With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from February 2020: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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The Nominees
Daniel Rodriguez def. Tim Means at UFC on ESPN+ 25
Daniel Rodriguez (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) rose to the occasion in his UFC debut, taking out Tim Means (29-12-1 MMA, 11-9 UFC), a 21-fight veteran of the organization, in the second round of their welterweight bout.
After battering Means on the feet and putting him in serious danger of a knockout, Rodriguez changed his attack to a standing guillotine choke. It went in deep, and shortly thereafter Means tapped and the fight was over.
#UFCRioRanchoAlex Polizzi def. Jamal Pogues at LFA 82
Alex Polizzi (6-0) scored his ticket to a Bellator contract by claiming the LFA light heavyweight title with a submission finish of Jamal Pogues (7-3) in the championship rounds.
Although submissions decrease in likelihood later into fights, Polizzi snatched the leg of Pogues in the early stages of the fourth round and locked in a heel hook. Pogues tapped out, and Polizzi remained undefeated in his young career.
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Paul Redmond at Bellator Europe 7
In his return to the lightweight division, Georgi Karakhanyan (29-10-1 MMA, 7-8 BMMA) picked up a much-needed win against Paul Redmond (15-9 MMA, 2-1 BMMA).
After going on a three-fight drought, Karakhanyan had an entertaining battle with Redmond before locking in a guillotine choke in the early stages of the round to finish the fight and get his hand raised for the first time in 21 months.
@armeniamma_official #Караханян #ArmeniaMMA #Bellator240 #BellatorMMAJimmy Crute def. Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC on ESPN+ 26
Jimmy Crute (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) rebounded from the first loss of his career with an impressive finish of Michal Oleksiejczuk (14-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in their light heavyweight matchup.
Crute put his sizable ground advantage to use when he put Oleksiejczuk on his back and synched in a Kimura to elicit the tap in just over three minutes.
Jordan Griffin def. TJ Brown via guillotine choke at UFC on ESPN+ 27
Just when it seemed he was not going to get the finish, Jordan Griffin (18-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) choked TJ Brown (14-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) out cold.
Attempting to lock in a guillotine choke from bottom position, Griffin’s attempt to finish the fight appeared that it would be unfruitful. Seconds later, though, the fight was over and Griffin had his first UFC win.
“If you’re extremely strong, maybe you can get it, but I doubt it.”
Turns out, @JordanGriffin29 is EXTREMELY strong.
#UFCNorfolk pic.twitter.com/acYqC1qu9L
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 29, 2020
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The Winner: Jordan Griffin
Griffin’s first UFC win was an impressive one.
After going 0-2 with two unanimous decision losses to kick off his octagon tenure, Griffin needed to get his hand raised in order to ensure his future with the organization.
He did just that, and in slick fashion, no less.
Griffin went for a usual guillotine choke while on bottom, which cageside commentator Michael Bisping wrote off as having any real chance of finishing the fight. He was wrong, however, because Griffin was able to finish the fight with a useful technique.
“I love that choke – that’s one of my go-to submissions,” Griffin said. “When you hook that in over the shoulder, it’s almost impossible to escape. People think they can circle around because their legs are free, but that actually makes it tighter. As soon as I locked it in, I knew it was over and that he was out. That’s my black belt killer right there.”
MMA Junkie's 'Submission of the Month' for February: The 'black belt killer'
