With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from August 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for August.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Nominee: Diego Lopes def. Gavin Tucker at UFC on ESPN 50
Diego Lopes’ (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) octagon debut in May didn’t come under the best circumstances. That bad taste likely is gone after he dispatched of Gavin Tucker (13-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC)
Lopes looked virtually perfect with a first-round triangle-armbar submission of Tucker that came just 98 seconds into the first round of the featherweight bout. It was just the 11th finish of its kind in UFC history.
This armbar was NASTY by @DiegoLopesMMA 😱 #UFCNashville pic.twitter.com/fd3MUFUZa9
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
Nominee: Carlston Harris def. Jeremiah Wells at UFC on ESPN 50
A couple years back in his UFC debut, Carlston Harris (20-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) choked out Christian Aguilera with an anaconda choke. His latest victim with the same reasonably rare finish was Jeremiah Wells (12-3-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
Harris had to mount a big comeback and almost certainly was on his way to a decision loss to Wells when he pulled off the stunner at the 1:50 mark of the third round in the welterweight bout.
HE FLIPPED THE SCRIPT 🤯@CarlstonMMA puts him to sleep! #UFCNashville pic.twitter.com/uJMTQceqMB
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
Nominee: Da'Mon Blackshear def. Jose Johnson at UFC on ESPN 51
Da'Mon Blackshear (14-6-1- MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) had one hell of an August, and it started by placing himself in the record books with an extremely uncommon finish of Jose Johnson (15-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in their bantamweight bout.
Blackshear pulled off just the third twister submission finish in UFC history at the expense of Johnson, who found himself wrapped up like a pretzel less than four minutes into the opening round and forced to tap out.
Da Monster with the TWISTER!!!! 🌪️🌪️🌪️
Da’Mon Blackshear gets the sub in R1! #UFCVegas78 pic.twitter.com/y6mbpUWSAX
— UFC (@ufc) August 12, 2023
Nominee: Karine Silva def. Maryna Moroz at UFC 292
Karine Silva (17-4 MMA, 3-0 UFC) avenged a key early loss in her career, paying Maryna Moroz (11-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) back with a first-round submission of her own.
After being caught in an armbar in the opening round of their November 2014 bout, Silva had the chance to rematch Moroz in a women’s flyweight matchup. She got the job done with a guillotine choke submission at the 4:59 mark of Round 1, becoming the first female in UFC history to win three consecutive fights by submission inside the opening round.
WITH ONE SECOND ON THE CLOCK!!@KillerKarine beats the buzzer and gets the tap to kick off #UFC292! pic.twitter.com/qXURk5VP6u
— UFC (@ufc) August 19, 2023
Nominee: Kurt Holobaugh def. Austin Hubbard at UFC 292
Kurt Holobaugh (20-7 MMA, 1-4 UFC) used picture-perfect jiu-jitsu on Austin Hubbard (15-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) to get his first win in the promotion.
Holobaugh, a black belt, submitted with a second-round triangle choke to win the Season 31 “Ultimate Fighter” lightweight season. Holobaugh and Hubbard were teammates on the show for coach Michael Chandler. The stoppage after a slick pair of transitions came at the 2:39 mark of the second round.
That @KurtHolobaugh transition is everything 👏 #TUF31 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/KtOjrIRLVT
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
The winner
The winner: Da'Mon Blackshear
Blackshear spoiled the promotional debut of Johnson with just the third twister submission in promotional history.
Johnson found himself in a precarious position shortly after a very nice second takedown from Blackshear. While trying to scramble back to his feet, Johnson gave up his back. Blackshear began working on securing the rare and extremely painful submission hold. At 3:47 of Round 1, the twister was locked in and Johnson had no choice but to tap.
The first twister submission in UFC history belongs to “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, who tapped Leonard Garcia with the technique in 2011. It would be another eight years before another fighter accomplished the feat; Bryce Mitchell pulled off the second against Matt Sayles in 2019.
