MMA Fighting - MMA Fighting's Top 5 Submissions Of The Year

Episode Date: December 30, 2020

Check out the winners for MMA Fighting's 2020 Submissions of the Year. Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. MMA Fighting presents the top five submissions of 2020. And number five, Luis Felipe Diaz versus Van Alton-Anto-An-Tunez, Chuto Brazil 100. To become the new Shuto welterweight champion, Luis Felipe Diaz had to combine a couple of different submissions in order to put away Van Elton-An-Tunez back in August. With the fighters battling on the ground, Diaz manages to tie up Antunas while setting up a reverse triangle choke from the back. That submission is rare enough. Jorge Mosvedal once got caught by that same move, courtesy of Toby Amata when they met in Bellator. But the reverse triangle choke isn't enough to stop Antunas as he continues to attempt to escape.

Diaz never relents and hammers away with punches while further cementing his position. on the ground. As Antunas tries to roll free, Dias catches his leg and immediately leans back into a Sulawave stretch, compounded by the fact that the reverse triangle is still locked in tight. It was a great submission win for Dias, but the finish was even better considering he actually used two different moves combined into one to earn the victory. At number four, Ariani Lipski versus Luana Carolina, U.S.C. Fight Island 2. Ariani Lipski lived up to her nickname as the Queen of Violence when she fought Luana

Carolina as part of the USC Fight Island 2 undercard in July. Known as a punishing finisher before joining the UFC roster, Lipski hadn't been able to find that same level of success inside the Octagon, starting her career with a 1 and 2 record. After picking up her first UFC win eight months prior, she came out aggressive against Carolina in a battle of two Brazilian prospects. As soon as the fight starts, Lipski is on the attack. She bullies Carolina against the cage and drops her with a nasty body shot. Once on the ground, Lipski and Carolina tangle up as both look for submissions.

For a moment, it appears that Lipski's own leg might be compromised, But instead, she sees an opening to grab onto a knee bar while sitting down on Carolina's midsection. Lipsky yanks the leg up and extends the knee, earning a painful shriek from Carolina as the submission forces attack. It was difficult listening to Carolina's scream, but Lipsky did her job, snatching up her first finish and first submission in the UFC. Number three, Jimmy Flick versus Cody Durden, UFC, UFC Vegas 17. At UFC Vegas 17, Contender Series veteran Jimmy Flick made his octagon debut against former Bantamweight Cody Durden. Following a bit of a rough start with Durden winning exchanges on the feet, Flick turns to his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt to turn the tables.

Flick throws a head kick and Durden catches the leg and starts to drive forward, a natural, instinctive thing to do. But rather than just give up a takedown or try to break. break free, Flick uses that opening to leap into a flying triangle choke as he jumps into the air and grabs Durdon's head before both come crashing down to the canvas. A split second after falling to the ground, Flick adjusts into triangle position and as he locks it up, Durdon is forced to tap out. My whole career, I've always loved doing it.

I have an amateur fight where I threw up a head kick to a south ball and he tackled me. into a double leg, but put himself in a triangle. And I finished that in 35 seconds in the first round. So it's something I've been doing my whole career. And when I'm doing wrestling with jih Tijuana, I give guys my leg and I throw up a flying triangle all the time. It's crazy that how it happens so instinctly. It just goes to show how good my jihitsu is.

But, you know, it's nothing like I just train in the gym. Like, hey, catch my kick and I throw a flying triangle. but it's something I've been doing for my whole career, and it really showed. At number two, Habib Nirmagamatov versus Justin Gaechi, UFC-254. UFC lightweight champion Habib Nirmagamadav had every reason not to be at his best when defending his title against Justin Gachi at UFC 254. The tragic loss of his father, Abdulmanap, undoubtedly left Nirmagamad of his shaken state as he prepared to make his return. The loss of a parent is hard enough.

But Nirmagamadov and his dad shared an even deeper bond than just father and son. Abdulmanap had also been his coach since the first day he strapped on a singlet and stepped on to the mats. Rather than take an extended break to grieve the loss of his father, Nirmagamadov books the fight against Gae as the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi. As the first round begins, Nirmagamadov doesn't seem all that interested in employing his suffocating. ground game, which is predominantly how he remained undefeated through the first 28 fights of his career. Instead, Nirmagamadov walks down Gai Chi, which seems like a colossally bad idea given the sheer amount of damage the former World Series of Fighting Champion dishes out every time he competes.

