Ten Best – The Best Submissions of 2007

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By Thomas Gerbasi

From the subtle to the spectacular, submission victories in the UFC in 2007 had something for every fan, and for some of the game’s elite fighters, like BJ Penn, the ability to finish fights in this fashion has been a key to a career full of success. For others, like Marcus Davis, learning the art of submitting opponents has been the difference between a life in the UFC and a life struggling on the small show circuit. Read on for ten of this year’s best finishes by submission.

10 – UFC Fight Night – April 5 – Joe Stevenson WSub1 Melvin Guillard
Melvin Guillard is able to put opponents to sleep with his fists. Joe Stevenson can do the same thing with submissions, and in this clash of rising lightweight stars, it was the grappler, Stevenson, who emerged victorious, as he threw the MMA equivalent of a perfect game, rocking Guillard with a left hand, and then using ‘The Young Assassin’s subsequent aggressiveness against him as he sunk in a guillotine choke that produced a tap out just 27 seconds into the fight. It was Stevenson’s second straight win by guillotine, and maybe a nickname change from ‘Joe Daddy’ to ‘The Executioner’ wouldn’t be entirely out of the question if he keeps this up.

9 – TUF6 Finale – December 8 - Matt Arroyo Wsub1 John Kolosci
Matt Arroyo took his share of criticism from fight fans for opting out of the TUF6 semifinals due to injury, but when the Floridian got his shot in the big show, all was forgotten as he had Kolosci in constant trouble due to his extensive ground game, eventually submitting his fellow cast mate with an armbar.

8 – UFC 68 – March 3 - Martin Kampmann WSub1 Drew McFedries
The beautiful thing about MMA is that when Plan B doesn’t work, you can always go to Plan B. Martin Kampmann, a noted kickboxer, was getting his head handed to him by knockout artist Drew McFedries before he took his foe to the ground and showed the other side of his game by submitting the Iowan with a sleep-inducing arm triangle.

7 – The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale – June 23 – BJ Penn WSub2 Jens Pulver
Let’s just call this an accumulative honor, since Penn showed off a number of impressive jiu-jitsu moves throughout his rematch with Pulver, with only ‘Lil Evil’s submission defense and heart keeping him in the fight as long as he was. By the second round though, Penn’s ground wizardry had taken its toll on Pulver, and the Iowan was finally forced to succumb to a rear naked choke.

6 – UFC 71 – May 26 - Din Thomas WSub2 Jeremy Stephens
Want to show a casual fan what a solid submission game can do, put this fight on. Thomas was facing an aggressive and hungry youngster in the debuting Stephens, and despite his unyielding will to win, Thomas had an answer for everything and transitioned beautifully from position to position, almost submitting his opponent with a rear naked choke in the first round. In the second though, Thomas finished the job with an armbar that was in so tight even a slam by Stephens couldn’t break it. Stephens’ arm wasn’t going to be as lucky, but referee John McCarthy wisely halted the bout. Said Thomas, “He probably didn’t tap, but I was gonna break his arm and take it home with me.”

5 – UFC 79 – December 29 – Georges St-Pierre WSub2 Matt Hughes
For sheer dominance of a world-class opponent, look no further than GSP’s lopsided victory over Hughes, who had no answers whatsoever for the Canadian standout. Finally, after a clinic that included takedowns, throws, and positional control, St-Pierre closed the door on Hughes with an armbar, the same maneuver that Hughes used to beat GSP in their first meeting in 2004.

4 - UFC 75 – September 8 - Marcus Davis WSub1 Paul Taylor
In a fight that lived up to its billing, Davis’ nine fight winning streak was in jeopardy early when he was dropped by a kick to the head from the UK native, who kept the pressure on for much of the opening frame. But suddenly, the former pro boxer turned the tide, and he didn’t do it with a haymaker, he did it with an armbar, continuing his evolution as an MMA fighter in his most impressive win of the year.

3 - TUF6 Finale – December 8 – Roger Huerta WSub3 Clay Guida
Down on all three scorecards entering the final round, Roger Huerta turned the tables on Clay Guida in an amazing show of heart as well as skill, hurting his foe first with a knee and then finishing him off with an improbable rear naked choke that made the fans at The Palms in Las Vegas erupt.

2 – UFC 73 – July 7 - Chris Lytle WSub1 Jason Gilliam
At this level, if you have stellar technique and can get a well-trained mixed martial artist to make enough of a mistake where you can capitalize and submit him, it’s safe to say that you’re a pretty good fighter. Lock your opponent up in two submission holds at once? That’s off the charts. But that’s what Lytle did in his highly impressive win over Gilliam, catching his foe in a triangle and an armlock to get the tap out and the submission of the night bonus in one of those sequences you have to see to believe.

1 – UFC 76 – September 22 – Forrest Griffin WSub3 Mauricio Rua
Sometimes the best submission of the year isn’t one that is memorable for spectacular technique or the ‘wow’ factor, but one that will live on in the minds of fight fans for what it meant at that particular moment in time. When Forrest Griffin closed the show on the heavily favored PRIDE import ‘Shogun’ Rua with a rear naked choke in the final minute, it was an exclamation mark on a result no one saw coming, especially Rua, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Not a bad win for a guy once seen as just a one-dimensional brawler.

Honorable Mention - Anderson Silva WSub2 Travis Lutter, Frank Mir WSub1 Antoni Hardonk, Akihiro Gono WSub2 Tamdan McCrory, Roman Mitichyan WSub1 Dorian Price, Mac Danzig WSub1 Tommy Speer, Kenny Florian WSub1 Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Rich Clementi WSub1 Melvin Guillard.
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