Tag: Rankings/List

The Question: What Is the Greatest Submission in MMA History?

Even if you didn’t catch UFC 216 in person, by now you have likely seen or at least heard about Demetrious Johnson’s mind-bending armbar submission on Ray Borg in the evening’s co-main event.
The flyweight champion suplexed Borg and on the way down jum…

Even if you didn’t catch UFC 216 in person, by now you have likely seen or at least heard about Demetrious Johnson’s mind-bending armbar submission on Ray Borg in the evening’s co-main event.

The flyweight champion suplexed Borg and on the way down jumped into position and had the armbar cinched in almost before they could settle on the ground. It was a pretty gnarly armbar too, and it helped Johnson set the UFC record for consecutive title defenses.

You know a move is good when people rush to give it a name. Plenty of pundits dubbed it “the mouse trap.” Johnson himself calls it The Mighty Wiz-Bar, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but hey, that’s just me.

The whole thing got the Bleacher Report MMA brain trust to thinking. What is the greatest MMA submission of all time?

Obviously, there are different ways to approach the topic. It could mean degree of difficulty. It could mean historical significance. It could be influenced by the stakes of a given contest. And it could be a combination of factors.

Several writers weigh in with their selections. A video is included for each one. They are listed in no particular order. We have Chad Dundas, Jonathan Snowden, Matthew Ryder, Jeremy Botter, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina and yours truly, Scott Harris. Let’s get it on.

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8 Fighters with the Best Post-MMA Careers

MMA is a cruel mistress.
For the vast majority of its athletes, they’ll put years into their pursuit and never get near the level of iconography that the very best do. They’ll give mind and body to become the best martial artists they can, quite often …

MMA is a cruel mistress.

For the vast majority of its athletes, they’ll put years into their pursuit and never get near the level of iconography that the very best do. They’ll give mind and body to become the best martial artists they can, quite often reaching unimaginable heights when the cage door closes.

Then, in a blink, it’s gone.

They retire—or perhaps are retired by a younger, hungrier fighter closing the loop and keeping the sport grinding forward—and are left without the buzz they craved for so long.

No fans.

No fun.

No fights.

For the first time in their lives, they’re just another person in line at the grocery store or stuck in traffic, and it’s a little shocking.

That’s why a fighter needs to have a plan for their exit and for the time afterward. While Conor McGregor shrewdly sets himself up to live it up, there are veterans with GoFundMes looking to pay for some horrible surgery.

But McGregor is not, for once, in a class of his own, at least when it comes to planning life after fighting. Many who have come before him have done remarkable things after competing in MMA and continue to do so.

They’ve created a blueprint for diversifying and leveraging the lessons of the world’s toughest sport into something greater.

Here’s a look at eight such individuals.

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Former UFC Champions Who Have What It Takes to Get Their Belts Back

Over the last few months, the UFC has adopted a new approach to matchmaking: out with the old; in with the new. More than ever before, the promotion is actively trying to push veterans out of the promotion and replace them with younger, cheaper ta…

Over the last few months, the UFC has adopted a new approach to matchmaking: out with the old; in with the new. More than ever before, the promotion is actively trying to push veterans out of the promotion and replace them with younger, cheaper talent. Day after day, news breaks of a fight between a hardened veteran and a hot prospect, and it’s not hard to figure out who the UFC wants to win.

The UFC doesn’t always get what it wants, though. A lot of elites have stuck around at the top of their divisions for years on, and that applies doubly for former champions. 

With that in mind, Bleacher Report MMA‘s Steven Rondina and Nathan McCarter have come together to discuss 10 former UFC champions that have what it takes to reclaim their lost titles.

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The 5 Most Famous Pullouts in UFC History

UFC 213 kind of stumbled over itself, swallowed up by the hoopla surrounding a war between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson and a carousel of withdrawing headliners. Initially positioned to headline International Fight Week, the event landed with som…

UFC 213 kind of stumbled over itself, swallowed up by the hoopla surrounding a war between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson and a carousel of withdrawing headliners. Initially positioned to headline International Fight Week, the event landed with something of a thud despite a few watchable fights.

