Nothing says Christmas like taking an opponent down and have them beg for mercy.
And thus at this time of good will to all men – apart from in the octagon – we decided to pay tribute to our favourite take downs.
Many fighters say that getting an opponent to tap out is the ultimate victory as they are submitting, conceding that they are inferior and who’s ever heard of a lucky submission?
These are our top 10 of 2015.
10. Fabricio Werdum def. Cain Velasquez via guillotine UFC 188
It’s not flashy or spectacularly technical but it’s not often that a heavyweight title fight is decided via submission… The last time prior to UFC 188 that this happened was when Brock Lesnar submitted Shane Carwin back in 2010. The fact that Cain Velasquez was thought to be virtually unbeatable only adds to the memorability of this guillotine.
9 – Marcos Galvao def. Joe Warren via kneebar Bellator 135
Joe Warren hadn’t lost in three years when he found his right leg isolated by Brazil’s Marcos Galvao back in March. Galvao remained committed and drew the verbal tap by leaning back to hyperextend Warren’s knee. Ouch!
8 – Demetrious Johnson def. Kyoji Horiguchi via armbar UFC 186
This is the perfect fight. DJ beat Horiguchi from pillar to post for 24 minutes and 59 seconds but made the Japanese flyweight challenger tap out with just a second remaining in the fight.
7 – Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bubba Jenkins via guillotine Bellator 132
To baffle Herb Dean, it has to be pretty darn impressive but the veteran ref was even surprised that Georgi Karakhanyan was able to put Bubba Jenkins to sleep so quickly with his mighty squeeze.
6 – Benson Henderson def. Brandon Thatch via rear naked choke UFC Fight Night 60
Benson Henderson’s first trip to welterweight was a daunting one as he took on the huge Brandon Thatch. But when he’s got both hooks in and his forearm under your chin, size matters little.
5 – Nathan Jones def. Oskar Somerfield via triangle choke BAMMA 19
You may not have heard of Nathan Jones just yet but he’s got eight submission wins to his name and, when he locks in a triangle, it’s not a good idea to try to slam your way out of it.
4 – Ronda Rousey def. Cat Zingano via armbar UFC 184
Before her head was damn near kicked off her shoulders, Ronda Rousey was seen as an unbeatable arm collector and the right of Zingano was added to the former women’s bantamweight champion’s collection back in February.
3 – Tony Ferguson def. Edson Barboza via D’Arce choke TUF 22 Finale
Tony Ferguson is the definition of well-rounded with 9 wins by knockout and 7 wins by submission. With his long arms, he’s always a danger in scrambles as he cinches up Brabo/D’Arce chokes with ease. Edson Barboza found that out the hard way.
2 – Jake Ellenberger def. Josh Koscheck via North-South choke UFC 184
Josh Koscheck’s penultimate UFC bout was reminiscent of an injured animal being enveloped by a hungry anaconda as Jake Ellenberger latched on to the neck, followed Koscheck to the mat and squeezed until he was literally foaming at the mouth.
1 – Dylan Ashburn def. Donis Francois via Twister LFC 38
He’s not exactly a household name but Dylan Ashburn finds himself atop our list for the simple fact that we bloody love a Twister.
Our favourite submission of the year came from all the way back in February at Legacy Fighting Championship when Ashburn beautifully set up one of the rarest submissions in all of MMA and drew the tap from his fellow Texan in the second round.