While Nirmagamatov finds success on his feet against Gai Chi, he opts to bring the fight to the ground in round two. Rather than punish Gai Chi with strikes, Habib accesses his submission arsenal, first setting up an arm bar before falling into a perfectly timed triangle choke. Once Nirmagamadov has a submission wrapped up, Geishi is stuck with no place to go, and the fight comes to an end at one minute and 11 seconds in the second round. A few days after the event ended, Nirmagamadov's longtime friend and teammate, Daniel Kormier, revealed that the UFC lightweight champion had opted to go for the triangle choke over the arm bar, because he knew Gaichi's parents were sitting cage-side

and didn't want to harm their son as they watched. There have been plenty of triangle choke submissions seen throughout the history of MMA. But the fact that Norma Medov had enough faith in his grappling that he gave up one move for another and still got the finish speaks to his tremendous talent. And our number one submission of 2020 A.J. McKee versus Darien Caldwell, Bellator 253.

It's not every day a fighter pulls off a submission that they've created, but that's exactly what A.J. McKee did in order to punch his ticket to the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix finals. After sitting out the majority of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, McKee returns to action against a former NCAA champion wrestler in Darien Caldwell. McKee is also from a wrestling background training under his father, veteran M.M.A. fighter Antonio McKee. But he knew Caldwell would almost assuredly attempt to get him down as soon as the fight began. The young McKee scouted his opponent perfectly.

The fighters barely start throwing punches in the opening round before Caldwell swoops inside, snagging a leg and working to bring McKee to the ground. Once the action hits the mat, McKee immediately tries to make Caldwell pay, chipping away at the former Bellator champion with elbows and punches from inside the guard while constantly scrambling to earn a better position off his back. As Caldwell continues to maintain top control, McKee sees an opening for a submission and locks his legs around his opponent's waist, latching an underhook. It was the perfect setup for a move he'd actually created when he was first learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a wrestler. It's a mix of a neck crank and a chin-whip, and I used to do it a lot as a child, McKee revealed,

when speaking to M.M.A. fighting. I'd go from the chin-whip and just keeping the underhook, and once I started doing jujitsu, I stopped on my back, so I'd get stuck there a lot, especially with guys that were bigger. I'd get stuck on my back with an underhook. So I just started figuring out ways to kind of manipulate the body in a way that it's not supposed to bend. Even if you're a strong person, that's a move you can get caught in. If you don't know where you're at and you get put in a bad position, I'm going to take it. It creates openings. It's a lifelong childhood move, so once I saw the opening, I trapped the body triangle on the body, I knew I had it. He couldn't go anywhere. You know, at first, his game plan kind of threw me off. I knew he, once he got on top,

he went inside control. So he was looking for the elbows. And that's why I was trying to move with him a little bit. And then I wanted him to open up, going to his normal position, a bad position. Head on the side is a bad position with somebody that knows Jiu-Jitsu. So for me, You know, I just made him uncomfortable a little bit, couple elbows, couple punches, soften him up. And he did what he normally does, you know. So I just found an opening, like I said I was going to do. McKee seized on the opening,

and once he had Caldwell trapped, there was no escape from the submission he dubbed the McKeatine. A few seconds later, Caldwell had a telling grimace on his face tapping at 71 seconds into the opening round. Despite an undefeated record, McKee always seems to fight against. against the perception that he's overrated

and that he hasn't faced strong enough opponents. Of course, 17 of them have tried and failed to prove that point. I feel like my jiu-jitsu is very underrated, McKee said. But hey, as long as I keep making up moves, finessing people into positions they don't want to be in, I think people will continue to realize how gifted I really am. Considering McKee pulled off a move he created that had never been previously used in MMA,

It's impossible to deny him the honor of taking home the 2020 submission of the year. The new era is here. 45-50-pile title. I want to back-to-back, period. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.