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View Full Version : Hakuna Maitta: The ten best submissions of 2008



Tony
29-12-2008, 01:37
helaas staan er geen filmpjes bij.. deze ga ik morgen voor jullie zoeken :)




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Tap, nap or snap.
Unlike the knockout, where you can end a fight with one lucky punch, there is no such thing as a lucky submission.
In a world where a few select men aspire to enter a ring of violence, submission fighting is a gentleman’s sport. Intelligence, guile, patience - all of the attributes that make for a great chess player - are also found in today’s ground tacticians.
Only in chess, you don’t have someone punching you in the face as you plot your next move.
Since the 1993 debut of Royce Gracie at the UFC 1 all the way through the UFC debut of Brock Lesnar at UFC 81, the submission has been used as a sort of barometer for talent.
In the summer of 2006, Mark Hunt was 5-1 in PRIDE. A feared heavyweight and winner of the K-1 World Grand Prix, the granite-chinned goliath battered his way into title contention with wins over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva.
Then in the opening round of PRIDE’s 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix, Hunt faced venerable submission fighter Josh “The Babyface Assassin” Barnett and was quickly submitted in round one. He would compete twice more in Japan, losing both times by tapout.
The submission had once again drawn a very distinct line in the sand, separating the mixed martial arts elite from the hard hitting brawlers with a punchers chance.
In short, the submission is what helps define our industry as a sport. There may come a day when MMA striking has reached the technical level of boxing, but until then, submissions separate the men from the boys.
And 2008 had its share of taps.
Like the ten best knockouts of 2008 (http://mmamania.com/2008/12/21/head-shots-the-ten-best-knockouts-of-2008/), trying to find the best submissions was no easy task. I didn’t want to just bring you a list highlight reel subs that had a nation of MMA fans clutching their extremities in sympathy, because there are a lot more than ten of them.
Instead I tried to look at each submission and its significance on not just the fight, but the aftermath it had or may eventually cause.
With that said, I present to you the ten best submissions of 2008.

Heel before Zod: Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos vs. Makoto Takimoto - Sengoku First Battle
Evangelista Santos hadn’t been seen in Japan since his win over Yosuke Nishijima at PRIDE ‘Final Conflict Absolute’ back in 2006 and certainly didn’t want to kick off the inaugural Sengoku event with a loss. Opposing him was Makoto Takimoto who in contrast was riding a two-fight win streak including a huge upset over Murilo Bustamante at Yarennoka!. Cyborg was controlling the stand-up and did a fair amount of damage from the mount. Santos used the opportunity to transition to a leglock but Takimoto - a Judo gold medal winner at the 2000 Olympics - grabbed a leg of his own. From there it was a heart-pounding race against time as each man worked for the submission. The more experienced Santos landed it first, and tweaked his opponent’s Achilles until Takimoto was forced to tap.
Rating: Imaginary guest Talos gives this sub three greedy Argonaut’s out of five. A lot of leglocks are attempted in MMA, but a lot of them are also unsuccessful. Kudos for Santos for the patience and skill to do it right.
Aftermath: Cyborg could have become the go-to guy for Sengoku, but he was unable to repeat his performance when he fell to Siyar Bahadurzada at Sengoku 5 with an injury. Takimoto reappeared at Sengoku 4 and was outpointed by Frank Trigg.
Necks and balances: CB Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor - UFC Fight Night 14
Every now and then a fighter comes along and restores my faith in the balance of the universe. I was a bit surprised that UFC President Dana White went gave Jesse Taylor a shot at UFC fame after he urinated his way through TUF 7 and went on a expletive-filled rampage through the hotels of Las Vegas. Apparently Dana had faith that the right way to bounce “Coco the Monkey” out of the company was by letting him lose on the grand stage. It worked. Instead of having Taylor disappear with people wondering if he was the better fighter, he dispatched runner-up CB Dollaway to banish him at UFC Fight Night 14. Despite being tooled by Amir Sadollah just a month before, “The Doberman” rose to the challenge and finished Taylor with a Peruvian necktie. Besides being an insult to Peruvians everywhere, Dollaway snuck in an illegal knee for good measure.
Rating: Imaginary guest Giovanni Battista Venturi gives this sub four pulsus bisferiens out of five. Taylor expected to dominate with his wrestling and obviously had no idea what to do when the submissions started flying.
Aftermath: Forward progress for Dollaway. He would go on to win his next fight at UFC 92 and is likely to continue fighting under the UFC umbrella as he continues to grow. Taylor rebounded with a huge win over Drew Fickett at Total Combat 32 and isn’t going away quietly.
