With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from October 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Guido Cannetti def. Randy Costa at UFC Fight Night 211
Guido Cannetti (10-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) caught fellow bantamweight Randy Costa (6-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) with a rear-naked choke, but his squeeze was so tight that he didn’t worry about hooking in his legs.
In the span of just 64 seconds, Costa was trapped in a fight-ending choke from the the 42-year-old Cannetti, who was a sizable underdog but pulled off the surprising result.
Age is nothing but a number 😤
42-year-old @NinjaCannetti with the statement submission in tonight's opening bout! #UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/sR0aGRFsCx
— UFC (@ufc) October 1, 2022
Nominee: Brendan Allen def. Krzysztof Jotko at UFC Fight Night 211
In what was a bout largely spent on the ground battling for position and searching for submission attempts, Brendan Allen (20-5 MMA, 8-2 UFC) flashed his brilliant BJJ skills against Krzysztof Jotko (24-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC).
Allen smoothly transitioned to the back to lock in a rear-naked choke late in the first round that Jotko couldn’t escape, forcing the Polish fighter to tap and bring an end to the middleweight bout.
BRENDAN ALLEN GETS IT DONE IN ROUND 1!
[ @BrendanAllenMMA | #UFCVegas61 ] pic.twitter.com/tzk9NcgBd1
— UFC (@ufc) October 1, 2022
Nominee: Muhammad Mokaev def. Malcolm Gordon at UFC 280
Muhammad Mokaev (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) remained undefeated in his flyweight fight with Malcolm Gordon (14-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC), but it didn’t come without adversity.
Gordon started gaining momentum midway through the fight by winning some grappling exchanges against Mokaev , but the 22-year-old’s mat skills proved to be too much when he scored an armbar of Gordon with just 34 seconds remaining in the fight.
WHAT A FINISH FOR @MUHAMMADMOKAEV 🤯 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/oDPdpUBb1V
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022
Nominee: Islam Makhachev def. Charles Oliveira at UFC 280
[autotag]Islam Makhachev (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) claimed the vacant lightweight title when he beat Charles Oliveira (33-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) at his own game in a historic matchup.
Makhachev became the 155-pound champion and extended his winning streak to 11 fights when he largely dominated Oliveira before securing an arm-triangle choke in the second round. Oliveira came into the fight with the most finishes in UFC history, but this time it was Makhachev who didn’t need the judges.
ISLAM MAKHACHEV IS THE UNDISPUTED LW CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! 🏆
[ @MakhachevMMA | #UFC280 ] pic.twitter.com/aJzHlS6fxF
— UFC (@ufc) October 22, 2022
Nominee: Tresean Gore def. Josh Fremd at UFC Fight Night 213
Tresean Gore (4-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) notched his first octagon win in devastating fashion at the expense of Josh Fremd (9-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC).
Gore choked Fremd out cold in the second round of their middleweight bout. As Fremd was working for a single-leg takedown, Gore latched onto his neck with a guillotine choke and put on a tight squeeze with a particularly violent-looking finish.
A WILD SUBMISSION WIN 🤯 #UFCVegas63 pic.twitter.com/osMIP2E5Ea
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 29, 2022
The winner
The winner: Islam Makhachev
There is a new lightweight champion, and his name is Makhachev, who dropped and submitted former champion Oliveira to win the vacant 155-pound title.
Clearly the crowd favorite, Makhachev was first to walk into the environment, filled to the brink with electricity. The boos rained down for Oliveira, who even appeared to have an altercation with someone in the crowd on the way to the cage.
After Bruce Buffer’s introductions, Makhachev was first to connect. A big left hand put Oliveira on his back foot. They reset and clinched. Oliveira pulled guard and shot for a triangle. Makhachev snuck out and they rose back to the feet.
Once on the feet again, Makhachev hip-tossed Oliveira to the canvas right in front of his corner, much to the delight of coaches Khabib Nurmagomedov and Javier Mendez. The round ended with Makhachev on top of Oliveira, who was bloodied.
In the second round, Makhachev dropped Oliveira with a punch, hopped into mount, and squeezed. An arm-triangle choke resulted in a quick tap and a new champion.
