The 411 MMA Top 5 10.10.11: Week 75 – Best MMA Submission Artists

Posted by Larry Csonka on 10.10.2011

From Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira and Shinya Aoki to Kazushi Sakuraba, Jacare Souza, Bas Rutten and more, the 411 staff ranks their top 5 MMA Submission Artists of all time! Check out the full article to see who made their lists 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. It's highly non-official and final, like WAMMA.


And now…



TOP ALL TIME MMA SUBMISSION ARTISTS!


Robert Winfree
Disclaimer: For me a submission fighter isn't just a fighter with a good submission base, but a fighter who when I see them fight I expect to see a submission victory. Also this will be based purely on MMA fights, so accolades outside of MMA competition wont carry too much weight here.

HM: Jeremy Horn - A veteran of over 100 fights and the only man to submit Chuck Liddell.
HM: Bas Rutten - Bas actually has more submission victories than KO/TKO and used a variety of techniques to get them.


5. Ken Shamrock - In his prime, Ken Shamrock was a beast of a fighter. He specialized in leg locks and heel hooks, and was relentless once he got one. When watching Shamrock fight you knew he was going to attack his opponents with submissions until he got one. His chokes were nothing to sneeze at either. Ken gave his best fighting years for more money wrestling in the then WWF, and the abuse to his knees took a lot away from his explosiveness. Still one of the best submission grapplers ever.

4. Demian Maia - Quite possibly most talented pure grappler in the UFC. Demian's first five UFC fights were all won by submission. On top or off of his back Demian was active and able to pounce on the smallest opening provided by his adversaries. People seem to have clued into that, and now when a fight with him goes to the ground his opponents seem to just hold still, unwilling to risk too much movement and give Maia an opening to pounce on. Maia is so good that Frank Mir said he didn't consider himself a black belt anymore after rolling with Maia.

3. Shinya Aoki - While I'm not a fan of Aoki, he is a submission wizard. He's used a greater variety of submission techniques to get victories than most people even know about. Achilles locks, neck cranks, hammerlocks, armbars, pretty much anything and everything. He'd be higher on the list if he had the same success fighting in the States and didn't seem to require his multicolored-pants-of-doom to be really successful.

2. Kazushi Sakuraba - Sakuraba was a catch wrestling master, scrambling and transitioning with ease while fighting on the ground. He essentially out grappled most of the Gracie family, which is saying something. His fights in the really early days of PRIDE with Vernon "Tiger" White and Carlos Newton remain grappling master classes and should definitely be looked up.

1. Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira - Very few fighters are as dynamic off their back as Big Nog, his transitions were fluid and beautiful. If he couldn't get the submission he was aiming for he could easily transition into another. One he used during his prime in PRIDE was switching from an omoplata to a triangle choke. He also has excellent chokes, his anaconda choke remains very good and he almost caught Randy Couture with it in their fight, and he choked out Tim Sylvia with a guillotine. Overall, he is the best submission based fighter in the sports history.

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Jonathan Solomon
HM: Demian Maia - He makes submission holds look so pretty. I'll never forget his awesome takedown of Chael Sonnen directly into the mount and then transitioning to a triangle.


5. Royce Gracie - I'm reaching into the history bag for this pick because Royce Gracie was the original submission artist in MMA. Hell, the whole point of the UFC's creation was to showcase Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to an American audience that was absolutely clueless as to what they were witnessing. Granted, most of Gracie's MMA opposition were in no way skilled enough to be considered great opposition. Regardless, he was a pioneer and because he was the first, will always hold a special place in the memories of fans.

4. Josh Barnett - There are not too many American MMA fighters who you would match up with the best submission artists around the world. One of those men is Josh Barnett who has been able to implement his catch wrestling style to near perfection throughout his career. Add in his frame (over six-feet tall and over 260 pounds) and his suffocating grappling abilities break the will of most opponents. It's to the point where once he lands in top control, the chances he can be bucked off or lose the position are slim. Plus, he has been successful with a wide array of holds whether it be chokes, armlocks or leg locks. He is without a doubt the most dangerous American heavyweight MMA fighter in terms of submission grappling.

3. Fabricio Werdum - Speaking of heavyweight fighters, enter the man who many consider the best grappler of them all, Vai Cavalo. Werdum's skills on the ground appear so smooth and effortless, you have to wonder how many hours of practice over the years it took for him to become so good. Recently, Werdum made history by handing Fedor Emelianenko his first decisive loss, courtesy of a triangle armbar submission. Surprisingly, Werdum was able to fool Fedor into going to the mat with him and all he needed was a split second before locking in the winning submission hold. The two-time Abu Dhabi submission wrestling champion is one of the handful of heavyweight fighters in the sport who nobody wants to go to the ground with.

