T-Berg's Top 10 Submission Specialists

by Todd Bergman 
Just who is MMA’s Best Submission Specialist? Fedor, Maia, Big Nog, BJ Penn, and more battle for the top spot in this edition of T-Berg’s Top 10. Click inside for all the details.

In this week's edition of the Top 10, I'm taking a look at the guys who dominate the sport when in regards to their spectacular submissions. The sport of MMA was founded on the principles of submissions in the early days of the UFC. Royce Gracie captivated audiences world wide with his ability to neutralize bigger opponents with something as simple looking as a submission hold. Whether it was an arm bar, rear naked choke, or lapel choke, Gracie had the world in his hands. Flash forward almost 19 years later and the sport of MMA is still controlled and dominated, for the most part, by the art of the submission lock. Some won't and don't see the sport as being dominated by the submission but by kickboxing and Muay Thai. While striking has come a long way in MMA, it's still light years behind boxing‘s striking ability. It's not a slam on the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, it's just realizing that these fighters have to focus on more than just striking; therefore, their individual striking may not be as sharp as it could be if they didn't have to worry about takedowns, clinches, and submissions.
So without further ado, I present the list of the Top 10 Submission Specialist in MMA. Keep in mind that when you see this list some who appear may not have the highest credentials compared to others, but they use submissions much better and more effectively than those whose achievements might be higher. I mentioned above that without Royce Gracie, and the Gracie family for that matter, the sport of MMA wouldn't be where it is at today. However, Gracie won't appear on the list because he hasn't fought in two years. I usually don't mention people that won't be included into a list, but Gracie and his family's strategies will always be the blueprint for the success of these fighters that are mentioned below.

 

6.) Demian Maia


I'm already sensing that there is going to be a lot of hate over me ranking Maia this low. However, I need to see Maia in some more high-profile fights before I can rank him any higher. It is a cheap way out of putting him in the Top 5 or even at number one, but that's my prerogative. When Demian Maia was scheduled to make his UFC debut against Ryan Jensen at UFC 77, very few people knew about it. I can attest to this fact because I was there and not much of the crowd seemed to care. In fact, a good portion of the fans there thought that Jensen would be able to finish Maia. That was a huge mistake on their part and a huge mistake for many people. Not only has Demian Maia captivated the MMA world but at one point, people were talking about him being the guy who would defeat Anderson Silva. You and I might not have thought that, but we all know that people were talking about it. The degenerate MMA fans were thinking that Maia would pull off some crazy submission victory against Silva much like Chonan did. I use the term thought because the Nate Marquardt defeat really hurt the chances of Maia as it pertains to getting that shot at Silva. It now appears that Silva will retire in the next year or two before Maia can get to another title shot. For all the negative things that the last defeat brought to Maia, his future is still insanely bright. All of his UFC victories have been impressive, but the Chael Sonnen victory really stands out as Sonnen has recently emmerged as a contender in the UFC Middleweight Division with victories over Dan Miller and Yushin Okami.
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