Ronda Rousey and the 10 Best Submission Artists in the UFC Today
All her opponents know it's coming, but Ronda Rousey has continually secured an armbar against every opponent she's faced. While she's only one fight into her UFC career, Rousey is already being mentioned alongside champions and elite submission artists like Jon Jones, Renan Barao and others.
Following her coaching duties opposite Miesha Tate on The Ultimate Fighter 18, Rousey will attempt to keep her unprecedented run of armbars going against her arch enemy at UFC 168.
While the level of competition in the women's bantamweight division has been questioned, Rousey's ability to repeatedly secure the same submission against the best in her weight class has been an impressive display of execution. If Rousey continues her armbar streak against an opponent who has experience competing with her, it will become harder and harder for even the champion's biggest critics to deny she's one of the most talented grapplers in MMA.
Where does Rousey stand among the UFC's best submission experts right now?
Based on level of opposition submitted, number of submission wins and submission win rate (percentage of fights ending in submission victories), here are the greatest submission aces going inside the Octagon.
Honorable Mentions
1 of 11
Demian Maia
A decorated jiu-jitsu black belt, Demian Maia would likely beat many fighters on this list in a pure grappling match. Nonetheless, his jiu-jitsu credentials haven't completely translated into MMA submission prowess over recent years.
Maia's neck crank against Rick Story at UFC 153 was his first submission in nearly five years.
Still, he has earned half of his 18 MMA victories with submissions. The Brazilian began his UFC career with five straight submission wins, including a triangle choke against Chael Sonnen.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
"Big Nog" might be the best heavyweight submission artist in MMA history.
However, we're talking the best submission fighters today, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's most recent submission victory over an elite opponent came in his February 2008 bout with Tim Sylvia. Since then, the Brazilian has only submitted Dave Herman.
With 21 submission wins in his MMA career, Nogueira is still a threat against anyone who goes to the ground with him, but the former interim champion no longer possesses the most feared submissions in the heavyweight class.
Like Nogueira, BJ Penn's exclusion from this top-10 list is a "what have you done for me lately" situation.
The Hawaiian has not even competed inside the Octagon in over 12 months. Moreover, his most recent submission victory came against Kenny Florian in August 2009.
Penn is ready to make a return to fighting through a coaching stint on TUF 19. Once he gets back to competing, Penn will still be considered a serious danger on the ground.
Anthony Pettis
Judging by his performance against Benson Henderson at UFC 164, Anthony Pettis could be headed on his way into this top 10 in a hurry. However, aside from capturing the UFC lightweight title with an armbar in August, Pettis hasn't submitted many high-level opponents.
Pettis has scored seven submission wins over the course of his career, but the next most notable opponent he tapped was Shane Roller.
The only fighter to submit Henderson since March 2007, the 26-year-old Pettis is likely to have many more submission victories ahead.
Anderson Silva
While Anderson Silva's striking has stolen the thunder in most cases, "The Spider" wouldn't have reached the heights he has without his grappling ability.
The former middleweight champion defended his belt twice with submissions. It would have been three times had Travis Lutter made weight prior to UFC 67. The most notable of those submission wins came against Chael Sonnen, who was less than two minutes away from dethroning Silva before the Brazilian caught him in a triangle choke.
Although Silva is no longer champion, he'll have a chance to regain his crown at UFC 168, where his submissions could be a factor against talented wrestler Chris Weidman.
10. Chan Sung Jung
2 of 11
Submission Wins: 8
Submission Win Rate: 47.06 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Dustin Poirier, Leonard Garcia, Matt Jaggers
Chan Sung Jung has really taken off as a fighter since joining the UFC roster.
In his Octagon debut, the South Korean stopped Leonard Garcia with a stunning twister to avenge a WEC loss. Two fights later, Jung earned a title shot with a beautiful Brabo choke against fellow featherweight contender Dustin Poirier.
One of the more aggressive grapplers going, the only thing holding Jung back from being ranked higher here is his lack of submissions against noteworthy opponents prior to joining the world's top MMA promotion.
9. Nate Diaz
3 of 11
Submission Wins: 11
Submission Win Rate: 42.31 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Jim Miller, Melvin Guillard, Takanori Gomi
Under the instruction of Cesar Gracie, Nate Diaz has become one of the most prolific submission artists in UFC history. Diaz has scored eight submission wins inside the Octagon and will likely secure many more submissions under the UFC banner, as he's still only 28 years old.
Following a short run in the welterweight division, Diaz scored submission wins over Jim Miller and Takanori Gomi during a three-fight winning streak to earn a title shot against then-lightweight champion Benson Henderson.
Despite earning submission wins in a slightly lower percentage of his fights, Diaz gets a nod over Chan Sung Jung due to tapping a longer list of noteworthy opponents.
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8. Ronaldo Souza
4 of 11
Submission Wins: 14
Submission Win Rate: 63.64 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Robbie Lawler, Ed Herman, Chris Camozzi
With nearly 75 percent of his wins coming via submission, Ronaldo Souza might be the most dangerous grappler in MMA right now. He just hasn't had the chance to prove as much against enough elite opponents.
