The 50 Greatest Submissions in MMA History

Very few activities in life come with a mercy rule. Mixed martial arts is one of them.

Though strikes and knockouts steal the headlines, a well-executed submission is truly a thing of beauty; the perfect blending of brain and brawn.

Its unequivocal nature is also appealing. If you tap out (or pass out, or your arm gives out), that really isn't something that lends itself to interpretation. Maybe that's what makes submissions, and MMA in general, so appealing; very rarely are there such clear winners and losers elsewhere in life.

Anyway, here are my picks for the top 50 submissions in MMA history. With so many to choose from, it can be tough to winnow it down even this far.

For the sake of simplicity, women were not considered here (though they could comprise a whole list on their own). To further narrow the field, I used the following selection criteria (in no particular order):

*Degree of difficulty
*Damage inflicted
*Inventiveness or creativity
*Quality of execution
*Importance of the fight
*Circumstances within the fight
*Caliber of opponent
*"Wow" factor

So there you have it. I'm sure there are a few that could be on here that aren't and vice versa. If you see any such grievous injustices, please feel free to sound off in the comments. Thanks for reading.

Honorable Mention: a Sport Is Born

 When: Nov. 12, 1993
Where: UFC 1
Move: "Position"

Art Jimmerson ended the first bout in UFC history when he tapped from sheer frustration.

Royce Gracie gained what these days is fairly unremarkable top control, but back in 1993 was clearly a mind-blowing experience. At least it was for Jimmerson, a boxer by trade who essentially gave up after two whole minutes because he didn’t know what else to do. He tried nothing, then found himself out of ideas. This "Brazilian jiu-jitsu" so bewildered him that he had no plan B.

 I couldn’t put this on the main list. But I couldn’t keep it off entirely, either.

50. Masakazu Imanari Buckles Mike Brown

When: 2005
Where: DEEP – 22 Impact
Move:  Kneelock

Submissions can be powerful, but rarely do they drop a fighter like a flush left hook. This is one notable exception to that rule.

When Imanari dislocates Brown’s knee, Brown—understandably—hits the deck like he’s been shot.

49. Fedor Brings Down the Giant

When: Dec. 31, 2007
Where: Yarennoka!
Move:  Armbar

I never get tired of watching Emelianenko hang from Hong Man Choi’s arm like some kind of river parasite.

48. Demian Maia Chokes out Ed Herman

When: April 19, 2008
Where: UFC 83
Move: Triangle choke

Maia locked on the choke, then--without releasing said choke--mounts Herman and pounds on his head as the life seeps from his body. It doesn't seem like a very soothing way to go to sleep.

47. Marcus Aurelio Destroys Ryan Roberts

When: April 2, 2008
Where: UFC Fight Night 13
Move:  Armbar

In one of the most one-sided lightweight fights in recent memory, Aurelio flattens Roberts with a punch, then rocks the armbar to gain victory in just 16 seconds—pretty close to record time for an MMA submission win.

46. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dan Henderson II

When: 2002
Where: Pride 24
Move: Armbar

Only three men have submitted Dan Henderson: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, twin brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Anderson Silva. That, as they say, is the list. 

Henderson pulled out a split decision in their first meeting. But in the rematch, it was all Big Nog. It wasn’t so much that the Olympic wrestler made a grappling mistake, though. It was that Nogueira was, in his heyday, just that good.

It was then only the third loss of Hendo's MMA career.

45. Carlos Newton Mauls Miletich

When: May 4, 2001
Where: UFC 31
Move: Bulldog choke

Newton slid down Pat Miletich’s back like a slide, and at the end locked on essentially a headlock to force the tap and capture the UFC welterweight belt.

44. Gracie Outlasts the Beast

When: 1994
Where: UFC 4
Move: Triangle Choke

The much larger Dan Severn was well prepared. He shot for the takedown, then nailed Royce Gracie to the canvas where Gracie couldn't make trouble. For 15 minutes, and then some, it worked.

Slowly, however, Gracie ate away at Severn’s advantage. And when he saw his opening, he took it.

43. Lytle Shows Two Moves Are Better Than One

When:  July 7, 2007
Where:  UFC 73
Move:  Leg triangle/keylock

One of the most exciting fighters in UFC history, Chris Lytle usually gets it done with the TKO.

But he flashed some serious BJJ when he locked two moves on Jason Gilliam at the same time—a leg triangle and a keylock on his arm. Gilliam taps to the leg triangle and that's all the fat lady wrote.

