Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture and the 10 Best Arm-Triangle Chokes in MMA History

The arm-triangle choke is one of the most devastating submission finishes in MMA because often times the choke victim has no idea that they have even been put into a bad position until their consciousness starts rapidly evacuating.

Once the hold is secured, and the fighter applying the choke is free of guard and in side control, there is practically no escape.

Some fighters have become adept at getting out of solid chokes like guillotines and triangle chokes.

Like the rear naked choke, however, an arm-triangle is nearly inescapable when properly applied.

There are some variations of the arm-triangle choke, like the Anaconda (Brabo) choke and the D'arce choke, that are very similar, but do not count for the purposes of this list.

These are the 10 best in MMA history. When will we see the next one?

Honorable Mention

Fabricio Werdum over Aleksander Emelianenko

Mario Sperry over Igor Vovchanchyn

BJ Penn over Duane Ludwig

Lyoto Machida over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Eric Schafer over Houston Alexander

Thales Leites over Floyd Sword

10. Jason Miller over Robbie Lawler

In 2006, two of the sport's best middleweight fighters in Jason Miller and Robbie Lawler clashed for the ICON sport middleweight championship.

Jason Miller cinched up an arm-triangle choke in the third round, and walked away with the victory.

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira over Valentijn Overeem

In 2001, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira beat Valentijn Overeem with an arm-triangle choke in just a minute and twenty seconds to win the Rings: King of Kings tournament.

Overeem was just coming off a submission victory over Randy Couture before losing for the second time in his career to Nogueira.

Out of 54 professional MMA fights, the arm-triangle loss to Nogueira is one of only two times Valentijn has lost to a choke.

8. Ronaldo Souza over Matt Lindland

When current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza made his Strikeforce debut, he was matched up against formidable veteran, Matt Lindland.

Lindland was an olympic wrestler, but was still no match for Souza once the fight hit the ground.

Souza put Lindland in serious danger with an armbar and omoplata before eventually securing the arm-triangle and finishing the fight in the first round.

It was the first time Lindland was choked out since a 2002 guillotine against Murilo Bustamante for the UFC middleweight championship.

7. Randy Couture over James Toney

When professional boxer James Toney stepped into the octagon against MMA legend Randy Couture, it was essentially just a formality that Couture would end up finishing Toney on the ground.

The arm-triangle that Randy used to finish Toney makes this list because it was another iconic moment for the sport of MMA, and it also happened to officially earn Couture his long overdue black belt (for Neil Melanson's submission wrestling system). 

6. Rick Story over Brian Foster

Rising welterweight Rick Story had an amazing arm-triangle choke when he finished respected figher Brian Foster from within the guard.

The best way to finish the choke is from the side position where you can angle your body away from your opponent's.

Being able to finish while still trapped inside the guard is an amazing feet and it has helped mark Story as a fighter to continue to watch.

5. Vitor Ribeiro over Joachim Hansen

Vitor Ribeiro has hands down one of the best arm-triangle chokes in the history of MMA.

In 2003 he fought Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen for the Shooto welterweight (154lbs) championship.

After grounding Hansen in the second round, Ribeiro found the perfectly crafty set-up he needed to end the fight.

Ribeiro isolated Hansen's far arm and then quickly traversed over Hansen's body to elicit the tap and claim the championship.

4. Brock Lesnar over Shane Carwin

Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin clashed for the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 116 in one of the most memorable and dramatic come from behind victories of all time.

After suffering a brutal first round beatdown, champion Lesnar came back in the second round to submit Carwin with a powerful arm-triangle choke.

Not only was it the first time that Carwin had ever been finished in his career, it was the first time that he had ever lost.

3. Martin Kampmann over Drew McFredries

Martin Kampmann's arm-triangle over Drew McFedries is about as good a submission as you will ever find.

Much like Vitor Ribeiro's transition, Kampmann set up the arm triangle position while on the far side of the body, then he hopped over McFedries's body while still holding onto the the choke.

McFedries was completely surprised by the maneuver and had no way out once Kampmann was on the correct side and was torquing his body up further and further to tighten the choke.

Without time to properly surrender, the thrilling contest was satisfyingly concluded as McFedries was choked completely unconscious. 

2. Jeremy Horn over Chuck Liddell

Jeremy Horn handed Chuck Liddell the first loss of his career with a dramatic arm-triangle choke all the way back at UFC 19 in 1999.

Horn secured the choke near the end of the 12-minute long first round.

The round ended and the referee pulled Horn off only to reveal that Liddell had been choked completely unconscious.

It was a beautiful choke and Liddell would not lose again until meeting Randy Couture more than four years later.

1. Marcus Aurelio over Takanori Gomi

When Marcus Aurelio faced Takanori Gomi at Pride 10 in 2006, Gomi was riding a 10-fight win streak, had just won the Pride lightweight championship, and was considered the No. 1 lightweight in the world.

What happened was shocking.

Aurelio applied an arm-triangle choke in the first round which choked Gomi unconscious.

It was a dramatic upset, but unfortunately for Aurelio, Gomi's championship was not on the line.