Tag: submission of the year

Submission of the Year – LowKick MMA 2023 Awards

Submission of the Year LowKick MMA Awards 2023 Alexa GrassoProving yet another competitive category for nominations this year — LowKick MMA’s staff were widely divided when it came…

Submission of the Year LowKick MMA Awards 2023 Alexa Grasso

Proving yet another competitive category for nominations this year — LowKick MMA’s staff were widely divided when it came to deciding this annum’s ‘Submission of the Year’.

Drawing a total of four separate nominations, from the likes of stunning championship rallying performances, star-making stoppages, and triumphant Octagon returns, it proved to be another award in the books for undisputed flyweight queen, Alexa Grasso this year — who stopped the dominant run of Valentina Shevchenko with a rallying face crank back in March at UFC 285.

Submission of the Year – Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Alexa Grasso – UFC 285 – Neck Crank – (3 votes)

Stopping the spectacularly dominant run of flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko back in March in a magnificent rallying performance, it proved practice makes perfect for Mexican star, Alexa Grasso at UFC 295 — who drilled a stunning back-take and subseqeunt face crank backstage, before translating the drill into a live-action stoppage.

Dealing with Shevchenko’s pressure and dominance throughout the course of their UFC 285 co-headliner, Grasso, who has since snatched the number one rank in the official pound-for-pound rankings, took the back of the former bantamweight title chaser in the fourth round, and immediately locked up a stunning face crank submission, forcing an eventual tap.

Honorable Mentions –

Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane – UFC 285 – Guillotine Choke – (2 votes)

Snapping his hiatus from the Octagon in his sole appearance this year back in March — atop the card in which Grasso struck gold, Jones minted himself as the new heavyweight champion, locking up a quickfire guillotine submission win over Ciryl Gane in the pair’s vacant title affair.

Yet to return to the Octagon in the time since, Jones, who made his long-anticipated heavyweight debut — turned in a spectacular stoppage win over former interim champion, Gane with just over a minute elapsed in the opening frame, handing the Frenchman his first-ever stoppage loss in mixed martial arts — courtesy of a nasty locking guillotine choke win.

Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal – UFC 285 – Standing Rear-Naked Choke (2 votes)

Ending the year with a monumental rear-naked choke win over fan-favorite, Stephen Thompson earlier this month, unbeaten Uzbekistan finisher, Shavkat Rakhmonov turned in a standing variation of the choke on the same card as Jones’ and Grasso’s win at UFC 285 — laying waste to Geoff Neal in a testy clash.

Davey Grant vs. Raphael Assuncao – UFC Las Vegas – Inverted Triangle Choke – (2 votes)

Rallying in tremendous fashion with one of the most dynamic submissions of the year, British contender, Davey Grant may have felt hard done by with his submission effort falling short on many list’s — with a technical stoppage of Brazilian veteran, Raphael Assuncao earning him an honorable mention and two votes from the LowKick MMA staff.

Full List Of The LowKick MMA 2023 Submission Of The Year Votes:

  • Ross Markey: Jon Jones
  • Ian Shutts: Alexa Grasso
  • Murdo Todd: Jon Jones
  • Craig Pekios: Alexa Grasso
  • Makoa Goble: Davey Grant
  • Tony King: Alexa Grasso
  • Red Pill MMA: Shavkat Rakhmonov
  • Michael Owens: Shavkat Rakhmonov
  • Danny Podolsky: Davey Grant

Submission of the Year – LowKick MMA 2022 Awards

Submission of the YearFrom all the awards hosted by LowKickMMA this annum, the accolade for Submission of the Year saw the most separate nominations – with a stunning eight separate fight-ending stoppages receiving votes. However, its former UFC strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade who scoops the award for her most recent victory.  Submission of the Year – Jessica Andrade […]

Submission of the Year

From all the awards hosted by LowKickMMA this annum, the accolade for Submission of the Year saw the most separate nominations – with a stunning eight separate fight-ending stoppages receiving votes.

However, its former UFC strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade who scoops the award for her most recent victory. 

Submission of the Year – Jessica Andrade vs. Amanda Lemos – Standing arm-triangle (3 votes)

Headlining UFC Vegas 52 back in April against compatriot, Amanda Lemos in a return to her former strawweight stomping grounds, Jessica Andrade turned in her second straight victory, stopping her fellow Brazil native with an innovative finish.