42. Shogun Conquers Randleman

When: Oct. 21, 2006
Where: Pride 32
Move: Kneebar

Randleman yowls in pain as Shogun—who it’s easy to forget is a jiu-jitsu black belt—attempts to bring home Randleman’s leg as a souvenir.

41. Double Your Pain with Alexander Otsuka

When: Oct. 31, 2000
Where: Pride 11
Move: Double armbar

This one is just wacky.

In one corner, you’ve got Otsuka, nicknamed “The Diet Butcher” for some reason.

In the other corner, you’ve got Mike Bourke, fighting in his jammies.

Neither man had an especially distinguished career (14-29 combined), but this double armbar assures them a perch on any list of great MMA submissions.

40. Story Overpowers Foster

When: 2009
Where: UFC 103
Move: Arm triangle choke

In the midst of a heated ground exchange, Rick Story, from full guard, uses pure strength to trap Brian Foster's arm and press for the triangle.

39. Gracie Cleans Up Gordeau

When: Nov. 12, 1993
Where: UFC 1
Move: Rear naked choke
 
Gordeau, one of the dirtiest fighters in MMA history, more than met his match in the final bout of the UFC 1 tournament. After one minute and 44 seconds of action, Royce Gracie had proven his point.

In three fights that night, Gracie fought for four minutes and 59 seconds and received a $50,000 prize. That’s $167 per second of action. Nice work, if you can get it.

38. Dunham Brutalizes Escudero

When: Jan. 11, 2010
Where: UFC Fight Night 20
Move: Armbar

To his credit, Efrain Escudero held on until the last possible moment. But in the end, he was forced to tap or else find himself in a cast.

The two then-undefeated lightweights were evenly matched through three rounds. Evan Dunham broke that tie (almost literally) when he scored a takedown, moved to mount and torqued Efrain's arm rather insistently in the wrong direction. 

37. Seth Dikun Skies for the Chokeout

When: June 8, 2009
Where: WEC 41
Move: Flying Triangle Choke

With this move, Seth Dikun became the Anthony Pettis of WEC submissions. Or, rather, Pettis would later become the Dikun of WEC strikers.

With Rolando Perez backed up to the fence, Dikun decides he's ready to end the fight, and thus jumps up onto Rolando's head, wraps his legs around his neck, drags him to the mat and secures the tap.

Why do people keep saying this sport is so hard?

36. Tito Ortiz Shocks Ryan Bader

When: July 2, 2011
Where: UFC 132
Move: Guillotine choke

A heavy underdog widely thought to be fighting for his UFC career, Ortiz rocked Bader with strikes and then closed the deal on the ground to notch the first-round shocker. Ortiz later called the win one of the biggest of his life.

35. Steve Cantwell Snaps Razor Razak

When: Dec. 10, 2008
Where: UFC: Fight for the Troops
Move:  Armbar

Ahhhh!

Razak Al-Hassan refused to tap to Cantwell's armbar, and his elbow capsule paid the price. This fight might be best known for Cantwell’s rather cavalier postfight reaction, as he told Joe Rogan he had "always wanted to do that.”

34. Sakuraba Outfoxes Newton

When: June 24, 1998
Where: Pride 3
Move: Kneebar

Carlos Newton and Kazushi Sakuraba engaged in an extended and thrilling chess match, with Sakuraba--in only his fifth professional MMA fight--coming out on top.

I highly recommend pouring yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and soaking up every second of this video.

33. Penn Dominates Florian

When: Aug. 8, 2009
Where:  UFC 101
Move: Rear naked choke

The move itself simply culminated what was, in technical parlance, four rounds of butt-kicking brilliance by the lightweight champion.

I was lucky enough to witness this one in person. I'm a Florian fan, and he fought gamely, but it was clear he wanted to be somewhere else by the time Baby Jay locked on his signature move.

32. Anderson Silva Subs Dan Henderson

When: 2008
Where: UFC 82
Move: Rear naked choke

In the unification bout for the UFC and Pride middleweight titles, Silva found that Henderson wasn't going to fall from strikes alone, given that his head was abnormally large and boulderlike. So he took the fight to the ground, slapped on the body triangle and found the opening for the tried-and-true rear naked. It was only the third submission loss of Henderson’s 36-fight MMA career.

31. Palhares Punishes Drwal

When: March 27, 2010
Where: UFC 111
Move: Heel hook

One of the more difficult-to-watch submission sequences, Tomasz Drwal literally screams for mercy as the ref tries to force a stubborn Rousimar Palhares to release this absolutely filthy heel hook.