Tap Smear: Daisuke Nakamura vs. Carlos Valeri - M-1 Challenge 8
U-File Camp’s Daisuke Nakamura already had two flying armbars to his credit, including one at DREAM 5 just three months before this fight. Watching Valeri engage was like watching a teenager knock boots at Camp Crystal Lake. A front kick by Nakamura is caught by Valeri who instinctively tries for the trip. Naka-on-Heaven’s-door goes airborne - and brings Valeri’s arm as carry-on. Valeri was tapping before they hit the ground and this one was in the books in less than 30 seconds.
Rating: Imaginary guest Jessica Cox gives this sub five Ercoupes out of five. Not only did Valeri get his arm cranked during takeoff, he nearly got tea-bagged upon landing.
Aftermath: For a guy who doesn’t know when to quit, he sure tapped pretty fast. Valeri is 0-8 with six submission losses. He may not have reached the end of his career, but you can see it from here.
No arm, no foul: Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry - UFC 84
It’s hard to imagine a routine armbar making the top ten list but Rousimar Palhares’ grappling clinic on Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84 was anything but routine. “Toquinho” ate an oncoming kick without even batting an eyelash and proceeded to slam Salaverry into side control with little effort. From there, Palhares clung to him like a face-sucker from Aliens. A lot of ground tacticians can execute a transition from mount to an armlock, but how often do you see it done from behind? Most of us were expecting the rear naked choke, which is why Palhares is dangerous at any time - and from any position.
Rating: Imaginary guest Jimmy Wang Yu gives this sub four flying guillotines out of five. Salaverry wanted this to be his last match in the UFC. After that drubbing, he’s probably glad that it was.
Aftermath: Palhares was granted a shot at International superstar Dan Henderson. Despite his unanimous decision loss, Toquinho kept fans riveted for three rounds with the constant threat of submission.
Tae Kwon Don’t: Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al Hassan - UFC: Fight Night 16
WEC stud Steve Cantwell was looking to prove he had the chops to hang in a stacked UFC light heavyweight division. His first order of business was to dispose of the unknown but nevertheless intimidating Razak Al Hassan. After some exchanges on the feet, Al Hassan ends up on his back and is quickly passed and mounted. Cantwell dropped some bombs, forcing Al Hassan to throw his arms up in defense. From there Cantwell executes a textbook armbar - and then breaks Al Hassan’s arm like a textbook that is bent backwards until the spine cracks. A nation of horrified viewers are reminded of why there is no shame in tapping.
Rating: Imaginary guest Marvin C. Stone gives this sub five bendy straws out of five. I hear that it was cheaper and less laborious to reassemble Steve Austin than it was Al Hassan. I couldn’t get that image of Tony Burton out of my head when he’s screaming at Rocky to “Throw the damn towel!” Who was in Al Hassan’s corner, Fulgencio Batista?
Aftermath: What could have been a sensational win on national TV was marred not by the grisly submission, but by Cantwell’s heat-of-the-moment confession to getting-off on the damage he inflicted. The event was intended to raise money for serious injuries, and “Robot’s” programming inexplicably crashed to the blue screen of death.
Ezekiel 25:17: Gi Hate Me: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata - DREAM 5
Yoshihiro Akiyama, who could be the baddest MOFO not currently owned by the UFC, probably came into DREAM 5 with some residual cobwebs from the illegal soccer kick he suffered at the hands of Kazuo Misaki at Yarennoka! in 2007. Akiyama was being fed the 2-4 Katsuyori Shibata in hopes of a highlight reel knockout. He didn’t get it, but he still put on a show. After a wild head kick missed for Yoshi, they tied-up and Akiyama took him to the ground. From there he easily transitioned to mount and silenced Shibata-bread for laughing at his silly gi. Now if only Akiyama could have done the same to Kenny Rice for rambling on about college football.
Rating: Imaginary guest Chief Bromden gives this sub four hospital pillows out of five. Akiyama wanted to prove that he could win without greasing up, it’s just a shame he chose to do it against a store-brand tomato can.
Aftermath: Nothing notable. Akiyama would go on to submit can-in-training Masanora Tonooka at DREAM 6 while Shibata-go-to-Moe’s battled Yasuhito Namekawa to a draw at DEEP 38. Yawn.
