It’s Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., and until a few years ago that always meant a reasonably big pay-per-view event for the UFC.
From 2006 until 2015, fans could count on the Saturday before the holiday for a card usually worth traveling for. The 2006 event was at Staples Center in Los Angeles, but the next nine went down at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas – and fans came out to take advantage of that extra holiday off day on the tail end in “Sin City.”
The big pay-per-views centered around the holiday stopped in 2016, but we still got 10 years’ worth of highlights, and plenty of them.
This weekend, we’ll take a look back at the 10 Memorial Day weekend UFC pay-per-views with the best submissions (Friday), knockouts (Saturday) and fights (Sunday). Monday, we’ll rank the 10 cards and get your votes on which of them was the best overall.
So let’s get started with the UFC’s best Memorial Day weekend submissions, presented chronologically.
Din Thomas vs. Jeremy Stephens
Din Thomas
Event: UFC 71
Date: May 26, 2007
Result: Din Thomas def. Jeremy Stephens via technical submission (armbar) – Round 2, 2:44
Notes: Thomas won a $40,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. It was his second straight bonus win after a “Fight of the Night” decision over Clay Guida earlier in the year. Those were the only two bonuses of Thomas’ nine-fight UFC tenure. Thomas, a Ricardo Liborio-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, had 14 of his 26 career MMA wins by submission. His stoppage of Stephens was one of seven finishes in nine fights at UFC 71.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
Rousimar Palhares
Event: UFC 84
Date: May 24, 2008
Result: Rousimar Palhares def. Ivan Salaverry via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:36
Notes: Palhares won a $75,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. It was his sixth straight submission win and came in his UFC debut. The fight was the start of an often controversial five-plus year run with the UFC that included a suspension not releasing a submission against Tomasz Drwal, a suspension for elevated testosterone levels, and ultimately a UFC release when he again held a submission too long after the referee stopped the fight against Mike Pierce.
Brock Larson vs. Mike Pyle
Brock Larson
Event: UFC 98
Date: May 23, 2009
Result: Brock Larson def. Mike Pyle via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:06
Notes: Larson won a $60,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. That wound up as the lone UFC bonus win of his career, though he had a “Knockout of the Night” finish of Carlo Prater in 2008 in the WEC prior to that promotion’s merger with the UFC. Larson ended his career in 2016 with 27 submissions among his 42 wins.
Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes
Ryan Jensen
Event: UFC 114
Date: May 29, 2010
Result: Ryan Jensen def. Jesse Forbes via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:06
Notes: Jensen won a $65,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus – which was more than four times his base salary for the fight. He made $16,000 with $8,000 to show and $8,000 as a win bonus. Forbes had a 2-6 record over two separate UFC stints, but both his wins in the promotion came by submission. Jensen finished his 29-fight pro career with a 100 percent finishing rate. He had 13 submissions and eight knockouts in his 21 wins.
Gleison Tibau vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Gleison Tibau
Event: UFC 130
Date: May 28, 2011
Result: Gleison Tibau def. Rafaello Oliveira via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:28
Notes: Tibau won a $70,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. The win was one of just three stoppages in 10 fights on the card. Tibau’s first bonus came in his 14th UFC fight. He went more than three years and eight more fights in the promotion before he picked up a “Fight of the Night” bonus for his split decision win over Piotr Hallman in Brazil. Those were his only bonus wins in 28 career UFC fights.
Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson
Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson
Event: UFC 146
Date: May 26, 2012
Result: Stefan Struve def. Lavar Johnson via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:05
Notes: Struve won a $70,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus. His fight with Johnson opened up the main card, which featured all five fights at heavyweight. UFC 146 had nine stoppages in 12 total fights, including finishes in all five fights on the main card. The bonus was Struve’s fourth in the UFC. He went on to win four more before he retired, giving him eight in his 24 total UFC fights. The 7-foot Dutchman ended his career with 18 submissions in 29 wins.
Glover Teixeira vs. James Te Huna
Glover Teixeira vs. James Te Huna
Event: UFC 160
Date: May 25, 2013
Result: Glover Teixeira def. James Te Huna via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:38
Notes: Teixeira won a $50,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus – which was more than his $48,000 total salary for the win. The bonus was Teixeira’s first in the UFC and came in his fourth fight in the promotion. After his win over Te Huna, he knocked out Ryan Bader to earn a title shot against then-light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Teixeira currently has seven total UFC bonuses and is expected to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the 205-pound title in September.
Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta
Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta
Event: UFC 173
Date: May 24, 2014
Result: Mitch Clarke def. Al Iaquinta via technical submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 0:57
Notes: Clarke won a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus. He put Iaquinta to sleep with his D’Arce choke. Later in the card, Daniel Cormier put Dan Henderson to sleep with a rear-naked choke. Clarke’s bonus was the only one he won in a 2-5 UFC tenure. The finish was his only stoppage win in the promotion, but the Canadian ended his 16-fight career in 2017 with seven submissions in his 11 total wins.
Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
Event: UFC 173
Date: May 24, 2014
Result: Daniel Cormier def. Dan Henderson via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:53
Notes: Cormier’s finish of Henderson is the only submission on this list that was not a post-fight bonus winner. T.J. Dillashaw’s TKO of Renan Barao to win the bantamweight title in the main event took one of the “Performance of the Night” prizes at UFC 173. Mitch Clarke’s technical submission of Al Iaquinta earlier in the card (also on this list) was the other. Henderson went more than six years without being submitted before Cormier put him to sleep.