Luckily, Drwal took no major damage. Palhares was suspended for 90 days as a result of the incident.

30. Hazelett Exacts McLovin’s Revenge

When: 2008
Where:  The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
Move:  Armbar

It’s too bad Dustin Hazelett’s game was not a little more complete, or that he was not a little less scarecrow-like. Because his jiu-jitsu was, and is, on a different kind of level.

In this one, McLovin hurdles Josh Burkman’s shoulder in the midst of the action, landing in perfect position for a textbook armbar. It doesn’t get much prettier.

29. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kevin Randleman

When:  June 20, 2004
Where: Pride Critical Countdown 2004
Move: Kimura

After jarring Fedor with a nasty slam, Randleman seemed to have the upper hand.

That, of course, meant Fedor had Randleman right where he wanted him.

Just a classic Emelianenko victory. In his heyday, you simply could not defeat this man. At least not without an M-79 grenade launcher and a vat of molten steel.

28. B.J. Penn Breaks Joe Daddy

When: Jan. 19, 2008
Where: UFC 80
Move: Rear naked choke

It's one of the most famous (or infamous) beatings in UFC history.

Near the end of the second round, the reigning lightweight champion finished Joe Stevenson with his trademark rear naked choke. But most MMA fans know the fight was decided long before.

Penn subjected Stevenson to a medieval beatdown, as evidenced by the B-movie gore gusher issuing from Joe Daddy's skull as Penn applied the choke.

In retrospect, Stevenson never seemed to recover from this bloodbath. Standing at 28-7 going into the title shot, he lost seven of 10 starting with this one, and earlier this summer was released from the UFC.

A sad story for a good fighter and an even better man, who will hopefully continue doing what he loves in some form. In any event, it was another virtuoso performance for the B.J. Penn catalog.

27. Richard Hale on Nik Fekete

When:  March 26, 2011
Where: Bellator 38
Move:  Inverted triangle choke

This is one of the more spectacular submission moves anyone can complete. It becomes even more spectacular when you’re a light heavyweight.

26. Shinya Aoki Gets Gogoplata on Katsuhiko Nagata

When: June 15, 2008
Where: DREAM 4
Move:  Gogoplata

Aoki executes the gogoplata from the mount. I’m no Helio Gracie, but my assessment is that that is not very easy to accomplish.

Just one of several highlight-reel victories for one of the lightweight division’s most physical submission grapplers.

25. Tamdan McCrory Gets Helicoptered

When: Nov. 15, 2008
Where: UFC 91
Move: Helicopter Armbar

The Barncat was howling when Dustin Hazelett pulled off this omoplata armbar.

Making the feat all the more impressive was that he did it just five months after his highlight-reel submission of Burkman.

24. Frank Shamrock Kneebars Jeremy Horn

When: May 15, 1998
Where: UFC 17
Move:  Kneebar

In Shamrock’s second successful UFC light heavyweight title defense, he made Horn—a man who had earned all but one of his nine wins by submission—look like an amateur.

Then again, Horn wouldn’t be the first or last to suffer that fate at the hands of Frank Shamrock, who as far as mainstream perceptions are concerned is probably the most underrated American to ever fight in a cage.

23. Demian Maia Triangles Chael

When: Feb. 21, 2009
Where: UFC 95
Move: Triangle Choke

If nature called, you missed this one.

Like a golfer with a perfect swing, Maia used one smooth motion to roll from takedown to top control to triangle in about half a second to secure this first-round win over Chael Sonnen.

Jiu-jitsu wizardry like this will keep Maia employed in the UFC for as long as he wants to be.

22. Big Nog Ropes Tim Sylvia

When:  Feb. 2, 2008
Where:  UFC 81
Move:  Guillotine choke

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira showed why he’s not only one of the best heavyweight submission artists of all time, but one of the most wiley as well.

In the third round, Nogueira reversed a Sylvia takedown to gain side control. Sylvia escaped from the position—right into the guillotine. The win earned Big Nog the UFC’s interim heavyweight belt.

21. Oleg Taktarov Gasses out Tank

When: July 14, 1995
Where: UFC 6
Move:  Rear naked choke

Almost 18 grueling minutes into the UFC 6 tournament final, Abbott swung a heavy left hand that knocked an exhausted Taktarov back against the cage.