Locking up at the Octagon fence in the opening frame, Andrade out-muscled and maneuvered Lemos at the fence, securing a standing arm-triangle submission win. With the victory, Andrade has positioned herself in the running for title challengers at both flyweight and strawweight in the near future.

Honorable Mentions

Stevie Ray vs. Anthony Pettis – Scottish Twister (1 vote)

Turning in both a contender for Submission of the Year as well as arguably the most high-profile win of his professional career, UFC alum, Stevie Ray secured a spectacular, and rare Twister submission win over former WEC and UFC champion, Anthony Pettis.

Twice defeating the Roufusport staple this alum under the banner of the PFL (Professional Fighters League), Ray notched his ninth career submission win with his Twister effort over Pettis in Atlanta. 

Ilia Topuria vs. Bryce Mitchell – Arm-triangle (1 vote) 

Handing featherweight grappler his first professional loss on the main card of UFC 282 earlier this month, German-born division contender, Ilia Topuria maintained his undefeated record, with a blistering arm-triangle submission win over the TUF alum. Following the brutal, one-sided defeat, Mitchell admitted he was weighing up his future in mixed martial arts entirely.

Paul Craig vs. Nikita Krylov – Triangle (2 votes)

Enjoyed a mixed bag of success throughout the year in his attempt to climb the light heavyweight rankings, Scottish grappler, Paul Craig submitted former FNG champion, Nikita Krylov with a first-round triangle win at UFC London in March. The victory landed Craig a post-fight Performance of the Night bonus. 

Angela Lee vs. Stamp Fairtex – Rear-naked choke (1 vote)

Successfully defending her ONE Championship atomweight championship back in March before eventually dropping a strawweight title challenge loss to Xiong Jing Nan, Angela Lee handed a second-round rear-naked choke to kickboxing talent, Stamp Fairtex. A supreme grappler, Vancouver grappler, Lee matched with striking ace, Fairtex – successfully defending her throne with a rear-naked choke stoppage.  

Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje – Rear-naked choke (1 vote)

Former UFC lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira successfully prevented former interim titleholder, Justin Gaethje from obtaining gold in May of this year, however, was unable to exit Phoenix, Arizona with his title.

Missing weight for their UFC 274 title headliner in the ‘Copper State’, Oliveira survived a pair of knockdowns against the Arizonian, to rally and land a knockdown of his own, before securing a rear-naked choke victory. 

Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka – Rear-naked choke (2 votes)

Sans hooks, Czech Republic native, Jiri Prochazka managed to land himself the undisputed light heavyweight title at UFC 275 back in June with a buzzer-beating fifth round rear-naked choke win over Glover Teixeira.

Prochazka, who was losing their Singapore fight on all three judges’ scorecards – attempting to win the fifth round and secure a potential draw on the night, managed to take Minas Gerais veteran, Teixeira’s back, and without hooks to boot, submitted the Brazilian to win light heavyweight gold.

Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makahchev – Arm-triangle (1 vote)

Seeing his division-best winning run halted back in October on ‘Fight Island’, Charles Oliveira failed in his bid to become a two-time lightweight titleholder, suffering a rather one-sided second round arm-triangle submission loss to American Kickboxing Academy staple, Islam Makhachev. 

Suffering a knockdown in the second frame, Oliveira was jumped upon by Makhachev, who quickly assumed half guard and then stepped across, locking up an arm-triangle submission win.

Frank Bonada: Stevie Ray

Ross Markey: Charles Oliveira

Murdo Todd: Paul Craig

Patrick Post: Jiri Prochazka

Ian Shutts: Paul Craig

Brady Ordway Briggs: Islam Makhachev

Marc Ray: Jessica Andrade

Ollie Brockett: Jessica Andrade

Keelin McNamara: Ilia Topuria

Tim Wheaton: Angela Lee

Arshan Dhillon: Jiri Prochazka

Alex Lough: Jessica Andrade

Must-See Video: Paddy Pimblett Scores a Sub of the Year Nominee Over Conrad Hayes at Cage Warriors 68

Today’s lesson: You should never judge a fighter by his name. Example A: Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett. Believe it or not, Paddy Pimblett is not the name of some off-brand Irish cereal cartoon, nor is he a pre-adolescent street urchin with rickets and a pegleg whose only wish for Christmas this year is to get adopted by a rich old man. No, Paddy Pimblett is actually a 6-1 MMA fighter from Liverpool, England who scored a submission of the year nominee at Cage Warriors 68 last Saturday via a flying triangle armbar over Conrad Hayes. So, there’s that.

