Best UFC/MMA submissions of 2011
by Patrick L. Stumberg on Dec 21, 2011 7:30 PM EST
in UFC Bonuses and Awards
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Snap, crackle, pop.
The world of combat sports has continued to push the boundaries of shutting down opponents' biological processes in its eternal quest to make everyone watching incredibly uncomfortable.
As such, we’ve been witnesses to a plethora of creative and painful submissions over the past 12 months. But which one was the best of 2011 in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and mixed martial arts (MMA) overall?
Follow me after the jump for some of this year's top candidates and to cast your vote for 2011's "Submission of the Year:"
Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete, Bellator 38
As mentioned before, Bellator Fighting Championships has this strange knack for producing amazing moments. In the opening round of its light heavyweight tournament, they decided to go retro. After being put on his back and stuck in side control, Hale tossed his legs over Fekete’s back and, after a strange sequence, latched onto an inverted triangle, sending viewers’ nostalgia glands into full gear as Fekete fell over unconscious and Toby Imada silently applauded.
Chan Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia, UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis
Photo via UFC.com
After his teeth-rattling head kick loss to George Roop, the "Korean Zombie" vowed to fight smarter in the future, and looked to utilize his brutal grappling attack against old foe Leonard Garcia. After winning the first round (though not in the sort of horrendously one-sided fashion that is necessary to win a round against Garcia), Jung managed to take his opponent’s back, and after losing a hook, decided to forgo the whole "choking" thing and just do bad things to his spinal column instead. Jung locked up a twister in the waning seconds of the round, forcing Garcia to submit at 4:59 and making Eddie Bravo the happiest man in the room.
Vinny Magalhaes vs. Viktor Nemkov, M-1 Challenge XXV: Zavurov vs. Enomoto
Ever since being cut from the UFC, Vinny Magalhaes has been on an absolute tear, claiming gold at ADCC and winning seven of his past eight fights. Against Nemkov, a Sambo specialist fighting out of the legendary Red Devil Sport Club, Magalhaes had to dig deep after an early submissions onslaught failed. In the third round of their tilt, which had the M-1 light heavyweight title on the line, the fresher Nemkov dropped the Ultimate Fighter (TUF) veteran hard, but the latter managed to secure a takedown, move to mount, and lock in a ridiculous gogoplata neck crank that likely had Shinya Aoki taking notes.
Pat Curran vs. Luis Palomino, Bellator 46
You’ve got to hand it to Pat Curran for being culturally sensitive. Taking on Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino in the opening round of Bellator’s featherweight Summer Series tournament, Curran looked better than ever at his new weight, and after getting Palomino to turtle, locked up a dramatically-appropriate Peruvian Necktie, kicking off a spectacular tournament run that was capped off by his incredible head kick knockout of Marlon Sandro.
Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin, UFC 129
Photo via nationalpostsports.files.wordpress.com
While stream issues left viewers at home unable to watch the first minute or so of their UFC 129 clash, the picture popped in just in time to see the lanky Garza getting his legs pulverized by Jabouin’s kicks, and despite his massive height and reach advantages, he seemed doomed to a long, painful night. Eschewing the traditional countering tactic of standing really far away and letting the short guy pummel the air for a while, Garza moved into the clinch and jumped into a flying triangle, foreshadowing an amazing night of finishes and sending Jabouin down to bantamweight to lick his wounds.
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, UFC 140
Photo via UFC.com
You know what? You all watched this one. You know what happened. I am nowhere NEAR intoxicated enough to write any more about this fight without breaking down sobbing, and I don’t want to have to call the Geek Squad to fix the salty tear damage on my keyboard.
Overall, it’s been a good year for connoisseurs of bending things in the wrong direction. If any contortion aficionados out there have a candidate we missed, let us know in the comments and make sure to check back tomorrow as we evaluate "Fighter of the Year."
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Mir subs Nog takes number 1,2,3 fuck it just let him have every spot ever thought of ever at any time about subs. Yep, that covers it.
by p123 on Dec 21, 2011 7:34 PM EST via mobile reply actions
i voted other
Tito’s guillotine over Bader was really awesome and I totally marked out for that, no shame in it, we were all tito fans once in a lifetime and that moment was beautiful. Maybe not the most technical sub but very damn impressive all things considered
brandao’s arm bar over bermudez was crazy sick too.
notable mentions would be daley vs woodley: daley going for the gogo was the last thing i expected to see in a lifetime. And then hunt went for an armbar over rothwell and that was it. I have now seen it all in mma!
pride never die.
silva is a can crusher, try and deny it after wacthing this
Hunt's armbar ttempt
Was the feel good moment of the century.
