The 411 MMA Top 5 01.15.10: The Best Submissions Of 2009

Posted by Larry Csonka on 01.15.2010

From BJ Penn submitting Kenny Florian with a rear naked choke at UFC 101 to Toby Imada’s inverted triangle on Jorge Masvidal at Bellator 5 and even Shinya Aoki breaking Mizuto Hirota's arm to close out the year, the 411 MMA writers decide the best submissions of 2009! Check out the full column to see which Submissions made the list and why!



Welcome:
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5! What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people's list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It's highly non-official and final, like WAMMA. What we are going to do over the next few weeks is run the column twice a week to crown our best of 2009. From best and worst fight to best fighter and KO of the year, the staff will come together to share out best. Thanks for joining us, and lets get down to work.


And now…

THE BEST SUBMISSIONS OF 2009!


Larry Csonka

5. Mackens Sermerzier vs. Wagnney Fabiano – WEC 43 - Going into WEC 43, most felt that if things went to the round, Mackens Sermerzier could not contend with the highly respected Wagnney Fabiano. I think Fabiano thought that too, because he was more surprised that we were when Sermerzier locked in a tight triangle for the victory.

4. Seth Dikun vs. Rolando Perez – WEC 41 - WEC 41 was all about the big Brown/Faber rematch, and that match did deliver the goods and a great effort from Faber, but Seth Dikun added to the event with his submission of Perez. I love submissions that come out of nowhere, and the "jumping" variety always rule. Dikun leaping up and wrapping Perez up as he is slammed down, only to hold on for the eventual submission was just beautiful.

3. Shane Del Rosario vs. Brandon Cash – "Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Evangelista" - A little love for the heavyweights in the submission category this year, at least from me. At the Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Evangelista, Shane Del Rosario took on Brandon Cash, and Cash was beating the piss out of Del Rosario and looked to have the fight won. But Del Rosario stayed composed, escaped and eventually locked in a sweet omoplota for the win. Chalk one up for the heavyweights.

2. Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen - UFC 95 - Demian Maia is a sickeningly smooth dude when it comes to putting on a submission. Some downplay this submission because it just seemed so simple, but that is really the beauty. Suplex, mount, triangle and tap. That shit was simply gorgeous and make me love the sport.

1. Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal - Bellator 5 - I think that for most people, the award was already handed out when Bellator 5 was over. While other submissions were discussed through out the year, none got more hype or press than Toby Imada's inverted triangle of greatness on Jorge Masvidal. There is video below, never fear, but if I could name the coolest thing t come out of Bellator's first year, this would easily be it.

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Samer Kadi

5. Sakuraba takes a beating and wins via kneebar - By all accounts, Kazushi Sakuraba should not be fighting anymore. The man has taken way too much punishment throughout his career, but one thing you can never question with Sakuraba is his heart. In a fight against Croatian kick boxer Zelg Galesic, Sakuraba rolled for a kneebar. As he couldn't finish it, Galesic rained down hammer fists that frankly should have stopped the bout. Despite looking all but done, Sakuraba somehow managed to hyperextend the leg and force the tap out.

4. Shinya Aoki breaks Hirota's arm - This was a late addition to the list as this fight was officially one of the last MMA bouts of 2009, and boy what a way to end the year. Aoki immediately took Hirota down and proceeded to lock him in a hammerlock (!). Hirota refused to tap so all Aoki did was crank up the hold, then moved into mount while maintaining the hold and twisting Hirota's arm into an insane angle. Hirota's arm broke, Aoki flipped him off and ran to the back.

3. Imanari's omoplata/choke combo - Never has such a boring fighter owned such a fantastic highlight reel. Despite being one of the most frustrating fighters to watch, Masakazu Imanari is the holder of some of the greatest submission victories in MMA. In a recent fight with Justin Cruz, Imanari locked in an omoplata shoulder lock. As Cruz fought on, Imanari was able to control his body and grabbed Cruz in a weird neck crank with the omoplata STILL LOCKED IN. If you can't visualize the move, think of Chris Benoit's crippler crossface, I'm not kidding. In case you still can't, here's a gif:



2. Demian Maia's submits Chael Sonnen - While not as flashy as the previous submission, Demian's Maia triangle choke against Chael Sonnen was one of the smoothest I've ever seen. In one ridiculously fluid sequence, Maia suplexed Sonnen right into full mount, where he transitioned into a triangle for the tapout. Sure Nate Marquardt may have erased it from his memory, but it was truly an unforgettable submission in the Brazilian's career.

