A Rare Submission At Dream.17

by Subaru Muroi
 
This past Friday night at Dream 17 in Japan, a rare submission won a fight for Ikuhisa Minowa in a super-heavyweight bout against Baru Harn.  Also known as Minowa-man, this catch-wrestler won his 90th professional fight via a shoulder lock from the scarf hold position.
 
Despite Frank Shamrock (retired fighter and ring announcer) claiming it was a neck crank, the tap came due to the arm being tucked under the leg from the scarf-hold position causing extreme pressure at the shoulder similar to a key-lock.  The neck was held to prevent from turning towards the arm and defend the submission. 
 
This submission is quite common in grappling matches; however it rarely makes an appearance in professional MMA.  Not to discredit Minowa, who has won 33 of his fights by submissions, but Baru Harn’s experience (now 1-2) may have played a factor in the rare submission finish as this was clearly a mismatch.