Submissions are what make MMA MMA.
So it doesn’t get much more MMA to talk about great submissions. And when you’ve got one of the sport’s greats in this area challenging for a title, as Frank Mir will do when he fights Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight belt this weekend at UFC 146, the talk also turns to great submission artists.
And when it comes to that, this is it. This, as the cast of Pardon the Interruption would say, is the list.
Presented herewith is the only list of great submission artists you’ll ever need. Beware the cheap imitators.
And while you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and also beware those who bemoan what they refer to as the subjective nature of these types of rankings. They only say things like that because they are, to be honest, hateful people. No other explanation is possible, except maybe that they fear the truth. Hateful or fearful. Take your pick, denigrators.
All others, please enjoy this list of the 25 best submission artists in the history of mixed martial arts as an organized sport on the third planet from the sun. Rankings are based on number of submission wins (both absolute and as a percentage of the overall record), quality/ferocity of attack, caliber of opponents and promotions and overall pedigree in training and international competitions outside MMA.