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Submissions are the soul of MMA. They represent the intellectual dimension of combat — the moment where knowledge, timing, and technical mastery overcome raw athleticism. A knockout ends a fight with force; a submission ends it with understanding. Throughout UFC history, certain submissions have transcended their individual fights to become defining moments in the sport’s narrative: sequences of grappling so technically exquisite, so dramatically timed, or so athletically improbable that they live permanently in the memory of anyone who witnessed them.

10. Royce Gracie Submits Ken Shamrock — UFC 1 (1993)

The submission that started everything. In the semifinal of the first-ever UFC tournament, Royce Gracie faced Ken Shamrock — a legitimate submission wrestling specialist who was nobody’s idea of an easy fight. Royce secured a rear naked choke in under a minute, sending a message that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu could handle elite grapplers, not just strikers. More importantly, the submission established the template for what the UFC was: a contest of techniques, and BJJ had the best ones. Without this submission, there may have been no UFC as we know it.

9. Frank Mir Submits Brock Lesnar — UFC 81 (2008)

Brock Lesnar arrived in the UFC as a 265-pound former WWE champion and amateur wrestling All-American with the kind of physical attributes that made people immediately suggest he could become heavyweight champion. Frank Mir welcomed him to MMA by surviving Lesnar’s early onslaught and then manipulating Lesnar’s wrist into a submission that ended with Lesnar’s arm in an impossible angle and the referee waving off the fight. The submission was a reminder that size and wrestling credentials do not protect you from elite submission grappling — a lesson Lesnar absorbed and used to win the heavyweight championship in a rematch later that year.

8. Fabricio Werdum Submits Fedor Emelianenko — Strikeforce (2010)

Technically this fight was not in the UFC, but its consequences and significance are too large to exclude. Fedor Emelianenko had gone nearly a decade without a loss, winning 28 consecutive fights and defeating virtually every relevant heavyweight on the planet. Fabricio Werdum, a BJJ specialist, caught a charging Fedor in a triangle choke-armbar combination that produced one of the most shocking submissions in MMA history. Fedor tapped. The greatest heavyweight run in MMA history was over — stopped by a submission that demonstrated, once again, that no reputation protects you on the ground.

7. Demian Maia Submits Chael Sonnen — UFC on Fox 7 (2013)

Demian Maia is widely regarded as the greatest pure BJJ practitioner in UFC history, and his submission of Chael Sonnen — one of the best wrestlers in UFC welterweight history — was perhaps the purest expression of his artistry. Maia’s ability to transfer his elite gi-based BJJ to the no-gi MMA environment was demonstrated throughout his career, but the Sonnen finish, where he overwhelmed one of the sport’s best grapplers and finished with a rear naked choke, was his statement performance. The submission was the culmination of a complete game plan, executed flawlessly.

6. B.J. Penn Submits Matt Hughes — UFC 63 (2006)

Matt Hughes was the dominant welterweight champion of his era, a physically powerful wrestler with elite ground-and-pound and championship-level fight intelligence. B.J. Penn was a natural lightweight fighting three weight classes above his best weight. Penn submitted Hughes in the third round with a rear naked choke after a sequence of grappling that showcased what elite BJJ looks like when it is combined with next-level fight IQ. Penn’s performance validated his status as one of the most technically gifted grapplers in UFC history and remains one of the most impressive weight-class-climbing performances the sport has seen.

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza Submits Gegard Mousasi — Strikeforce (2011)

Another Strikeforce moment worth including for its technical brilliance. Jacare Souza, a BJJ world champion, submitted Gegard Mousasi — himself a highly skilled grappler — in a fight where the quality of submission grappling on display was simply unprecedented for MMA. Jacare’s ability to chain submission attempts, transition between positions, and eventually secure a rear naked choke against an elite defensive grappler represented the absolute frontier of submission skill in professional MMA competition at that time.

4. Khabib Nurmagomedov Submits Conor McGregor — UFC 229 (2018)

The most commercially significant submission in UFC history. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor — the two biggest stars in the sport — produced the highest-grossing fight in UFC history, with over 2.4 million PPV purchases. The fight itself was a clinic in wrestling and submission grappling: Khabib took McGregor down, controlled him, worked to the back, and secured a neck crank/rear naked choke combination that left McGregor tapping in the fourth round. The submission was the technical exclamation point on Khabib’s dominant performance and the moment that cemented his legacy as the most dominant lightweight champion in UFC history.

3. Tony Ferguson Submits Kevin Lee — UFC 216 (2017)

Tony Ferguson’s submission of Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight championship was a masterpiece of unorthodox grappling. Ferguson’s style has always defied easy categorization — he uses unconventional submissions, unorthodox entries, and unexpected transitions that his opponents consistently fail to anticipate or defend. The triangle choke he secured against Lee came from a position that most fighters would not have recognized as dangerous, let alone capitalized on. Ferguson’s ability to submit elite fighters with techniques that look improvised — but are in fact deeply drilled — makes his submission game one of the most distinctive in UFC history.

2. Charles Oliveira Submits Justin Gaethje — UFC 274 (2022)

Charles Oliveira entered UFC 274 without the lightweight title after missing weight, but with the chance to reclaim it against Justin Gaethje, one of the most dangerous knockout artists in UFC history. Gaethje dropped Oliveira in the first round and appeared moments away from finishing the fight. What followed was one of the most dramatic reversals in UFC history: Oliveira recovered, survived, and finished the first round. In the second round, he submitted Gaethje with a rear naked choke — going from nearly finished to finishing his opponent. The submission was extraordinary for its context: a fighter who had been near unconscious 10 minutes earlier executed a flawless submission sequence against an elite fighter. It crystallized Oliveira’s identity as the most resilient and technically dangerous submission artist in lightweight history.

1. Royce Gracie Submits Dan Severn — UFC 4 (1994)

Dan Severn was a legitimate wrestling force: an NCAA Division I wrestling All-American, a national champion, and a physically imposing heavyweight who had dominated his way through UFC 4 with his wrestling. He outweighed Royce Gracie by over 50 pounds and had the credentials to neutralize the BJJ game that had been winning Royce his fights. Severn dominated the early portion of the fight, controlling Royce on the ground and appearing to be on his way to winning. Then Royce caught a triangle choke. From what appeared to be a losing position — dominated, outweighed, controlled — Royce used Severn’s own downward pressure to lock in the choke and force the tap.

The submission was not merely technically impressive; it was philosophically significant. It proved that the principles underlying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — leverage, position, technique — could overcome even elite wrestling in a no-rules contest. It validated everything the Gracie family had claimed about their system and helped establish BJJ as the foundational submission art of MMA. No subsequent submission has matched its historical importance to the sport’s development.

Honorable Mentions

The list above could reasonably have included: Matt Serra’s submission of Georges St-Pierre, which briefly interrupted GSP’s era of dominance. Nate Diaz’s rear naked choke of Conor McGregor at UFC 196 — one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history. Ronda Rousey’s armbar of Miesha Tate at UFC 168, which showcased the dominance that made Rousey the sport’s first female superstar. Ryan Hall’s heel hook of B.J. Penn, which brought the modern leg lock game to a mainstream UFC audience in a single visceral moment. Any of these could have made the list. That speaks to how deep the submission art runs in UFC history.