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ONE Championship’s submission grappling scene truly blossomed in 2022, as martial arts fans were treated to the beauty of sophisticated yet exciting high-level grappling-only matches.
Now, the promotion’s grappling-exclusive matches are some of the most sought-after fights that fans look forward to the most in every card.
ONE already crowned two inaugural submission grappling world champions, with Mikey Musumeci and Kade Ruotolo reigning supreme in the flyweight and lightweight divisions, respectively.
In commemoration of the amazing ground action we witnessed all year, the company recently uploaded the nastiest submission grappling finishes of 2022.
Let’s break down all five finishes featured in this clip.
#5 Bianca Basilio crushes Milena Sakumoto with a rear-naked choke
Brazilian jiu-jitsu fans were thrilled following news that Bianca Basilio signed a deal with the world's largest martial arts organization last year. The Brazilian submission artist, after all, is one of the most decorated and feared female BJJ practitioners in the world.
The ADCC World Champion quickly proved that Milena Sakumoto had no business sharing the Circle with her.
Following a powerful sprawl to counter the Japanese-Brazilian’s takedown attempt, Basilio took her back with ease.
The 26-year-old was so confident with her skills that she went for Sakumoto’s neck right away without even fully sinking her hooks in.
That bravado was well warranted as she locked in the rear-naked choke. She even powered her squeeze by switching to a gable grip that almost took the life out of her opponent in just 42 seconds.
#4 Kade Ruotolo snatches Uali Kurzhev’s heel to become ONE world champion
BJJ’s dominance over Sambo inside the Circle was apparent when Kade Ruotolo made minced meat out of Uali Kurzhev.
After getting nearly taken down by his brutish Russian foe, the 19-year-old savant roared back by taking his back and performing numerous submission attempts.
The Sambo specialist toughened it out at first but the wide gap in terms of skill quickly showed.
Ruotolo got a hold of Kurzhev’s limb and performed a beautiful leg lock entry. He isolated his right leg and cranked it with feverish intensity.
Once Ruotolo bellied down to apply more pressure, Kurzhev could no longer tolerate the pain and raised the white flag.
#3 Mikey Musumeci schools the OG Masakazu Imanari
Mikey Musumeci fought a living legend in his debut at ONE 156. After all, it’s not every day you face an opponent with an entire grappling technique named after him.
Despite Imanari’s reputation as one of the most feared leg lockers in history, Musumeci purposely baited him to enter his guard by leaving his legs open.
Turns out, the American knew what he was doing and successfully defended the Japanese icon’s leg attacks while also mounting his own offense.
After trading heel hook attempts with the leg lock master, Musumeci found his groove and imposed his rarely-seen top game.
In a split-second, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ performed arguably the slickest kneecut back takes of all time and stayed on him like a dog on a bone.
After masterfully synchronizing his hooks and wrist control, Musumeci brilliantly got his arm under Imanari’s chin and the rest is history.
#2 Rodrigo Marello blitzes Ruslan Bagdasarian in razor-quick fashion
Rodrigo Marello made quite the impression in his debut match. The Brazilian BJJ ace blew past Bagdasarian like a gust of an unstoppable whirlwind that left a trail of devastation in his wake.
‘Diguinho’ knew what he wanted to do right away and executed it flawlessly. He controlled the Russian’s hands and quickly attacked his left leg.
Once Marello disrupted his opponent’s base, he knew it was only a matter of time before he starts tapping in surrender.
Sure enough, the Evolve MMA star fully extended his straight ankle lock attempt and had Bagdasarian in pure agony just 15 seconds into the match.
It was the fastest submission in the company's submission grappling history.
#1 Tye Ruotolo humbles Garry Tonon with his signature D’Arce choke
While all these submissions were no doubt impressive, there’s a reason why the promotion gave Tye Ruotolo the 2022 Submission Grappling Submission of the Year award.
Before tapping out former featherweight world champion Marat Gafurov with a hybrid armbar/wristlock, the 19-year-old BJJ prodigy announced his entry by taking out feared grappler Garry Tonon.
After sizing up his veteran opponent, Ruotolo found a way to put ‘The Lion Killer’ on his back and performed a guard pass as smooth as butter.
Once he got into the north-south position, the Atos representative quickly hunted for Tonon’s carotid artery with his favorite D’Arce choke.
As soon as Ruotolo connected his right arm to his left bicep, it was practically over. A red-faced Tonon was on the verge of losing consciousness and was quick to tap.