Honestly, calling Paddy’s sub a “flying triangle” doesn’t really do it justice. While defending a high single leg takedown against the cage midway through the first round, Pimblett more or less Spidermans up the cage while working a kimura/trapping Hayes’ arm. Then, while hanging in mid-air, Pimblett starts throwing some Silva vs. Lutter-esque elbows from the top before locking up a triangle. After Hayes tries to slam himself out of the sub in vain, Pimblett uses the opportunity to throw a few more vicious elbows before adding an armbar on top of it all to force the tap.

Just a masterful display of improvisation on Pimblett’s part, and a much-needed win for MMA fighters named Paddy in general. Not since Paddy O’Furniture knocked out Mark Coleman in a Denny’s parking lot after UFC 12 has such a victory been scored. But what do you think, Nation? Sub of the Year-worthy or not?

–J. Jones

Today’s lesson: You should never judge a fighter by his name. Example A: Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett. Believe it or not, Paddy Pimblett is not the name of some off-brand Irish cereal cartoon, nor is he a pre-adolescent street urchin with rickets and a pegleg whose only wish for Christmas this year is to get adopted by a rich old man. No, Paddy Pimblett is actually a 6-1 MMA fighter from Liverpool, England who scored a submission of the year nominee at Cage Warriors 68 last Saturday via a flying triangle armbar over Conrad Hayes. So, there’s that.

Honestly, calling Paddy’s sub a “flying triangle” doesn’t really do it justice. While defending a high single leg takedown against the cage midway through the first round, Pimblett more or less Spidermans up the cage while working a kimura/trapping Hayes’ arm. Then, while hanging in mid-air, Pimblett starts throwing some Silva vs. Lutter-esque elbows from the top before locking up a triangle. After Hayes tries to slam himself out of the sub in vain, Pimblett uses the opportunity to throw a few more vicious elbows before adding an armbar on top of it all to force the tap.

Just a masterful display of improvisation on Pimblett’s part, and a much-needed win for MMA fighters named Paddy in general. Not since Paddy O’Furniture knocked out Mark Coleman in a Denny’s parking lot after UFC 12 has such a victory been scored. But what do you think, Nation? Sub of the Year-worthy or not?

–J. Jones

[VIDEO] Coty Shannon Scores an Omo-Peruvian-Necktwister, Retroactively Wins 2012 Potato Award for Greatest Submission

(Fight via The Nemesis Fighting Alliance)

Here at CagePotato, we make mistakes. Often. Perhaps more often than not.

Case in point: Last year, we declared Wolfgang Janssen’s flying reverse triangle to be the greatest submission of 2012 at the 2012 Potato Awards. We comp’d a limosine and hotel room for Janssen so he could be present at the ceremony, we bestowed him with a Golden Potato, the highest known award in MMA. Hell, we even picked up the tab for the high class Vietnamese prostitute that Danga insisted Wolfgang “try out.” Weird guy, that Danga.

Long story short, it appears that we might have made a mistake in bestowing Janssen with the aforementioned award. While there’s no denying how incredible his submission was, the video above, which was recorded in June of 2012 but has only recently gone viral, features an arguably more impressive one. Who are we kidding? It’s one of the most technically improbable submissions we’ve ever seen — some bastard offspring of a Omoplata, Twister, Rear Naked Choke and Peruvian Necktie that simply needs to be seen to be believed.

After a back and forth battle, Coty Shannon is taken down by Brian Borden midway through the second round (around the 4:20 mark). Shannon quickly locks up an omoplata, but rather than use it to set up a traditional sweep, he just sort of grabs Borden around the neck with his forearms and starts cranking. Too busy trying to defend the omoplata, Borden is left hung out to dry and goes limp almost instantly.


(Fight via The Nemesis Fighting Alliance)

Here at CagePotato, we make mistakes. Often. Perhaps more often than not.

