The Most Successful Submissions in the UFC

How often are fights ended by submission in professional MMA fights?

In 2015 the UFC Heavyweight Title was won via guillotine choke when Fabricio Werdum dethroned reigning champion Cain Velsaquez.

Watching the UFC, in between fights I Googled submission statistics in UFC and MMA and noted some significant trends.

A) Approximately 20% of UFC fights are finished by submission on average each year.

B) Of these submissions the MAJORITY of tapouts come from 5 core submissions:

“Here are the total of 2015’s submission finishes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and their ratio:”

•     Rear Naked Choke 36%
•     Guillotines 22%
•     Armbars 10%
•     Arm Triangle Choke 6%
•     Triangles 4%

Let’s take a look at the Top 5 UFC submissions

1) Rear Naked Choke

Jon Jones vs Rampage Jackson – Rear Naked Choke

2) Guillotines

0:03 / 0:41

Cain Velasquez Vs Fabricio Werdum

3) Armbars

Anthony Pettis vs Ben Henderson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFV41EHMVb4

4) Arm Triangle Choke

McDonald submits Kanehara

5) Triangle

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

* The remaining 20% of the total submission count include these techniques:

Kimura, D’Arce Choke, Heel Hook, Knee Bar, Anaconda Choke and then very rare submissions like straight ankle locks, neck cranks, omoplata (only 1 successful in UFC history!) & gogoplatas etc.

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