We had a couple of entries for this year’s Submission of the Year category, and somewhat surprisingly, none were of the buggy choke or Twister variety. Not even a standing guillotine. While there are never many of those to choose from, it seems our crew went for submissions from 2025 that had more of an impact on an individual fighter’s career, that meant more, rather than just being technically impressive.
Submission of the Year 2025
Eddie Law: Jean Silva subs Bryce Mitchell via Ninja Choke. A chaotic scramble turned into an instant, lights-out finish with a level of precision only a handful of fighters in the world can replicate. Silva quickly locked the choke, adjusted his grip, and forced the tap before Mitchell even had time to defend, showcasing elite opportunistic grappling. Add in the stakes, the shock factor, and the sheer technical mastery, and Silva delivered a submission worthy of Submission of the Year.
Gabriel Gonzalez: Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez vs Roman Dolidze. “Fluffy” should arguably not have taken the fight. He is on an amazing win-streak and could have waited and campaigned for bigger name opponent at the time. Instead, he elected to stay busy and wait for no one and turned in one of the nastiest submissions of the year in securing a choke and dragging Dolidze to the center of the Octagon and leaving looking all the most dangerous to the middleweight division.
Jay Anderson: The build-up to UFC 314’s Jean Silva vs. Bryce Mitchell was a wild one. Mitchell was public enemy number one, after suggesting Adolf Hitler was a “good guy” to go fishing with, then making controversial comments about gay folks. Jean Silva pounced on the controversy and mocked Mitchell, with antics including bringing a globe to the event’s press conference to poke fun at Bryce’s flat Earth beliefs. Mitchell even quoted scripture to yours truly at the event’s media day, when asked about his controversies (for the record, I have nothing against Bryce and had a much more enjoyable interaction with him in Washington in December 2019 after he pulled off a twister submission, which was our 2019 Submission of the Year). Still, there was something poetic about the “good guy versus bad guy” feud ending with Silva putting Mitchell out with a Ninja choke in the second round. He even got the rock star treatment afterwards, with fans in Miami mobbing his car outside the Kaseya Center.
Brett Cagle: Merab Dvalishvili. At UFC 316 Merab Dvalishvili ended his rivalry with Sean O’Malley in emphatic fashion becoming the first man to submit the former champion in the UFC. Dvalishvili was a lock for this year’s Fighter of the Year, but came up short in the promotion’s final PPV of the year losing his title to Petr Yan. I will still give him some shine in this spot however, for his impressive stoppage win over O’Malley.
Mathis Desjardins: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley [UFC 316]. It’s pretty wild that, to me, the two contenders for this award came in back-to-back fights from the same card. I considered giving the edge to Kayla Harrison’s kimura of Julianna Peña to become champion, but the sheer rarity of north-south chokes in the UFC ended up being the difference maker. Additionally, after being almost nothing but a decision machine for his entire UFC run, seeing Merab tapping out Sean O’Malley felt even more significant and impressive.
Daniel Vreeland: Jean Silva vs Bryce Mitchell. Going into this fight, most saw it as a striker versus a grappler. The questions all seem centered around whether or not Silva could keep his feet long enough to win the fight. However, when all was said and done, it was Silva choking Mitchell unconscious and barking in his face for good measure.
Bryson Hester: Jean Silva’s Ninja Choke Sub vs. Bryce Mitchell. Jean Silva’s submission over Bryce Mitchell got a huge crowd pop and earned the Brazilian a Fight of the Night bonus. Bryce, a submission specialist, has generated all but one of his finishes as an amateur and pro by way of sub. The moment was electric and with it birthed a title eliminator bout for Jean against Diego Lopes as a direct result. This was also the peak of the Fighting Nerds’ hype which played a lot into the storyline as well as a controversial opponent like Mitchell.
End Result: A definitive win for Jean Silva’s ninja choke submission of Bryce Mitchell.
