10 Best Current UFC Submission Fighters, Ranked By Skill

Highlights

• Fans love bloody brawls in MMA like UFC 300’s Holloway vs. Gaethje, focusing on striking and violence.
• Control and submissions are crucial in MMA to get quick wins and reduce damage, as seen in top UFC submission fighters.
• Fighters like Sterling, Peña, Ortega, and others showcase diverse submission skills, creating thrilling matches for fans.

When it comes to MMA, fans love to see fighters in bloody brawls. Look no further than UFC 300’s Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje. It wasn’t about wrestling or grappling — the crowd lapped up the striking and violence.

However, purists can’t ever discount how important control and submissions are to MMA. Not only can they help fighters garner quick wins in the clinch or on the mat; they can reduce damage, wear and tear fighters take. With that in mind, here are the UFC’s best submission fighters according to skill level.

10 Aljamain Sterling Grabs The Back Lightning-Quick

The “Funk Master” Is A Dynamic Submission Specialist

Aljamain Sterling’s personality or style in and out of the octagon might not rub everyone the right way. But it’s hard to deny he is an immaculate grappler and submission artist. Sterling came into the UFC with eight wins. Four were by rear-naked choke. In the UFC, he’d beat Takeya Mizugaki in 2015 via an arm-triangle choke and submit Johnny Eduardo with a guillotine choke that same year.

Cody Stamaan was submitted in 2018 by a Suloev stretch. The most famous submission came in a Round 1 rear-naked choke on Cory Sandhagen in 2020. Since then, “Aljo” won and lost the bantamweight belt, moved up to featherweight and beat Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. It leaves fans eager to see him fight Brian Ortega. Sterling has his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) under Matt Serra, setting up a potentially fascinating grappling match against Ortega.

9 Julianna Peña Is An Underrated Grappler

The ‘Venezuelan Vixen’ Wants Gold Back

Julianna Peña has her Purple belt in BJJ. Before coming to The Ultimate Fighter in 2013, Peña beat Raylene Harvey with a rear-naked in her MMA debut; Stephanie Webber with an armbar; and Rachael Swatez with a guillotine. It took Peña some time to finesse her game against the elite in Dana White’s promotion.

But she racked up a rear-naked on Sara McMann in 2021 and did the same to Amanda Nunes at UFC 269 to win bantamweight gold. Nunes won the title back and retired. But Peña has made it clear once she heals, she wants the current champion, Raquel Pennington. She also has plans for if Nunes comes out of retirement, or if new import, Kayla Harrison, wants to grapple with her.

8 Khamzat Chimaev Mauls Opponents

Chimaev’s Submission Game Is Monstrous

Khamzat Chimaev came into the UFC 6-0 with one rear-naked win. But his UFC debut in 2020 saw him make an instant splash with a brabo choke win over John Phillips in the UFC welterweight division. Chimaev out-muscled and bullied other opponents. He’d beat Li Jingliang via rear-naked and Kevin Holland with a brabo.

Chimaev eventually moved to middleweight where he has other submission specialists like Paul Craig and Brendan Allen to deal with. His power might be negated there, but if he can’t lift folks up and ragdoll them, his Brown belt in BJJ, sambo, judo and freestyle wrestling will more than compensate in setting enemies up for submissions.

7 Jailton Almeida Is A Beast On The Ground

“Malhadinho” Uses His Strength To Perfection

Like Sterling, Almeida is an exceptionally strong fighter. He bullied fighters at light heavyweight and heavyweight, using his Black belt in BJJ to perfection. He came into Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 with a 13-2 record, inclusive of six rear-naked chokes and two-arm triangles.

He beat Nasrudin Nasrudinov with a rear-naked to convince White to sign him. Almeida then used to rear-naked to beat Parker Porter, Anton Turkalj and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. He might be a one-trick pony, but when he shoots for takedowns, he usually delivers a decisive win. Almeida is rebuilding after losing to Curtis Blaydes, leaving many thinking he is going to evolve his ground game more.

6 Brian Ortega Has Twisting Submissions

Ortega Combines Speed And Strength

Brian Ortega has a 1st degree BJJ black belt. Most fans would remember him for that iconic guillotine he had that Alexander Volkanovski somehow didn’t tap to. While Ortega would lose that fight, as well as the high-profile Max Holloway scrap, Ortega is revered as a submission specialist in the UFC featherweight division.

He came into the UFC 8-0 with three triangle chokes and one rear-naked. He’d then apply that skill to beat Diego Brandão (triangle), Renato Moicano (guillotine), Cub Swanson (guillotine) and Yair Rodríguez (arm-triangle). The latter proved how deadly Ortega could be off his back, even after getting rocked. He knows how to brilliantly mix offense with defense.

