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The UFC is the most popular mixed martial arts company in the world. Fighters need to have power, endurance, quickness and most importantly technique. Technique not only while fighters are on their feet but when they are on the ground as well.The submission techniques are among the variables which separate MMA from any other combat sport. Made famous by the great Royce Gracie, it has become one of the key elements for any fighter in MMA towards victory and his completeness as a professional.
Here we look at the best active fighters there is at the submission game from every weight class in the UFC.
Flyweight – John Moraga
The 5th ranked flyweight in the UFC has half of wins in the franchise come by way of submission with his last two matches ending in dramatic style by way of chokes. Out of the 3 submission wins he has one earned him the fight of the night bonus as well.
As mentioned earlier, Moraga is the master at finding the neck and applying the choke, the guillotine choke is his favourite through which he has finished the likes of Justin Scoggins at UFC Fight Night 50 and Chris Cariaso at UFC 155.
Bantamweight – Urijah Faber
The veteran is much underrated with his submission game. Faber a brown belt holder in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has 19 of his 32 wins coming by way of submission with 6 of them in the UFC. Faber is an expert at chokes and almost all of his submissions have come by either the guillotine or the rear naked choke.
Probably one of his best submission wins came against Alex Caceres when he made Caceres submit with the rear naked choke at UFC 175.
Women’s Bantamweight – Ronda Rousey
One of the most famous stars UFC have on their roster at the moment. Wins coming in the first round of the fights, winning titles belts, acting in major Hollywood movies it seems the world is at her feet at the moment.
A bronze medallist at the Olympics in Judo, Rousey is one of the fiercest and probably the most technically gifted fighter in her division. All of her 3 submission victories in the UFC have come by way of armbar and she does put the arm bar in very quick time too as most of her victories have come in the first round.
Featherweight – Cole Miller
Out of the ten wins Cole Miller has in the UFC, seven have come by way of submission earning him ‘submission of the night’ honours on four occasions. Miller a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has a variety of submission manoeuvres in his arsenal with victories by submission coming by way of guillotine choke, rear naked choke, the kimura lock and triangle choke.
One of his most notable victories was against fellow submission specialist Dan Lauzon at UFC 108 when he turned an inverted triangle into a kimura lock while hanging upside down.
Lightweight – Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz:
The Ceaser Gracie product has been known for his boxing technique and cardio but what most people really don’t know is that this guy is a submission artist. Out of 12 wins Diaz has in the UFC 8 have come by submission and he’s tied with Frank Mir for the 2nd most wins by submission in UFC History.
Diaz is on a bad patch at the moment, he got beat up real bad against current lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos and some believe Diaz doesn’t have the urge to fight again but recent events in the UFC have show that Diaz wants to be among the top and if everything goes as planned and considering he’s only 30, it’s more likely that he will beat Royce Gracie’s record of 11 submissions in the UFC.
Welterweight – Demian Maia
A fourth-degree black belt holder in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, former ADCC Submission Wrestling Champion and many more accolades strengthen Maia’s credentials as a top ground game worker. Maia’s grappling skills are highly respected that Frank Mir had hired Maia to improve his Jiu-Jitsu skills before fighting Brock Lesnar at UFC 100. Out of 13 wins Maia has in the UFC 6 have come by submission and have resulted in 4 submission of the night bonuses.
Maia’s skills lie in getting the opponent to the ground without giving a punch and his signature moves are the rear naked choke and the triangle choke. One of Maia’s most notable win came against Chael Sonnen at UFC 95 where he made the “gangster” tap through a triangle choke.
Middleweight – Ronaldo Souza
“Jacare” as he is commonly known has a glittering grappling resume. A judo and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt holder, Jacare is a former World Jiu-Jitsu and ADCC submission wrestling champion. He is currently undefeated in the UFC and primed for bigger things in the company.
Out of the five wins Jacare has in the UFC, three have come by way of submission with victories coming by way of arm bar, guillotine choke and the triangle arm bar. Jacare’s highlight performance came against middleweight elite Gegard Mousasi whom he submitted by way of guillotine choke at UFC Fight Night 50.
Light Heavyweight – Rogerio Nogueira
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt holder has a reputation for being a good ground game worker and a submission specialist. A good boxer, Rogerio is a beast on the ground and tries to take the opponent down when he gets the chance. Once on the ground, he has a variety of submission techniques through which he gets the better of his opponents.
Submissions have come by way of triangle choke, guillotine choke and arm bar. Rogerio is also known for passing his skills to the great Anderson Silva who has openly credited the Nogueiras for it.
Heavyweight – Fabricio Werdum
The former World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and ADCC Champion is considered as one of the best ever when it comes to the submission game. He has made a name for himself by making legends tap inside the octagon with greats like Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Alistair Overeem being victims of his vicious submissions.
Werdum is on a 5 match winning streak at the moment and is the current Interim Heavyweight champion. A unification bout with champion Cain Velasquez is looming and Velasquez will surely be wary of Werdum’s ground game and his submission ability.
Note: This article is solely based on the author’s personal views and doesn’t reflect Sportskeeda’s views in any form.
