UFC/MMA Best ‘Submissions Of Year’ 2023 – Top 5 List

Though rear-naked chokes and guillotines maintain a virtual monopoly on submission finishes in high-level mixed martial arts (MMA), the gentle arts can still produce their share of stunners. Indeed, 2023 featured no shortage of constricted airways and maliciously misaligned limbs, making the task of winnowing them down to five standouts a daunting one.

Daunting, but not impossible. Let’s take a look at our candidates for 2023’s “Submission of the Year.”

5. Da’Mon Blackshear Wins ‘Tall Guy Tussle’

It’s a twister, man.

How was I ever going to leave a twister off this list?

Though he was average (2-2) this year on paper, Da’Mon Blackshear has been a very pleasant surprise inside the Octagon, pushing top fighters like Farid Basharat and Mario Bautista to their limits, while scoring a pair of impressive finishes. The more impressive of the two came in Aug. 2023, when he manhandled Jose Johnson en route to one of the sport’s coolest submissions.

Hopefully, he’s just as busy next year.

4. Carlston Harris Hits ‘One Weird Trick’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

I was torn between this fight and Shavkat Rakhmonov’s finish of Geoff Neal (watch it), but ultimately went with the former because of the comedy factor. Carlston Harris — whose arsenal comprises front chokes and profoundly ugly power punches — had exactly one way to beat Jeremiah Wells. Wells spent two rounds running roughshod over Harris, then ran headlong into the only move that could have snatched victory from his hands.

It was awesome.

Harris also deserves credit for somehow putting Wells to sleep when the choke was seemingly half as deep as it needed to be.

3. Alexa Grasso Lands ‘Ultimate Whiff Punish’

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

It may have been a rear-naked choke, but it was the rear naked choke of 2023 (watch it). After years of failing to live up to her considerable potential, Alexa Grasso perfectly timed one of Valentina Shevchenko’s signature spinning back kicks at UFC 285 to take her back and hand the champ her first-ever submission defeat.

2. Louis Glismann via ‘Whatchamacallit’

Sometimes a submission is just so darn cool that it doesn’t matter whether you’ve heard of either fighter involved. At OKTAGON 43, Louis Glismann tapped Melvin van Suijdam with an inverted omoplata, a technique I wasn’t even aware existed before he used to rearrange van Suijdam’s shoulder. Wild stuff.

1. Davey Grant’s ‘Buzzer Beater’

There were placements on this and other lists that I agonized over. This was not one of them: Davey Grant, baby.

• hit a very rare, low-percentage submission
• on one of the higher-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts in his division
• with less than 30 seconds left in a fight he was losing

From the moment this happened, everyone else was fighting for second place.

Honorable Mention:

• Shavkat Rakhmonov (rear-naked choke) Geoff Neal – Watch Highlights
• Abdoul Abdouraguimov (kneebar) Rafal Haratyk
• Alexander Volkov (Ezekiel choke) Tai Tuivasa – Watch Highlights
• Jon Jones (guillotine choke) Ciryl Gane – Watch Highlights
• Joanderson Brito (ninja choke) Jonathan Pearce – Watch Highlights

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