2. Shinya Aoki - I will put Aoki here because even though everyone in the building knows what he plans to do, few men can actually stop him. Of his 34 professional fights, he has submitted 18 men. Remember when he had Eddie Alvarez in a heel hook just 90 seconds into their fight? Alvarez couldn't tell the ref to stop it quick enough. Or how about the champion vs. champion fight (DREAM vs. Sengoku) with Mizuto Hirota where Aoki broke his arm with a hammerlock. If we're talking bone breaks, then you have to bring up the fight with Keith Wisniewski when Aoki broke his arm with a standing armlock. Tatsuya Kawajiri, Fancy Pants Beerbohm, Joachim Hansen, Clay French and others all fell victim to his grappling skill. Plus, he's had some of the best variety of submission holds ranging from a mount gogoplata (video below) to a flying triangle choke. Sick.



1. Jacare Souza - Of all the MMA fighters considered submission specialists, I will throw Souza's name at the top of the list when talking about the most explosive athletes. Despite his recent defeat, his grappling is routinely able to lead to destructive finishes for his opponents. Practically from any position, Souza can maneuver to a spot where he is in full control. Unlike a good number of top Brazilian grapplers, Souza is also able to use is background in Judo combined with wrestling skills to control his fights.

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Stewart Lange
5. Matt Hughes - Matt Hughes makes my list due to the sheer impact of the submission wins he has. He beat GSP with an armbar to reclaim his welterweight championship. He choked out Frank Trigg twice in two absolute classic fights. He renounced himself and retired Ricardo Almeida with what can only be described as a bully maneuver- a one armed headlock. There are far more skilled submission artists out there, but there has always been something about what Matt Hughes can do.

4. BJ Penn - Much the same as Matt Hughes, BJ Penn has some of the most seminal submissions in UFC history. From his rear naked choke on Hughes at UFC 46 to his iconic choke on a bloodied and beaten Joe Stevenson to retain his Lightweight title, Penn is one of the most exciting submission fighters in the whole of MMA.

3. Demian Maia - When Demian Maia submitted Chael Sonnen with one of the most fluid pieces of offensive grappling seen in a UFC cage, a lot of the MMA media jumped on him being "unbeatable" once the fight hit the mat. While we now know this isn't necessarily true, he is undoubtedly the standard bearer for submission grappling in the game today.

2. Shinya Aoki - Have you seen this mans highlight reel? Holy hell it is impressive. When you have a nickname (Tobikan Judan) that translates as "master of flying submissions", you have obviously quite the reputation. Like many Japanese fighters, he has a very poor record overseas, but those of us that follow Dream and Japanese MMA have been treated to some of the most breathtaking submission wrestling ever seen.

1. Kazushi Sakuraba - I find it really hard to place anyone other than the "Gracie Hunter" at number one. Displaying skill across ALL of the mat based disciplines, Sakuraba was an absolute dream (no pun intended) at the height of Japanese MMA's popularity. Why Pride felt the need to essentially feed him to the likes of Mirko Cro-Cop and Wanderlei Silva to pad their records at the expense of his own is beyond me, but there you have it. One of my favorite Pride era fighters and epic submission grapplers, Sakuraba tops this list in a heartbeat.

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Jon Butterfield
HM: Roger Gracie - First off, Roger Gracie is likely the best submission fighter in the world, let alone MMA – but let's make a distinction here: there are the top 5 submission fighters, and the top 5 submission fighters making waves in MMA. I'm going with the latter with this list, and that's why Roger doesn't make the cut. Yet.
HM: Frank Mir - It feels bizarre that Mir only gets an honorable mention on this list, but that's the level of talent we're dealing with in MMA. After all, there are few better examples of an armbar than the one Mir beat Tim Sylvia with, and few better kneebars than the one Brock Lesnar suffered. Mir's form and technique is so good on holds like that, escape is nigh on impossible – and unless his opponent's want a broken limb, they better damn well tap!


5. Fedor Emelianenko - Fedor Emelianenko makes my list simply for being so incredibly efficient with submissions even though that was never his forte. Commonly regarded as a Sambo fighter, Emelianenko's submission skills are actually derived from Judo – the building blocks of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – rather than BJJ itself. What that means is that if Fedor Emelianenko can get on top of an opponent, far more often than not, the fight is over in seconds.