1. Toby Imada's inverted triangle - Really I still can't comprehend how they got to that position in the first place, or how Toby Imada thought about the move to begin with, but this is hands down the submission of the year. As they engaged in a weird scramble, Jorge Masvidal attempted to stand up with Imada's legs around his shoulders in an upside down position. Then out of nowhere, Imada locked in a sick inverted triangle that sent Masvidal to sleep.

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Daniel Bonnizzio

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tom Lawlor vs. CB Dolloway - UFC 100 - He made CB go to sleep on the BIGGEST card of the year and earned the night's first special award. Go you Filthy Mauler you.

Terry Etim vs. Justin Buccholz - UFC 99 - A picture perfect D'arce choke. Beautiful.


5. Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota - FiELDS Dynamite!! 2009 - In grappling, we have a few sayings about tapping out. "Respect the tap" and "Tap or Snap" are only a few. In this case, Hirota didn't respect the tap enough, so Aoki snapped. Plain and simple. There was no way for Hirota to get out of the hammerlock-thing Aoki had on him and I was cringing on my couch while watching, so I couldn't imagine the pain he was feeling. Next time, just tap because now, your arm is MESSED UP.

4. Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joe Warren - DREAM.11 - Not impressive because of its technical prowess, not impressive because of its snapping HOLY CRAP DID THAT JUST HAPPEN-ness, and not impressive because it came out of nowhere. It's impressive because it totally derailed the Joe Warren-train and catapulted Bibano into the top spot for the DREAM title. Warren had looked great and was the favorite. Bibiano didn't like that. Bibiano make Joe tap.

3. Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen - UFC 95 - This is the definition of grappling. Maia took Sonnen down with a trip/supple lift, mounted, locked in a triangle, then turned over and squeezed. It was fantastic. Smoother than a baby's bottom. If I had 1/10 the grappling ability of Maia I would be happy.

2. Masakazu Imanari vs. Justin Cruz - DEEP Cage Impact - While this is not the most technically proficient submission we've seen this year, the fact was it is a highlight submission. Then again, growing up my favorite wrestler was Chris Benoit, so when I caught a glimpse of this it made my brain go back to 2004 and made me smile. That, and it looks painful as hell.

1. Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal - Bellator 5 - Masvidal was going for a traditional wrestling move known as the backdoor to try and take Toby's back. Toby would have none of that and as soon as Masvidal cleared the arm, Toby triangled and squeezed. The result was the craziest submissions I've seen ever. Not just a reverse triangle. Not just an inverted triangle. A reverse inverted triangle. Yeah, make of it what you can.

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Jonathan Solomon

5. Seth Dikun's Flying Triangle - WEC 41 may have been home to the big Brown/Faber rematch, but a fight between Seth Dikun and Rolando Perez is nearly as memorable. Dikun leaped into the air and locked his legs around Perez's head as they crashed to the mat. Dikun locked the hold in and after about a minute in the hold, Perez was forced to tap out.

4. Shinya Aoki Forces Joachim Hansen to Tap - This DREAM lightweight title fight at DREAM 11 was a frustrating fight as Aoki never stopped trying to take the fight to the ground. Everyone in the building and every viewer knew what he was planning to do. With less than three minutes left in the fight, he was able to take Hansen down and mount him. With about 90 seconds left, he tried for a guillotine choke but Hansen was able to move out of it, but Aoki grabbed hold of his arm. With the clock reaching 30 seconds, Hansen was calmly talking to his corner asking how much time was left. With the clock close to hitting zero, Aoki flipped Hansen over and applied an armbar, forcing Hansen to tap. Aoki won with just seconds on the clock and became the first Japanese DREAM champion.

3. Rick HORROR Story's Arm-Triangle - At UFC 103, Rick Story was stuck in Brian Foster's guard. Story grabbed hold of his head and attempted an arm-triangle. As Foster pulled full closed guard, Joe Rogan said it would be difficult for Story to finish him from the guard because he could not put all of his power in the hold. Well, he was proven wrong. Story locked in the hold despite not having the optimum position and forced Story to tap out.

2. Demian Maia's Triangle - At UFC 95, Maia fought a tough wrestler in Chael Sonnen. Maia finished him with a textbook throw directly into a triangle submission. Watching it in regular motion, it was a thing of beauty as it all appeared to be one fluid motion. The fact that Maia was able to accomplish this string of moves against a strong wrestler is all the more impressive.

1. Toby Imada's Inverted Triangle - Everyone has heard about it and most have seen it by now, but this may be the submission of the decade. Bellator featured what is one of the rarest holds in MMA, if not the rarest, period. Imagine how difficult it must be, while hanging upside down on an opponent's back to be able to choke them out. As far as I know, this was also the first time the inverted triangle had been used in a major MMA organization. For all of those reasons, Toby Imada gets the rightful credit he deserves.