Case in point: Last year, we declared Wolfgang Janssen’s flying reverse triangle to be the greatest submission of 2012 at the 2012 Potato Awards. We comp’d a limosine and hotel room for Janssen so he could be present at the ceremony, we bestowed him with a Golden Potato, the highest known award in MMA. Hell, we even picked up the tab for the high class Vietnamese prostitute that Danga insisted Wolfgang “try out.” Weird guy, that Danga.

Long story short, it appears that we might have made a mistake in bestowing Janssen with the aforementioned award. While there’s no denying how incredible his submission was, the video above, which was recorded in June of 2012 but has only recently gone viral, features an arguably more impressive one. Who are we kidding? It’s one of the most technically improbable submissions we’ve ever seen — some bastard offspring of a Omoplata, Twister, Rear Naked Choke and Peruvian Necktie that simply needs to be seen to be believed.

After a back and forth battle, Coty Shannon is taken down by Brian Borden midway through the second round (around the 4:20 mark). Shannon quickly locks up an omoplata, but rather than use it to set up a traditional sweep, he just sort of grabs Borden around the neck with his forearms and starts cranking. Too busy trying to defend the omoplata, Borden is left hung out to dry and goes limp almost instantly.

While perhaps a more competent referee would have noticed that Borden was out for a good six seconds before this one did, we’re going to assume that in this case, the third man in the cage was too busy trying to understand what the hell he was witnessing, hence his delayed reaction. It’s not a great excuse, but if a veteran UFC official like Steve Mazzagatti still can’t recognize a guillotine choke until one fighter is standing over the other’s lifeless body, we guess everyone is entitled to the occasional screw up.

So congratulations, Coty, your retroactive award for the greatest submission of 2012 is in the mail, along with a complimentary CP t-shirt. Let us know when you receive them!

–J. Jones

[VIDEO] This Flying Armbar is the Greatest Submission of 2013 So Far, Bar None.

We may be only a few months into 2013, but the list of potential Potato Award recipients is quickly filling up like it’s going out of style. We already have a strong frontrunner for “Flop of the Year” in Nick “Turbo Tax” Capes, and just last week, we introduced the greatest knockout of the year, “The Skywalker Crotchcracker” (a.k.a The Spinning Harold Howard, The McSleepytime Falcon Roundhouse, or The Over-the-Shoulder-Boulder-Holder).

And although the fight in which Olivier Fontaine was able to pull of this absolutely insane flying armbar actually went down in early February, the video of said armbar has only recently started making its way around the MMA blogosphere. We’ve thrown a full video of the fight above, but skip to the 1:28 mark to see just what we’re talking about.

After Sofian Benchohra manages to snatch up one of Fontaine’s legs on an attempted body kick, you assume Fontaine is seconds away from an always demoralizing leg sweep. WRONG. Fontaine counters with a beautiful spinning, flying armbar — almost a somersault armbar, if you will — that Gina Carano couldn’t pull off with all of the stunt coordinators in the world in her corner. After a brief struggle, Fontaine secures the tap shortly thereafter. Good night, my anus.

We may be only a few months into 2013, but the list of potential Potato Award recipients is quickly filling up like it’s going out of style. We already have a strong frontrunner for “Flop of the Year” in Nick “Turbo Tax” Capes, and just last week, we introduced the greatest knockout of the year, “The Skywalker Crotchcracker” (a.k.a The Spinning Harold Howard, The McSleepytime Falcon Roundhouse, or The Over-the-Shoulder-Boulder-Holder).

And although the fight in which Olivier Fontaine was able to pull of this absolutely insane flying armbar actually went down in early February, the video of said armbar has only recently started making its way around the MMA blogosphere. We’ve thrown a full video of the fight above, but skip to the 1:28 mark to see just what we’re talking about.

After Sofian Benchohra manages to snatch up one of Fontaine’s legs on an attempted body kick, you assume Fontaine is seconds away from an always demoralizing leg sweep. WRONG. Fontaine counters with a beautiful spinning, flying armbar — almost a somersault armbar, if you will — that Gina Carano couldn’t pull off with all of the stunt coordinators in the world in her corner. After a brief struggle, Fontaine secures the tap shortly thereafter. Good night, my anus.

The win improved Fontaine’s record to 4-2 and accounted for Benchohra’s 6th loss in his last 7 contests. Thankfully for Benchohra, next to no one will ever find out about this particularly depressing loss.

Shit.

J. Jones