Unfortunately, however, Tank rolled straight into a standing guillotine. The two men eventually sank to the ground, where Taktarov took Tank’s back and locked on the tournament-winning RNC.

20. Aoki Abuses Mizuto Hirota

When: Dec. 31, 2009
Where: Dynamite!!! 2009
Move: Hammerlock

I had to apply liniment to my shoulder just to get through this slide.

In this non-title fight between the DREAM and Sengoku lightweight champions, Aoki settled for a brutal first-round technical submission when Hirota refused to tap to his hammerlock. The old phrase “if they don’t tap, you snap” came true here, as Aoki broke, well, I don’t know, but it was something—maybe several somethings—in Hirota’s right arm and shoulder. 

This fight may be even more famous for Aoki’s ultra-classy postfight reaction, in which he flips the double bird guns first to a stricken Hirota, and then to the paying crowd.

19. Gracie Fells Kimo

When: Sept. 9, 1994
Where: UFC 3
Move: Armlock

Let’s get something straight right off the bat: Kimo Leopoldo was a crazy person.

This is the guy who lugged a huge wooden cross to the cage while wearing a black hood over his head. He also had more muscles than Zeus and appeared more than ready ready to play fast and loose with a good portion of the social compact in the interest of creating grievous injuries to other humans.

And in the other corner: skinny, disheveled, gi-wearing, scowling, perfectly confident Royce Gracie.

Just a few minutes and one armlock later, it was allllll over. 

Kimo was absolutely trashing Gracie the entire fight, except for that one flash of time that a battered Gracie needed to snatch one of Kimo’s arms and crank for all he was worth. Gracie had to withdraw from the tournament after this fight, basically on account of being really effed up. But it was another impressive submission win for the UFC’s original submission artist.

Check out this theoretical “trailer” for the fight…good stuff.

18. Nick Diaz Goes out in Blaze of Glory

When: Feb. 24, 2007
Where: Pride 33
Move: Gogoplata

See what I did with that headline? That took me seven hours to write.

Everyone involved in this fight probably felt like this highly entertaining slugfest would end with a TKO.

That’s probably why everyone, Diaz included, was a little surprised when Gomi took his bloodied opponent to the ground. Unfortunately for Gomi, Diaz’s surprise wore off rather quickly, as evidenced by the gogoplata he used to wrap up and defeat the Fireball Kid.

Unfortunately for Diaz, though, this epic submission win became a no contest following his positive test for marijuana.

17. Frank Shamrock’s Armbar on Kevin Jackson

When: Dec. 21, 1997
Where: UFC Japan
Move:  Armbar

Never let it be forgotten: Frank Shamrock was a bad man.

Not only does he have 14 submission wins on his resume, but he left behind a trail of broken fighters that is difficult to match.

In this fight, Shamrock pulled off the armbar from below in a mere 16 seconds to add one more name to his body count and, more importantly, capture the inaugural UFC light heavyweight title.

16. B.J. Penn Chops Down Matt Hughes

When: 2004
Where: UFC 46
Move:  Rear naked choke

That rear naked choke again.

In the first chapter of this epic trilogy, the then-unheralded and undersized Penn choked out Hughes, who had defended the welterweight title five consecutive times, to pull off the major upset and win the 170-pound strap.

15. Ken Shamrock vs. Bas Rutten II

When:  March 10, 1995
Where: Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 2
Move: Kneebar

In their second fight, Shamrock employs the spin-o-rama to gain open access to El Guapo. Like a kid in a candy story, Shamrock takes a hold of Rutten's leg, cranks it to 11, defends his King of Pancrase title and defeats El Guapo for the second and final time. 

Rutten was never defeated again, much less submitted, for the rest of his MMA career.

(Fast forward to about the 2:50 mark for the fight’s conclusion.)

14. Frank Mir Slays Brockliath

When:  Feb. 2, 2008
Where:  UFC 81
Move:  Kneebar

With this quick first-round kneebar, Mir singlehandledly put the brakes on the Lesnar hype train before it was even clear of the station.

13. Rumina Sato Scores MMA's Fastest Submission

When: Jan. 15, 1999
Where:  Shooto – Devilock Fighters
Move:  Flying armbar

Don't blink; Sato gets it done against Charles Diaz in a scant six seconds. If this isn't the record, I’d love to see the one that is.

12. Chan-Sung Jung Twists the Night Away

When:  March 26, 2011
Where:  UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis
Move:  Twister

Whenever your submission move of choice falls into the “spine lock” category, well, I don’t want to fight you.