One of the main reasons the event sputtered was the incredibly late withdrawal of women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, herself only thrust into the spotlight when Cody Garbrandt bailed on a bout with TJ Dillashaw last month. Nunes pulled herself from a title defense only hours before she was to lock horns with Valentina Shevchenko as a result of sinusitis.

The decision was polarizing based on what fans, media and other fighters were saying once her pulling out was announced. Some felt she should have fought, while others felt she was within her rights to drop off the card at the last minute, but there was no person in the sport who wasn’t voicing an opinion.

Regardless of where a person stands on the legitimacy of a champion pulling out hours before a fight, its happening afforded an opportunity to look back over the course of UFC history and consider some similar instances, where big names were booked for big fights but never made it to the cage.

Nunes’ actions weren’t unprecedented entirely, but given the late notice of her withdrawal, it will go down as one of the more unique and shocking circumstances in which an athlete didn’t make the walk.

Here are five other famous times when someone didn’t show up for work as a result of pulling out.

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The 5 Most Famous Pullouts in UFC History

UFC 213 kind of stumbled over itself, swallowed up by the hoopla surrounding a war between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson and a carousel of withdrawing headliners. Initially positioned to headline International Fight Week, the event landed with som…

UFC 213 kind of stumbled over itself, swallowed up by the hoopla surrounding a war between Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson and a carousel of withdrawing headliners. Initially positioned to headline International Fight Week, the event landed with something of a thud despite a few watchable fights.

One of the main reasons the event sputtered was the incredibly late withdrawal of women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, herself only thrust into the spotlight when Cody Garbrandt bailed on a bout with TJ Dillashaw last month. Nunes pulled herself from a title defense only hours before she was to lock horns with Valentina Shevchenko as a result of sinusitis.

The decision was polarizing based on what fans, media and other fighters were saying once her pulling out was announced. Some felt she should have fought, while others felt she was within her rights to drop off the card at the last minute, but there was no person in the sport who wasn’t voicing an opinion.

Regardless of where a person stands on the legitimacy of a champion pulling out hours before a fight, its happening afforded an opportunity to look back over the course of UFC history and consider some similar instances, where big names were booked for big fights but never made it to the cage.

Nunes’ actions weren’t unprecedented entirely, but given the late notice of her withdrawal, it will go down as one of the more unique and shocking circumstances in which an athlete didn’t make the walk.

Here are five other famous times when someone didn’t show up for work as a result of pulling out.

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MMA’s Top 10 Wildest Out-of-the-Cage Brawls

Mixed martial artists have been fighting a lot outside the cage recently.
It seems like every time you turn around, some fighters are getting themselves into confrontations under dubious circumstances.
Back on May 12, UFC lightweights Michael Chiesa an…

Mixed martial artists have been fighting a lot outside the cage recently.

It seems like every time you turn around, some fighters are getting themselves into confrontations under dubious circumstances.

Back on May 12, UFC lightweights Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee got themselves tossed out of the fight company’s summer schedule kickoff press conference after comments Lee made about Chiesa’s mom led to on-stage fisticuffs.

One week later, Bellator’s Paul Daley and Michael Page got into it in the crowd at SSE Arena in London following Daley’s lopsided submission loss in a welterweight bout against Rory MacDonald.

Then Cris “Cyborg” Justino (a women’s featherweight) punched strawweight fighter Angela Magana at the UFC’s company-sponsored fighters’ retreat on May 21.

All this unsanctioned violence—sometimes goofy, sometimes ugly—got us thinking: What are the wildest incidents of MMA fighters getting physical outside the confines of the ring?

Turns out, there are a lot them—and we mean a lot. So many, in fact, that none of these most recent examples even made the cut on this list.

So, what are MMA’s wildest out-of-the-cage brawls of all time? Read on to see if your favorite (or least favorite?) made the list…

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