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In the world of MMA, while a brutal knockout is always highly entertaining, there’s something almost more impressive about a fight-ending submission hold – the artistry and skill that goes into catching it, the positional sense and timing, and quite often, the sheer brutality it can bring.
Over the 25 years of the UFC, there have been some massively memorable tapouts with a plethora of various holds being used to finish fights. In this new series, I’ll be looking at the most memorable submissions in UFC history, grouped by type.
We begin with the 5 of the most memorable choke submissions in UFC history.
#1 Rear Naked Choke – Drew Fickett vs. Josh Neer – UFC Fight Night 1 – 08/06/2005
The rear naked choke is probably the most common submission in MMA as it’s a relatively simple hold to apply and tends to be used on worn-down opponents who’ve simply taken enough punishment.
Introduced to MMA by the legendary Royce Gracie, who used it to win many of his fights in the early UFC tournaments, the rear naked choke is usually applied by a fighter who’s taken the back of his opponent, using the legs as hooks in order to control the body position.
There have literally been hundreds of rear naked choke submissions in UFC history, but the best for my money was the one that Drew Fickett used to submit Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 1 back in 2005. The fight saw Fickett secure an early takedown to guard, and after a scramble, he was able to hop onto Neer’s back and use both legs as hooks to control ‘The Dentist’.
From there, Fickett managed to secure a rear naked choke almost in a sleeper hold fashion as Neer attempted to reach up to prevent it. Within seconds the hold was locked in, and Neer collapsed to the ground with Fickett still clamped to his back. It took a signal from Fickett to referee Steve Mazzagatti to point out that Neer was unconscious, and when the hold was released, Neer was left stiff, arms pointing up in the air with a glassy look to his eyes.
Sure, there have been more historically important rear naked chokes, but for the sudden effect of the hold – as well as a pretty scary aftermath – you can’t beat this one. Neer literally looked like he’d had the life choked out of him – which is exactly the idea behind the rear naked choke.
#2 Guillotine Choke – Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida – UFC 140 – 12/10/2011
Another common choke variant, the guillotine sees a fighter catch his opponent’s neck from a front facelock position and use his arm to apply a fight-ending choke. The guillotine is regularly used to catch a fighter leaving his neck open when shooting in for a takedown, but there are a number of different variants too, from the arm-in version to variations that use subtle shifts in hand position.
One of those – and perhaps the most memorable of all – was the ‘prayer’ variant used by then-UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones to finish off Lyoto Machida in his second title defense at UFC 140 in December 2011. The fight saw Jones have a tough time with Machida’s timing and striking ability in the first round, as the challenger caught ‘Bones’ with a number of clean strikes.
In the second round though, Jones made some key adjustments and was able to hurt Lyoto with a right hand and cut him with an elbow. With Machida rattled, Jones again caught him with a right hand and this time as the challenger scrambled, Jones caught his neck and laced his left arm around it before locking up a standing guillotine – clasping his hands together as if in prayer, which tightened the grip while allowing him to twist Machida’s head at an unnatural angle. Seconds later, Machida passed out.
While it’s not uncommon to see a fighter pass out inside a guillotine choke, the fact that Lyoto was actually standing when he became unconscious in this hold made it even more memorable. Of all of his impressive title defenses, this was perhaps the greatest finish that ‘Bones’ achieved during his dominant run.
#3 Anaconda Choke – Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral vs. David Heath – UFC 74 – 08/25
The anaconda choke has been relatively rare inside the UFC Octagon but there have been a handful of notable fights that have seen it used. The most impressive – and most ruthless – was demonstrated by Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral against David Heath at UFC 74 in August 2007.
The two men had a personal issue going into the fight – namely that during the weigh-ins, Heath had worn a t-shirt showing Babalu’s police mugshot and then called him a “mother*cker” – something the Brazilian didn’t take too kindly to. Always an intense fighter, Sobral came in angrier than ever and took all of his frustrations out on Heath.
After a back-and-forth first round, Babalu secured a takedown in the second and used elbows to open a huge cut on Heath’s forehead, leaving the Octagon mat resembling a murder scene. And when Heath attempted to scramble free, Sobral locked up a perfect anaconda choke and rolled Heath over to finish it. Sure enough, Heath tapped out – but to send a message, Babalu refused to release the hold and instead put Heath to sleep, leaving him napping in a pool of his own blood.
It might’ve been one of the greatest – and most terrifying – submissions in UFC history, but Babalu’s aggressive actions came back to haunt him. The crowd booed him out of the building post-fight and then the UFC decided to release him from his contract for the unsportsmanlike behavior.
#4 Triangle Choke – Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin – UFC 129 – 04/30/2011
The triangle choke is a submission hold that sees a fighter secure his legs around the head and usually one shoulder and arm of his opponent, using them to cut off the blood supply to the brain in order to either force them to tapout or fade into unconsciousness. It’s a relatively common submission in MMA and has been used plenty of times in the UFC to great effect.
The triangle can be applied from the guard or from the mount, but on this memorable occasion, it was actually used from a standing position in what’s known as a flying triangle choke. Featherweight Pablo Garza had secured a highly memorable finish in his UFC debut by knocking out Fredson Paixao with a flying knee, but few people expected him to deliver another flying finish in his second fight against Yves Jabouin at UFC 129.
That’s exactly what he did, though. After being taken off his feet by a couple of Jabouin’s leg kicks, Garza managed to close the distance and secure a clinch, and from there he leaped into the air and managed to swing his legs around Jabouin’s head and left arm in the process. Before Jabouin could even attempt to defend, the triangle choke was tightened and locked in.
Jabouin managed to last a few more moments before Garza made the choke even tighter by pulling his left leg down, securing it into the crook of his right knee, and that – along with some elbows to the unprotected head for good measure – were enough to secure the tapout.
Garza never went on to much more success inside the UFC but his first two wins were as memorable as any other fighter in promotional history in terms of how great they were to watch, and his flying triangle remains one of the all-time great UFC tapouts.
#5: Ezekiel Choke – Aleksei Oleinik vs. Viktor Pesta – UFC Fight Night 103 – 01/15/2017
The Ezekiel choke is one of the rarest submissions in MMA and particularly in the UFC, and for good reason, too – it’s better known from the worlds of both judo and jiu-jitsu, largely because it heavily involves the use of a gi – which fighters are not allowed to wear in UFC competition - to pull off.
Essentially, the Ezekiel is a choke that sees a fighter wrap one arm behind his opponent’s head and then grasp the sleeve of the gi on the opposite hand for leverage, before forcing that forearm down into the opponent’s throat, compressing the trachea and carotid arteries to force the tapout.
Somehow though, Heavyweight contender Aleksei Oleinik not only managed to submit Viktor Pesta with the hold in 2017, but he also repeated the feat in 2018 when he used the choke to submit Junior Albini. The original against Pesta was more memorable though, largely because he pulled it off while underneath the full mount of the Czech fighter.
For all intents and purposes, Pesta looked completely safe in the dominant position, but seconds later he was tapping out, confusing everyone from the crowd to the announcers. As the referee checked over a dazed Pesta, the replay revealed what had happened – Oleinik had wrapped his right arm around the back of Pesta’s neck and then grabbed his left bicep, and from there he’d slipped his left forearm across Pesta’s throat, and with crushing power, he’d essentially squeezed the life out of him.
Not only was it an ultra-rare submission, but to see a fighter tap out while in the full mount was jaw-dropping too. Of all the submissions used to finish fights in the UFC, this one was definitely one of the most unique and memorable.