5 Mackenzie Dern Is a Gracie Apprentice

Dern Has BJJ In Her Blood

Mackenzie Dern learned BJJ from her father, Wellington “Megaton” Dias — a legend who honed his trade in the Gracie empire. Dern would take some time to get off the ground, but she did show shades of Ronda Rousey at strawweight. Dern came into the UFC 5-0 with two rear-naked chokes and an armbar under her belt.

She would apply her bigger size cleverly, submitting Amanda Cooper (rear-naked) in her 2018 UFC debut. Dern would beat Hannah Cifers via kneebar, and later Randa Markos and Nina Nunes via armbar. Dern is still refining her wrestling and BJJ. But with so many gold medals from various global tournaments, it’s easy to assume she will get better and challenge for the title someday.

4 Shavkat Rakhmonov Toys With His Submissions

Rakhmonov Mixes In Power And Technique Like A Genius

Shavkat Rakhmonov is very technical and one of the most proficient sambo specialists around. Folks from the Eastern side of the world, especially in Russia and Uzbekistan, consider this martial art the stronger, more effective BJJ. It allows opponents to commit more standing submissions, too.

Before Rakhmonov came into the UFC with his 12-0 record, he had two triangles, two guillotines and a rear-naked under his belt. The rest were TKO finishes. He’d quickly dispense of Alex Oliveira in his 2020 debut via guillotine, put a rear-naked on Michel Prazeres, and slap a guillotine on Neil Magny. Rakhmonov eventually beat Geoff Neal with a standing rear-naked choke and then made Stephen Thompson tap on the ground at UFC 296. Many expect him to become the UFC welterweight champion soon with such a dominant submission game.

3 Islam Makhachev Can Submit Folks At Will

Makhachev Knows Positioning Well

Khabib Nurmagomedov could submit opponents at will, so it makes sense his understudy in Islam Makhachev can, too. Makhachev is another sambo beast, who won the UFC lightweight belt by understanding timing and positioning on the canvas. He came into the UFC 11-0 with an array of arm-triangles, rear-naked and armbar wins. He’d beat Leo Kuntz with a rear-naked in his 2015 debut before applying an armbar to Kajan Johnson in 2018.

Makhachev beat Drew Dober with an arm-triangle and Thiago Moisés with a rear-naked. However, Makhachev’s nastiest submission came with his kimura on Dan Hooker, which almost broke Hooker’s arm. This reiterated how strong Makhachev was for the division. He has the power of a welterweight, which is why he easily grounded Charles Oliveira and arm-triangle’d him to win gold in 2022. Since then, Makhachev is more about striking, but with Dustin Poirier set to challenge him, Nurmagomedov may ask him to go for the safer win on the ground.

2 Charles Oliveira Submits From All Angles

“Do Bronx” Is A Versatile Submission Boss

Charles Oliveira is a Muay Thai and innovative BJJ expert. He has the most submission wins (16) in UFC history, and the second-most submission attempts (44). Oliveira won via rear-naked chokes, anaconda chokes, armbars, guillotines and calf-slicers.

“Do Bronx” is another powerful lightweight, who used his strength smartly at featherweight, too. Lightweight is where he thrives, though. Oliveira displayed it with wins over Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. Previously, he subbed out Kevin Lee, Jim Miller and Clay Guida, making it clear he can handle and tap any kind of MMA fighter. Oliveira somehow didn’t submit Arman Tsarukyan, but he is expected to bounce back quickly and make another lightweight title run.

1 Jon Jones Is A Diverse Submission Titan

“Bones” Knows Many Ways To Tap People

Jon Jones can strike, wrestle and use BJJ like an assassin. While Oliveira has the most submissions, Jones has the scariest ones around. Look no further than his standing guillotine on Lyoto Machida in 2011. He rendered him unconscious and dropped his lifeless body on the ground, leaving many wondering if Machida was dead. It was ice-cold.

Before he became the youngest UFC champion by claiming light heavyweight hold over Maurício Rua, Jones had one submission win via guillotine. He fixed that, beating Ryan Bader via guillotine, Quinton Jackson with a rear-naked, the aforementioned Machida, and Vitor Belfort via keylock. Jones tapered off a bit but reminded audiences how easily he could tap people when he moved up to heavyweight. He bullied Ciryl Gane within a round. Jones quickly jostled him and applied a guillotine, making it look like he was fighting a child to claim the strap.