Barn loser: Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory - UFC 91
How many nerds does it take to screw in a light bulb? I have no idea, but I know how many nerds it takes to put on an exciting MMA match: Two. Dustin Hazelett turned quite a few heads at the TUF 7 finale when he armbarred Josh Burkman back into mediocrity. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt was seen as the superior grappler coming into UFC 91 but the 10-1 Tamdan McCrory was certainly no pushover. Despite protecting his pockets, “The Barn Cat” was unable to protect his arm and McLovin’ pulled off a slick reverse armbar. The move not only garnered him the win, but also “Submission of the Night” - his second straight in 2008.
Rating: Imaginary guest Michael Ironside gives this sub four missing arms out of five. I was convinced McCrory’s arm was coming out of the socket. “See you at da pohty Rikta!”
Aftermath: Beard Science. Hazelett has done a lot to erase the memory of the beatdown he took at the hands of Josh Koscheck at UFC 82 and should look to elevate himself against some of the better welterweights in 2009.

Tony
29-12-2008, 01:37
Geometry, my dear Watson: Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino - UFC Fight Night 13
Nate Diaz did a respectable job in his wins during and after his stint on The Ultimate Fighter Season 5, but there was some initial doubt as to how the brother of Nick would fair against some of the tougher guys at 155lbs, especially since many critics thought he got a lucky break against Manny Gamburyan at the TUF 5 finale when the injured Armenian was forced to tap prematurely. That said, Diaz had a lot to prove when he took on the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Pellegrino. As expected, “Batman” was in control early, delivering some heavy damage from mount and side control. Diaz flirted with a stoppage on several occasions in the first round and was headed for more in the second. That is until Pellegrino picked him up and slammed him - and himself right into a Diaz triangle choke. Diaz knew he had it and threw his hands up in the air in celebration just as Batman tapped.
Rating: Imaginary guest Kali gives this sub four Golden Voyages out of five. Submitting a BJJ black belt is a testament to your grappling skills, and perhaps his as well. Nog would be proud.
Aftermath: Aside from winning the TUF 5 finale, this is without question Nate’s biggest win. That confidence helped him overcome the tough-as-nails Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 15 and I expect to see him in title contention sooner rather than later.
Thank you for not choking: Shinya Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata - DREAM 4
Shinya Aoki already had a gogoplata to his credit when he tapped Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen at PRIDE ‘Shockwave 2006.’ That probably didn’t worry Nagata - or anyone else for that matter - when he was playing it cool in a standard guard. Then out of nowhere, Aoki jacks his own leg like he’s preparing to violate a curbside fire hydrant and Nagata finds himself inadvertently giving Aoki’s ankle a chinblast. It was an amazing accomplishment. Not the submission, rather the fact that Aoki could compete in spandex that looked like a game of Simon with all four buttons lit.
Rating: Imaginary guest Jed Cooper gives this sub five out of five sandbags. The now 18-3 Aoki once again proved that the constantly evolving art of jiu-jitsu has come full circle.
Aftermath: Fans had high hope for Aoki’s rematch with Joachim Hansen in the finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. This time however it would be Hellboy coming out on top, who got his revenge with a TKO stoppage deep into the first round. Aoki quickly got back to his submission ways with a neck crank over Todd Moore at DREAM 6.
Mir and loathing in Las Vegas: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir - UFC 81
Brock Lesnar was aptly billed in the WWE as “The Next Big Thing.” Say what you want about his skills, the man knows how to draw an audience. With Couture gone and a Brazilian import holding the heavyweight title, his UFC debut against Frank Mir was supposed to be a squash match en route to an expedited title shot. He almost got it, until Steve Mazzagatti gave him some tough love for routine infractions. Mir used the reprieve to latch onto Lesnar’s leg (which looked almost like alligator wrestling) and showed the world that success in this sport requires you to bring your mixed with your martial arts.
Rating: Imaginary guest Zach Gowan gives this sub four busted wheelchairs out of five. Lesnar looked like a beached whale trying to roll to one side before calling it quits - and cursing the existence of Steve Mazzagatti.
Aftermath: Biggest win of Frank Mir’s career. Aside from the mainstream exposure on TUF 8, defeating Lesnar gave him a chance to unify the heavyweight strap in 2009 with a win over opposing TUF coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In short, it changed the entire landscape of the UFC heavyweight division.
That my friends has just about wrapped it up. Stay tuned next Sunday as I present the third part of my “Best of” series as I bring you my picks for the best fights of 2008.
In the meantime, go ahead and sound off in the comments section about who you think belongs or doesn’t belong on the list of ten best submissions of 2008 - and make sure you can back it up!
See you in seven.