While competing under the Strikeforce banner, Souza did submit current welterweight title hopeful Robbie Lawler, but his remaining submission victories have come against unranked fighters.
Although he lacks big-name victims, Souza owns a higher submission win rate than any fighter on this countdown not named Ronda Rousey.
7. Joe Lauzon
5 of 11
Submission Wins: 18
Submission Win Rate: 56.25 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Mike Brown, Jamie Varner, Melvin Guillard
Winning the bonus on six different occasions, Joe Lauzon stands alone with the most Submission of the Night awards in UFC history.
He might not be the most technically sound grappler on this countdown, but Lauzon attacks on the ground more frequently than just about anyone in MMA. His aggression has left him with a number of losses, but it has also helped Lauzon finish more than half of his MMA bouts via submission.
While Lauzon may not be as skilled on the ground as Ronaldo Souza, his MMA resume—in terms of submissions—is stronger than the Brazilian's right now.
6. Ronda Rousey
6 of 11
Submission Wins: 7
Submission Win Rate: 100.00 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman, Liz Carmouche
Ronda Rousey's position on this list does not suggest she could submit any of the other fighters on this countdown. What it does suggest is, in comparison to her divisional peers, Rousey owns a much bigger edge in submission prowess than most male fighters do in their respective weight classes.
That's really not even up for debate.
A former Olympic medalist, Rousey has finished all seven of her MMA opponents with armbars in the first round. She'll look to keep that incredible run going against Miesha Tate at UFC 168.
5. Renan Barao
7 of 11
Submission Wins: 14
Submission Win Rate: 43.75 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Michael McDonald, Brad Pickett, Chris Cariaso
Renan Barao may be on his way to becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion, and his submission ability has played a large role in his ascension.
Only two years into his UFC career, Barao has already submitted two Top 10 bantamweights. A rear-naked choke against Brad Pickett elevated the Brazilian into contender status, while an arm triangle choke against Michael McDonald helped Barao defend his interim championship.
While Barao may not be submitting foes every time he steps into the cage like Ronda Rousey, he has double the submissions and has also been picking them up against elite competition.
4. Urijah Faber
8 of 11
Submission Wins: 17
Submission Win Rate: 47.22 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Dominick Cruz, Jens Pulver, Michael McDonald
Urijah Faber has made a career out of catching adversaries in his guillotine and rear-naked chokes.
"The California Kid" has picked up 17 submission wins over the course of his career, and 15 of them came via one of those two techniques. The remaining two submission victories saw Faber's opponents tap due to strikes.
At UFC on Fox 9, Faber likely earned himself another UFC title shot by stopping Michael McDonald. With Renan Barao's most notable submission win also coming against McDonald, Faber gets a slight edge over his former Brazilian opponent by also scoring submissions against UFC champions Dominick Cruz and Jens Pulver. The former WEC titleholder also has a few more submissions to his name and a higher submission win rate than Barao.
3. Jon Jones
9 of 11
Submission Wins: 6
Submission Win Rate: 30.00 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Quinton Jackson
Jon Jones hasn't scored as many submissions as any of the other fighters on this countdown, but he continues to force opponents to tap in the biggest of fights.
Since becoming UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones has defended his belt with submissions on three separate occasions. Former UFC champions Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort and Quinton Jackson were all forced to tap or went to sleep against the 205-pound superstar.
No other current UFC champion has scored more than one submission inside the Octagon during their current reign. Jones' ability to stop even the best the light heavyweight division has to offer makes him one of the most talented submission artists going.
2. Frank Mir
10 of 11
Submission Wins: 9
Submission Win Rate: 37.50 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia
Frank Mir has lost three in a row, but none of those defeats had anything to do with the submission wizard's grappling.
The former champion may not be capable of standing with the top heavyweights these days, but he's poison against almost anyone who goes to the ground with him. Along with Nate Diaz, Mir's eight submission wins inside the Octagon make him one of the highest-yielding submission artists in UFC history.
Although his submission total and submission win rate are lower than some others previously mentioned, Mir was the first to ever tap Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and his list of victims is as impressive as any other than the man about to be named.
1. Fabricio Werdum
11 of 11
Submission Wins: 9
Submission Win Rate: 39.13 percent
Notable Submission Wins: Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Alistair Overeem
He's only coming off of his first UFC submission win, but Fabricio Werdum has more than proved his abilities on the ground outside the Octagon.
For nearly a decade, Fedor Emelianenko went undefeated, cementing himself as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. In June 2010, under the Strikeforce banner, Werdum ended Emelianenko's unprecedented run with a triangle-armbar submission only slightly more than one minute into the first round.
Werdum stands alongside Frank Mir as one of only two men to submit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was widely considered the best jiu-jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division for years. Former Strikeforce champion and underrated grappler Alistair Overeem was also tapped by Werdum during his Pride FC days.
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