4. Demian Maia - Maia hasn't picked up a submission win since 2009, but the reason for that is his skills are so highly-lauded that nobody dare play the ground game with him! Even Anderson Silva ran for the hills when Maia tried to draw him into a grappling game, and that says everything. Chael Sonnen could certainly do nothing to repel Maia in their last fight, such are the skills the Brazilian possesses, but then again... that's not so surprising!

3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira isn't the most dynamic submission fighter on this list by any means, but he is one of the most consistently dangerous. Much like upcoming opponent Frank Mir, it might take Nogueira a while to get a hold on an opponent, but once he's isolated a limb or grasped a choke, the fight is over. Fortunately, Nogueira's incredible chin has been able to buy him that time in the past, and hence, Big Nog now holds 20 submission wins!

2. Kazushi Sakuraba - Sakuraba's exploits are the stuff of legend, and while he's clearly fought for far too long (Saku getting subbed by Jason "Mayhem" Miller was incredibly sad), that doesn't diminish his achievements. Destroying Renzo and Royler Gracie with kimuras and beating Royce not once, but twice has ensured there's little doubt left that Sakuraba could, at one point, grapple with literally anyone in the world. With 19 submission from 26 wins, Saku would have one of the best percentage of submission wins in the world – had he not also failed to win 19 times – but that's what happens when you face the best there is.

1. Shinya Aoki - Shinya Aoki gets a tough time because he's only 1-1 in the United States and insists on fighting mediocre characters in his homeland. It's a real shame Aoki doesn't seem to want to fight for Zuffa, but don't let that blind you as to how good this guy really is. The loss against Melendez last year hurt Aoki's stock, as did the ridiculous affair with K-1 fighter Yuichiro Nagashima, but Aoki has built a career on his unbelievable submission skills and very little else. I can't think of any other big time MMA fighter with the sick ground skills of Aoki – if I was going to compile a highlight of amazing mat wizadry, I'd always look at Shinya first. He's pretty much demonstrated all of them.

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Wyatt Beougher
HM: Bas Rutten - As Robert noted, Bas actually has more submission victories than wins by (T)KO. Plus, El Guapo should be on every positive top five list, every week.
HM: Josh Barnett - Nothing flashy about Barnett's style, but he takes his opponent's will and then makes them tap. If he could consistently pass drug tests, he'd be higher on this list.
HM: Ken Shamrock - Like Barnett, if Shamrock hadn't sullied his legacy, he'd be higher on the list, but his admissions of steroid use and horrible record over the past decade far outweigh his amazing victories in his prime.


5. Demian Maia - Maia is probably the best pure submission fighter in the UFC, and he would likely be higher if fights started on the mat instead of on the feet; however, as his fight with Nate Marquardt showed, fights start on the fight, and in spite of his improvement, Maia is still pretty much a one-trick pony. Throw in the fact that his last three wins have been by decision and not submission, and I think #5 is the perfect spot for him.

4. Fabricio Werdum - Owner of what will likely go down as the most shocking submission in history with his victory over then-unbeatable Fedor Emelianenko, Werdum, like Maia, suffers from having an insanely good ground game and an underdeveloped everything else. Which, in a discussion about submission fighters, shouldn't necessarily be the end of the world; however, Werdum showed in his second fight with Overeem that he's not particularly adept at getting opponents to the ground and into position for submissions. If Werdum (or Maia) possessed Aoki's ability to impose their will on an opponent en route to a submission victory instead of having to be content with where the fight is taking place, they'd be higher on the list.



3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Frank Mir talked smack about Nogueira's BJJ while they were coaching against one another on The Ultimate Fighter, saying it was "simpler" than Mir's. Well, Mir's earned 53% of his victories by submission, compared to Big Nog's nearly 61%. Combined with the fact that Nog has 2 1/2 times as many submission victories as Mir, and maybe simpler is better. Nog's unflagging heart and iron chin have played a role in his success and popularity, but his awesome submission skills should be mentioned just as often.

2. Shinya Aoki - Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely LOATHE Aoki and his cheater pants, but I still respect that going into every fight, his opponent knows exactly what he's going to do, and he's still got 19 submission victories in spite of that. This is the guy Maia should be aspiring to be like.

1. Kazushi Sakuraba - This guy, THIS GUY RIGHT HERE, he beat every important Gracie in the bunch, and the Gracies were, and are, renowned worldwide for their submission skills.(/Jon Gruden analysis) In all seriousness, Sakuraba, much like Barnett, employed a catch wrestling style to great success (to further the Mir/Nog debate, a full 73% of Saku's victories came via submission). Now if only he'd retire before reaching Shamrock-like levels of legacy tarnishing.

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YOUR TURN!

List your Top Five for this week's topic on the comment section using the following format:

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