Execution will Reform Me
by DMT187 on Dec 21, 2011 7:47 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
it made me glad of being a fan
it’s like watching a corner kick that sinks right into a goal or a a 55yrd field goal, truly magical. The internets would have imploded if hunt actually got it
pride never die.
silva is a can crusher, try and deny it after wacthing this
My vote is the twister
Never been done before, that gets extra pointage in my book.
I live in America! Land of the coward, home of the slave. Watch that TV, go to that football game, that circus, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and other mainstream media are not owned by large corporations, they are always honest and fair and they never lie to you. Whatever you do don't read history books, don't study the constitution, do everything you can possibly do to be happy in life. Just don't ever get involved in your government, big brother will take care of you. Your elected officials always do what's in your best interest, there is no corruption in our government, good little sheep, just make yourself happy, just entertain yourself, the government is only here to entertain you and take care of you and feed you and make you happy, don't you worry your little head over world affairs.
by O damn he got caught on Dec 21, 2011 7:45 PM EST reply actions
absolutely
"It’s Mark Pavelich calling from the Maximum Fighting Championship,
I’ve just received notice that Drew Fickett or you, I don’t care which one of you fuckers did it, has signed a contract to fight in Strikeforce this fucking weekend. I’m going to get on a fucking plane soon and go where you’re at and choke you the fuck out. I’m telling you right now, I’ve had enough of your fucking shit. First of all, I’ve sent you the fucking pictures and secondly, I placed Drew Fickett in a fight fucking months ago and five weeks prior to my main event of my fucking fight card. You’re going to give me a fucking call tomorrow or I swear I’ll get on a fucking plane and go right where you’re at right now. You’re pissing me off, I’ve been nothing but professional to you motherfuckers and you’re doing this kind of bullshit, alright? Call me back, I’m fucking pissed."
by Swedish Chef smerdy herdy verdy on Dec 21, 2011 8:37 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed 100%
Just because Mir broke Nog’s arm doesn’t mean it was anything special. Mir should be in 4th place on this lost at best.
This is the most loneliest sport in the world. Fighting is nothing like no other - Tito
Mir smashing nogs humerus
"Dutiful servant in the church of Jon Bones Jones. All mercy to his MMA holyness. To you heathens i give my favorite scripture : And as he fell the dragon, the world stood still and those who did not believe now trembled in his presence. The Book of Bones -16 : 1"
by wooly shambler on Dec 21, 2011 7:58 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Yeah some of the others were insane
but the way that arm looked and the fact Mir was not looking great up to that point. Gotta give it to Frankie for sure.
"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
- James M. Barrie
why cant we watch any ufck submissions??
"I started out with a hundred tapes, if you wasn't down then get the fuck out my face" - South Park Mexican
A tie between Mir and the twister. I picked twister because of its rarity, but Mir’s sub was just awesome because of who he subbed.
I should have known that Karate only works in the movies, but I was blinded by my man love for Steven Seagal’s overrated piss drinking love child. Jon Jones is the GOAT. Don’t mess with the ShivanTiger.
idk..
This should be broken up into 2 awards…
That twister should win for slickness in the technique category…. Mir wins the brutality bracket hands down!
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw
by Fat Daddy Doobs on Dec 21, 2011 8:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I voted for the flying triangle
flying triangles FUCKING RULE
Pro Sig record
10-5
1 Month sig bet with 10th Degree Whitebelt that DJ does NOT win the FLW tournament
Diego Brandao's armbar at the finale was pretty notable.
"You should study pokemon to get stronger." -Kazushi Sakuraba
First off .... Hello to everyone this is my first post.
It has to be Mir just because of the pure fact that Nog had never been submitted and for his first submission loss he gets his arm ripped off !! Can’t say I like Mir but it was very decent.
Though the Zombie’s twister was AWESOME too!!
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by DetroitDrew1980 on Dec 22, 2011 12:26 AM EST up reply actions
Had to go with the Zombie
The Twister is one of the coolest submission moves there is. And I would never vote Frank Mir for anything that involved flattery
Mir
Gotta respect anyone who can do that to Nog. I don’t think some people realize what an accomplishment it is not only to submit Nog, but to do it so quickly and definitively.
Mir steals it late
Jung and Magalhaes may have pulled off the better submissions but the context of Mir’s submission is what won it for him. Being able to submit a BJJ legend such as Nogueira is an extraordinary accomplishment in it’s own right but breaking his arm in the process is just craziness. Especially since he was rocked pretty badly moments before this. When it happened the entire place went crazy.
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