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Jeffrey Harris

5. Shinya Aoki breaks Hirota's arm - Yikes was that nasty. Just a message to fighters. You are not a wussy if you don't tap to a submission. You can and will get a limb broken so you can act super tough. Even Escudero almost made this mistake.

4. Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joe Warren - Man I was seriously pulling for Warren, but man what an impressive sub by Fernandes.

3. Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen - Maia's BJJ looked absolutely jaw-dropping in this fight. I mean Chael Sonnen's big weakness is sub-defense, but still, dang. This lead to Maia ultimately saying now in MMA he doesn't have to hurt his opponents. And well, that didn't work out for him so well in the long run. But holy cow was his win streak in UFC ever impressive.

2. BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian - An RNC? Yes. But you know, BJ Penn was taking a lot of crap before this fight. Yes, he got embarrassed by GSP and got smashed. Yes, the whole grease gate thing was ridiculous and silly, but people seemed to have forgotten how good BJ actually was. People had forgotten how amazing Penn looked after his reinvigoration at lightweight and steamrolling over Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk. His cardio and training were not an issue in any of those fights. And arguably it wasn't an issue for the GSP fight either. BJ Penn is a lightweight fighter, a supremely talented one, and a horribly undersized welterweight. Everyone said that Penn would gas and that's not the case as Florian could only desperately try and hold on for several rounds before BJ Penn took Florian down, took Florian's back and submitted him. Penn proved yet again that he's one of the best ground and submission fighters in the world and that no one can defend his subs and getting their back taken by Penn on the ground. War BJ!

1. Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal - Holy crap in a hat. If this is not the sub of the year I have no idea what is. In the words of Michael Cole, what a maneuver!

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Jeremy Lambert

5. BJ Penn's Rear Naked Choke on Kenny Florian - The thing of beauty in this submission was just how easy Penn made it look against a brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. He took down Florian, easily passed to mount, forced him to give up his back, used heel strikes soften him up, and then sunk in the choke on his first try. There's great jiu-jitsu and then there's BJ Penn's jiu-jitsu.

4. Masakazu Imanari Crossface on Justin Cruz - It's always fun to see wrestling moves work as MMA submissions and that's exactly what happen in Imanari vs. Cruz. Imanari was able to lock in an omaplata and then grab the face of Cruz and crank back much like the submission move Chris Benoit perfected in wrestling. Next we need someone winning via Sharpshooter.

3. Demian Maia's Triangle on Chael Sonnen - This was one of the smoothest transitions to a submission you'll ever see in MMA. Maia was able to execute a beautiful throw from the clinch on a very good wrestler, move right into mount, proceed to lock in the triangle from the top, roll over to his back, and then complete the triangle. It was all in one fluid motion and it was a thing of beauty.

2. Shinya Aoki's Hammerlock on Mizuto Hirota - Wrestling fans know all about the hammerlock where you wrench your opponents arm behind their back. Well Aoki did just that against Hirota showing some very impressive strength in the process. Not only did Aoki get the submission victory but he break the arm of Hirota in the process.

1. Toby Imada's Inverted Triangle on Jorge Masvidal - There is no other choice for the submission of the year. Imada was hanging upside down on the back of Masvidal with a triangle locked in. It was one of the craziest MMA submissions of all time and no matter what Imada goes on to do for the rest of his career, he'll always be known as the guy who pulled off the inverted triangle. He looked like a monkey doing jiu-jitsu.

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AND 411's BEST SUBMISSIONS OF 2009 ARE…

5. BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian: UFC 107 – 5pts.


4. Masakazu Imanari vs. Justin Cruz: DEEP Cage Impact – 6pts.




3. Aoki vs. Hirota: DYNAMITE!! 2009 – 8pts.




2. Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen: UFC 95 – 21pts.




1. Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal: Bellator 5 – 30pts.



THE 2009 AWARDS
* The Best Fight Of 2009: Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone: WEC 43 – 26pts.
* The Worst Fight Of 2009: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites: UFC 97 – 28pts.
* The Best KO Of 2009: Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping: UFC 100 - 26pts.
* The Best Fighter Of 2009: Lyoto Machida – 30pts.
* The Best Submission Of 2009: Toby Imada vs. Jorge Masvidal: Bellator 5 - 30pts.
* The Breakout Fighter Of 2009: To Be Determined
* The Most Disappointing Fighter Of 2009: To Be Determined


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