Athletes
The Submissions | 2025 Half-Year Awards
There Were Some Epic UFC Submissions In The First Half Of 2025. Take A Look At Which Five Submissions Stole Our Attention
The highly unofficial half-year awards season continues with the best submissions of the first half of 2025 and how we saw them on fight night…
1 – Merab Dvalishvili over Sean O'Malley
Merab Dvalishvili is an absolute monster. “The Machine” pushed his winning streak to 13 straight to close out UFC 316, submitting Sean O’Malley in the late stages of the third round to add to his incredible run of success.
He controlled the opening two frames, getting the better of the striking exchanges while wrestling well and pushing a torrid pace. Late in the third, after Dvalishvili dragged O’Malley back to the canvas, he laced his arms around the neck, tightened his squeeze, and forced the former champion to tap.
That’s consecutive successful title defenses in the first half of 2025 for the 34-year-old Georgian champion. He’s won 13 straight overall and continues to improve each time out, transforming himself into an unstoppable force inside the Octagon.
2 – Jean Silva over Bryce Mitchell
Jean Silva picked up his second win in eight weeks on Saturday night at UFC 314, outworking and ultimately submitting Bryce Mitchell in their featherweight grudge match.
Mitchell came out landing well, but Silva was never bothered by the activity coming his way, finishing the opening round by chasing submissions that had the American in trouble. In the second, Silva marched Mitchell down with bravado, finally putting him on the canvas with a right hand and then clamping onto a deep choke as Mitchell worked to his feet in search of a takedown.
That’s now two wins this year and five wins in as many starts in the UFC, with all of those victories coming inside the distance. The Fighting Nerds representative is blazing a trail up the featherweight ranks, and appears poised to face off with someone in the Top 10 next time out.
3 – Kayla Harrison over Julianna Pena
Kayla Harrison is your new UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist dominated Julianna Pena, putting her on the canvas in the first round and controlling her for the majority of the frame, with Pena losing a point after landing a pair of illegal upkicks while Harrison was grounded. In the second, Harrison worked her way inside and dragged to get to the canvas again, looking for an arm triangle choke along the fence before switching off to a kimura late in the round and forcing Pena to tap.
That’s three straight wins and a world title for Harrison, who joined Henry Cejudo as the only athletes to earn Olympic gold and a UFC title. The 34-year-old is without question one of the best combat athletes of all time, and she’ll get the opportunity to become immortal later this year in a showdown with returning former two-division world champion Amanda Nunes, who joined Harrison in the Octagon for a hug and a face-off following the contest.
4 – Ignacio Bahamondes over Jalin Turner
Ignacio Baamonde collected the biggest win of his UFC career, punching his ticket to the Top 15 with a first-round submission win over Jalin Turner.
Expected to be a striking contest between two of the longest fighters in the lightweight division, Bahamondes initiated the clinch, but ended up on his back as the two men spilled to the canvas. It wasn’t an issue though, as the Valle Flow Striking standout quickly worked back to full guard and then attacked a triangle choke, shifting his angle to sink the hold in deeper and draw out the tap.
That’s now three straight wins, three straight finishes, and victories in six of seven for the ascending 27-year-old. Welterweight champ Belal Muhammad called “Nacho” the best striker in the UFC, but he showed on Saturday that he’s got slick skills on the ground too.
5 – Shauna Bannon over Puja Tomar
Shauna Bannon snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, getting dropped by a head kick only to clamp onto an armbar and submit Puja Tomar.
Bannon got the better of the exchanges in the opening round, using her kicks to control the range and land with impact a time or two. In the second, Tomar went high with her left leg and caught Bannon out, sending her to the canvas. After gathering her wits, Bannon threw her legs up and attacked the armbar, with Tomar struggling to defend, resulting in “Mama B” collecting the finish.
This was an impressive show of composure and poise from Bannon, who looked primed to be finished when she got dropped. Instead, she worked to a finish and collected her second straight UFC triumph, moving to 7-1 overall with the victory.