“The Korean Zombie” executed the first and only successful twister in UFC history when he almost separated Leonard Garcia at the pelvis last spring. It instantly became, in my book, the single gnarliest move ever pulled off in the Octagon.

Interesting twister fact: the move was developed for use in MMA by rubber guard pioneer and unabashed stoner Eddie Bravo.  He even wrote an entire book about the move back in 2007. Pretty far out.

11. St-Pierre Cements His Greatness Against Matt Hughes

When:  Dec. 29, 2007
Where:  UFC 79
Move: Armbar

It was something right out of an after-school special. As the TUF cameras rolled on the heels of Hughes’ submission win over GSP, Hughes, surrounded by a veritable who’s who of the UFC, mocked St-Pierre, who sat forlornly by himself, for his inability to defend the armbar.

Ah, but Lady Justice can be a sweet, sweet mistress sometimes.

Three years later, in the second round of their rubber match, St-Pierre transitioned into an armbar so quickly and flawlessly that the usually unflappable Hughes began to panic, crying “tap! tap!” to anyone in position to assuage the discomfort.

It was a special moment for GSP, who gained the series win over Hughes and definitively assumed the mantle of the fighter to be reckoned with at 170. 

10. Big Nog Hands Cro Cop His First Defeat

When: Nov. 9, 2003
Where: Pride Final Conflict 2003
Move: Armbar

In an incredible display of guts and brains, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira weathered a storm of strikes to pull the armbar on Mirko Filipovic and capture the Pride interim heavyweight title.

It was Cro Cop’s first loss as a professional MMA fighter, andm to this day remains his only defeat by submission.

9. Griffin Stuns Shogun

When: Sept. 22, 2007
Where: UFC 76
Move: Rear naked choke

It’s a defining moment for a career filled with them.

MMA fans know the story the way boxing fans know Douglas-Tyson (well, almost). Forrest Griffin, the underdog’s underdog, engaged in a three-round sludgefest with Shogun Rua, who was making his UFC debut after a long and fearsome run in Japan.

With less than a minute remaining, Griffin somehow clawed his way onto Rua’s back and sank in a choke. With 15 seconds remaining, the mighty Shogun taps.

The image of an exultant Griffin running to his corner, arms spread wide, exhausted grin spreading over his face, will probably always endure as a signature snapshot from the UFC.

8. “The Backpack of Doom”

When:  May 1, 2009
Where:  Bellator 5
Move: Inverted triangle

When the bell sounded for the third and final round of Bellator’s first lightweight tournament semifinal, Toby Imada seemed on his way to the loss. Jorge Masvidal had been feeding him a steady diet of shots, and Imada was looking a little punch drunk. Small cuts dotted his face, and his right eye was nearly swollen shut.

That just meant it was time to pull off what is unquestionably the best submission ever in the Bellator cage.

As the two grappled for position, Masvidal attempted to flip Imada off his back and stand up. But he didn’t quite finish the job, and Imada hung on.

It looked a little silly at first, with Imada dangling upside down from his opponent’s neck. It was difficult to know what, if anything, Imada was trying to accomplish. But as the seconds ticked by, Masvidal began to sink to the ground, like Superman after the kryptonite necklace. Wait a second…Imada’s legs are locked on! It’s tight! Masvidal’s going down!

And just like that, it was over; Masvidal hit the canvas like a dead fish, and Imada had pulled victory out of defeat in spectacular fashion.

He would lose to Eddie Alvarez in the tourney final, but Imada had already made his impact. The World MMA Awards presented Imada with their 2009 Submission of the Year.

7. Gracie-Shamrock I

When: Nov. 12, 1993
Where: UFC 1
Move: Rear naked choke

At the time, it was the most anticipated matchup in the UFC’s, uh, five-fight history. But it only took Royce 57 seconds to submit the much larger Ken Shamrock and touch another match to the Big Bang that was Brazilian jiu-jitsu and UFC 1.

Great picture of Dana White here, by the way. Don't leave me hangin, guys!

6. The Tap Heard Round the World

When:  June 26, 2010
Where: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum
Move:  Triangle choke

Fabricio Werdum's monumental upset started Fedor Emelianenko down a three-fight losing road, and in the process dragged the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament, the Strikeforce promotion itself and Fedor’s career parabola down with it.

5. The Gracie Hunter Bags Another Trophy

When:  Aug. 27, 2000
Where: Pride 10
Move: Kimura

If you aren’t familiar with Kazushi Sakuraba, please do yourself a favor and remedy that.

