Best submissions in UFC 2023: 10 tap outs in octagon that showed made fans go cr*zy

A year of UFC just doesn’t feel complete without a recap of the best UFC submissions. 2023 sure is a tough year to choose from, given how many bone-chilling, jaw-dropping submissions the mixed martial artists produced.

Even the hardcore fans had to pick their jaws off the floor after watching some of the submissions in 2023. The UFC octagon has produced some brutal moments in its history. However, it is safe to say, that this year, fight fans witnessed submissions that could change the trajectory of careers.

Which were the best submissions of the UFC in 2023? Here is a list of some of the best UFC submissions of 2023.

Honorable mentions for the best submissions of UFC for 2023

The list compiled below could not include many devastating submissions that happened across 42 events of the UFC in 2023. Here are the submission victories that could not get into the top 10.

Jon Jones‘ guillotine choke submission of Ciryl Gane, Brendan Allen‘s rear-naked choke submission of Andre Muniz, and Rinat Fakhretdinov‘s guillotine choke submission of Kevin Lee looked effortless.

Erin Blachfield‘s rear-naked choke submission of Jessica Andrade, Diego Lopes‘ armbar submission of Gavin Tucker and Muhammad Mokaev‘s arm triangle submission of Tim Elliot remained impressive for the fight fans. Said Nurmagomedov‘s submission over Muin Gafurov and Mayra Bueno Silva‘s kneebar of Lina Lansberg could not make it to the top 10.

Best Submissions 10: Shavkat Rakhmonov’s bulldog choke submission of Geoff Neal

Shavkat Rakhmonov faced An overw*ight Geoff Neal on the main card of UFC 285. After two hard rounds of trading blows, Rakhmonov sank in a standing bulldog choke submission on Neal in the third round.

Rakhmonov became the first fighter to submit Neal in the UFC with the finish. He would later go on to submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 296. At UFC 296, he would become the first fighter to submit Thompson in professional MMA.

Best Submissions 9: Alexander Volkov’s Ezekiel choke submission of Tai Tuivasa

Alexander Volkov faced Tai Tuivasa on the main card of UFC 293. After using his superior range and striking to full effect in the first round, Volkov employed his grappling to submit Tuivasa with a rare Ezekiel choke in the second round.

The victory made it three in a row for Volkov, whereas the loss was Tuivasa’s third in a row after a five-fight finish streak in the division. The submission victory was Volkov’s first in the UFC.

Best Submissions 8: Ariane Lipski’s armbar submission of Casey O’Neill

Ariane Lipski faced Casey O’Neill in the opening bout of the preliminary card of UFC 296. After a first round that saw both trading shots, Lipski dropped O’Neill with a beautiful counter right hand and followed with ground and pound. On the ground, Lipsiki opportunistically grabs O’Neill’s right arm and forces a tap.

Lipski has now won three in a row after moving down to flyweight. The previously undefeated O’Neill has now lost two in a row. Lipski also earned a Performance bonus for her victory.

Best Submissions 7: Karine Silva’s kneebar submission of Ketlen Souza

Karine Silva faced Ketlen Souza in the main card of UFC Vegas 74. In the fight, Karine Silva goes for a surprise kneebar attempt on Souza while in the top position to get a quick tap out of Souza.

With the victory, Silva kept her 100 percent finish record in the UFC intact. She would go on to defeat Maryna Moroz in her next bout via guillotine choke. The Dana White Contender Series alumnus has finished all her bouts in the UFC via submission.

Best Submissions 6: Kennedy Nzechukwu’s ninja choke submission of Devin Clark

Kennedy Nzechukwu faced Devin Clark in the preliminary card of UFC 288. In the second round of the bout, Clark went for a single-leg takedown, and Nzechukwu immediately grabbed the neck and put Clark out cold in a few seconds.

The submission was Nzechukwu’s first and still to date only submission victory in his professional MMA career. Moreover, Nzechukwu has only a single submission loss on his record. It was on his UFC debut against Paul Craig.

Best Submission 5: Alexa Grasso’s face crank submission of Valentina Shevchenko

Alexa Grasso faced Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 285 for the flyweight title. Grasso took Shevchenko’s back opportunistically when Shevchenko went for a spinning kick. With the body triangle locked, Grasso cranked Shevchenko’s head and forced the tap in the fourth round.

Shevchenko led on all scorecards when the referee stopped the fight. Moreover, Grasso was a 6 to 1 underdog in the fight. The two faced each other in the main event of Noche UFC in the rematch. The fight ended in a split draw. A trilogy is in the works in the division.

Best Submission 4: Yair Rodriguez’s triangle choke submission of Josh Emmet

Yair Rodriguez faced Josh Emmet in the co-main event of UFC 284 for the interim featherweight championship. Emmet hurt Rodriguez in the first round. However, in the second round, Rodriguez destroyed Emmet with body kicks. Emmet took Rodriguez down but the Mexican cunningly sank in a triangle choke after he showed an attempt for an arm bar.

The submission loss was the first for Emmet in his professional MMA career. Rodriguez went on to challenge Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290 but was unsuccessful. Emmet loses the next bout to Ilia Topuria but would bounce back with a ‘Knockout of the Year’ candidate against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 296.

Best Submission 3: Gabriel Bonfim’s arm-in mounted guillotine choke submission on Mounir Lazzez

Gabriel Bonfim made his UFC debut against Mounir Lazzez in the opening bout of the preliminary card of UFC 283. In the fight, Bonfim tapped out Lazzez in under 50 seconds of the first round. Bonfim would catch Lazzez whilst standing and go to the ground in the mounted position.

The arm-in guillotine would force a tap out of Lazzez in what was his final fight in the UFC. Bonfim would go on to win his subsequent bout via guillotine too. However, he lost his undefeated record to Nicholas Dalby via TKO in his latest bout.

Best Submission 2: Davey Grant’s inverted triangle choke submission on Raphael Assuncao

Davey Grant fought Raphael Assuncao in the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Yan vs Dvalishvili. After two close rounds that Assuncao won on the judge’s scorecard, Grant pulls out a come-from-behind submission victory over Assuncao with an inverted triangle choke.

Assuncao would retire after the bout. Grant caught Assuncao in the inverted triangle after Assuncao shot Grant after being knocked down by a spinning back elbow. The inverted triangle choke submission is one of the rarest submissions in MMA.

Best Submission 1:Da’Mon Blackshear twister submission on Jose Johnson

Da’Mon Blackshear fought Jose Johnson in the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 78. Blackshear sank and submitted Johnson with a twister in the very first round. It was only the third twister submission in UFC history.

The Korean Zombie was the first to win with a twister submission. Bryce Mitchell was the second with a submission over Matt Sayles. Blackshear’s submission topped the list due to its rare proclivity.

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