My 5 favourite MMA submission specialists

In the world of Mixed Martial Arts all fans love a knockout. The power of a thunderous uppercut, the finesse of a well timed high kick, or the devastation caused by knees and elbows. I have however always been more fond of a slick submission. The ground game is the facet of MMA which differentiates it from most other mainstream combat sports and for this blog I am going to examine the skills of my favourite submission masters.

1. Demian Maia - This former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) World Champion and Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Submission Wrestling Champion is currently fighting in the UFC. He is arguably the best submission fighter currently fighting in MMA. A second degree black belt in BJJ he has earned himself a repectable 12-2 MMA record with 8 of those 12 wins coming by submission. Demian has posted notable wins against UFC Middleweight contender Chael Sonnen who he beat by triangle choke after a skillful transition from mount in the first round, and also Jason MacDonald whom he beat by rear naked choke in the third round after an exciting battle of grappling prowess. Demian has recently had his stand up skills exposed by both Nate Marquart and Anderson Silva however he is always exciting to watch and although he is unlikely to ever gain the UFC title he remains one of the stand out figters in the Middleweight division.

Dustin Hazelett - Dustin Hazelett is almost certainly the most exciting submission fighter currently in MMA. He has an MMA record of 12-5 with 9 of those wins by submission. Another black belt and exponent of BJJ Dustin has an extremely attacking and flamboyant grappling style which has landed him 2 Submission of the Night awards in the UFC and a Submisiion of the year award from MMA website Sherdog for his win over Josh Burkman with a slick step-over arm bar. At only 24 years old Hazelett is likely to be a star in the welterweight division in future years.

BJ Penn - The last UFC fighter on the list. BJ Penn is one of the stand out fighters in the world today and although not solely a submission figter he definately has a ground game to be feared by anyone in the Lightweight Division. It took Penn only three years to achieve his BJJ black belt and he was also the first non Brazilian to win the BJJ World Championship. His MMA record is an understated 15-6 due to him regularly fighting higher than his natural weight class against world class opponents. In his own lightweight class on his day he is nearly unbeatable. Out of Penns 15 wins, 6 have come by way of submission usually due to softenning up opponents with crisp boxing on the feet followed by ground and pound before snapping on a submission for the finish.

Shinya Aoki - A fighter under the DREAM banner in Japan. Aoki is another world class grappler at lightweight. He holds both a black belt in BJJ and also Judo which make him deadly on the ground. Like Hazelett he is an extremly attacking ground specialist and goes for submissions aggressively. A former ADCC submission WRestling World Champion he is one of the few fighters currently in the world to have proffesional MMa wins by way of a gogoplata submission (amazingly he has won this way twice). Aoki has an MMA record of 23-5 with 14 submissions. A truely gifted fighter

Fedor Emelianenko - Like BJ Penn a fighter who is not solely a submission fighter but a master of both the stand up and ground game. His inclusion on my list is due to the way he uses the submission game. As a heavyweight, thoughout his career Fedor has had to fight many opponents much heavier and stronger than himself. Regularly in these fights he has fallen back on his submission game to skillfully beat opponents rather thantry to match them for strength. The win by arm bar against Hong-Man Choi is a prime example of this. Unlike the rest of this list Fedor gets his submission skills from both Sambo and Judo. He has an amazing MMA record of 32-1-1 with 16 wins coming by submission.

These five athletes not only rank as fantastic submission experts but are also at the top of the MMA ladder. They prove time and time again that submissions can be just as exciting and as devastating as a KO.