In this old-school classic, The Gracie Hunter reverses Renzo Gracie, who I understand is pretty good at jiu-jitsu, and proceeds to break his arm. For his troubles, Sakuraba gets a sporting pat on the back from Renzo’s remaining usable limb.

By the way, it was cool to see the always-classy Sakuraba back off the arm after the break became evident, even though Gracie did not actually tap.

4. Matt Hughes Settles Grudge with Trigg

When:  April 16, 2005
Where:  UFC 52
Move:  Rear naked choke

Following a nut shot for which he was, shall we say, pointedly unrepentant, Frank Trigg made Matt Hughes angry.

You wouldn’t like Matt Hughes when he’s angry.

As the first round ticked away following his opportunistic post-low-blow attack, Trigg was squeezing a choke and looking to even the series with his hated rival. 

Trigg was not successful. Hughes broke the hold, hoisted Twinkle Toes onto his back, carried him across the cage (just for giggles, I assume) and slammed him to the mat. With prejudice.

This resulted in something of a momentum shift in the fight.

The welterweight champ proceeded to tenderize Trigg with his thudding ground and pound, then sink in a choke of his own with less than a minute remaining in the round. Unlike Trigg's ill-fated attempt from a minute before, this one finished the job. Hughes scored the victory by first-round rear naked choke, just as he had in their first encounter.

It was one of the greatest submissions in MMA history and one of the greatest victories for one of the sport's greatest welterweights. Simple as that.

3. Frank Mir Breaks Tim Sylvia's Arm

When:  June 19, 2004
Where:  UFC 48
Move:  Armbar

It’s easy to forget there was a time when Tim Sylvia didn’t suck. This was that time. He was 16-0 going into this fight.

Call this a changing of the guard.

For his part, Sylvia refused to tap to a very deep armbar. For Mir’s part, he broke Sylvia’s arm.

Sylvia thrashed around like a stung gorilla for a moment, but Herb Dean intervened to abruptly end the proceedings, and Frank Mir was the new UFC heavyweight champion.

Neither man was ever quite the same.

2. Ryo Chonan Upends Anderson Silva

When: Dec. 31, 2004
Where:  Pride Shockwave 2004
Move:  Flying scissor heel hook

Coming into this fight, Anderson Silva was 14-2 and had just defeated “Lightning” Lee Murray for the Cage Rage middleweight belt. As the third round began, it was apparent that Chonan was no match for The Spider, with Silva landing jabs at will and turning Chonan more jellylike by the moment.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Like a video game character, Chonan suddenly dropped to the floor and swept Silva to the ground. He wrapped up one of Silva’s legs, cranked the foot, and elicited an instant submission.

Total elapsed time: two seconds. Literally. I counted.

Not only was this a fancy move, but it was brilliantly deployed and devastatingly effective for Chonan at a time when it was clear the usual bag of tricks wasn’t going to cut it. Almost seven years later, Chonan remains the last man to definitively beat Silva in a fight.

1. Anderson Silva's Triangle Hail Mary

When:  Aug. 7, 2010
Where: UFC 117
Move: Triangle choke

(Sports-documentary voiceover)

Legends are forged in the crucible of adversity. Only when a competitor faces seemingly insurmountable odds does he reveal his true substance to the world, and to himself. And it is then, and only then, that elusive Lady Glory achieves her fullest expression.

(/Sports-documentary voiceover)

This was as clutch as an MMA performance can get. It’s the fifth and final round. You’re losing on everyone’s score card. You’ve been punished for more than 20 minutes. You are exhausted. You are about to lose your championship. And there doesn’t seem to be any reason for optimism in the fight's remaining one-hundred-and-twenty seconds.

Then you see a tiny opening, you wrap your legs around your opponents neck, you pull the arm through, and you squeeze like your life depends on it. Tapout. Ballgame.

Fans can and do go rather blue-faced debating Anderson Silva’s greatest moment. This triangle choke on Chael Sonnen gets my vote. It was the only time during Silva’s championship reign that anyone truly threatened him. And he only responded by hitting a grand slam on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

That’s greatness.

This was the MMA equivalent of Michael Jordan’s Flu Game, John Elway’s Drive or Kirk Gibson’s World Series walk-off.  The Front Kick seems to be the Silva move that most often gets the Capital Letters treatment.  But in my mind, this victory will always be The Triangle.