvia’s power in the heavyweight title fight.
He put the skeptics to sleep by breaking Sylvia’s arm in four different places. It was reported that Sylvia’s radius bone was snapped about three inches below his elbow. To this day, it’s considered to be one of the most gruesome injuries in UFC history. You can also call this one of the greatest submissions in UFC history. This submission is a prime example of why fighters need to tap, if the submission doesn’t involve a choke. Every limb and bone in your body is important and if you aren’t smart enough to tap, then a limb will tear or bone will break and it’ll take at least six months to recover.
2. UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
In terms of crowd reactions, the finish to this fight had one of the biggest reactions in UFC history. Chael Sonnen is far from being considered a powerful striker, but when you land 289 strikes you should finish the fight (not to mention while being under performance enhancing drugs). How Anderson Silva managed to take 289 strikes and still submit Sonnen is one of the prime examples why he’s the greatest fighter of all time. When you push him to fight, he will end the fight in an instant on most occasions.
It was obvious that Sonnen got reckless and shouldn’t have continued to throw the same repetitive punches. He fought a perfect fight for 23 minutes, but you can’t rest against Silva. Sonnen needed to continue to look for different ways to try to finish him off. Instead he stayed in Silva’s guard and paid the price for it. Silva pulled off a remarkable triangle arm bar, which is another rare submission. His comeback will forever be the greatest comeback in UFC history and this will always be among the greatest submissions in UFC history. If you don’t have this in your top three of all time, then you need to re-watch the fight immediately.
1. UFC 140: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
This shouldn’t spark any debate. Nobody could have ever imagined the great Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira being submitted, let alone being submitted to someone that was rocked. He could have very well won the fight, if he continued to punch Frank Mir. Instead he wanted to make a statement and it cost him ten months of his career. Similar to Mir’s win over Sylvia, this fight is another prime example of why fighters need to tap rather than not tapping because of pride. There is no shame in tapping. Nogueira tried to go for the guillotine, but Mir reversed it perfectly and ended up in top position.
He tried to get Mir’s back to escape from the bottom like he’s done several times in the past. Once again, Mir defended it perfectly and got into side control by keeping his right leg over Nogueira’s body to set up the kimura. As someone who publicly said he idolized Nogueira, you could see Mir knew almost all of Nogueira’s tactics on the ground The entire Jiu-Jitsu world at this point had their jaw dropped at this point. As we’ve all seen it countless times, Nogueira goes to roll over only for Mir to roll back over and stay on top. Nogueira eventually taps to the kimura, unfortunately it wasn’t until after his arm was broken.
I don’t think there will ever be a better submission than that. Unless someone submits Mir or Fabricio Werdum, there aren’t any other notable fighters out there who are more accomplished on the ground. I’ve watched the submission over thirty times and it still makes my jaw drop every time. The transitions on the ground were tremendous and how Mir recovered from taking a powerful straight right to the chin was unbelievable as well. Along with Werdum, these two heavyweights are the greatest submission artists in the heavyweight of all time of all time. What a treat it was to see them both fight at full strength.
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