With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominees
Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Geoff Neal at UFC 285
Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Geoff Neal (15-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) went blow-for-blow and toe-to-toe in their matchup of welterweight contenders, but ultimately a standing submission ended the slugfest.
To conclude a back-and-forth battle that saw both men stunned, Rakhmonov submitted Neal with a standing rear-naked choke at the 4:17 mark of Round 3. The result kept Rakhmonov’s finishing rate at 100 percent, as no opponent has yet to make is the distance – let alone beat him.
Alexa Grasso def. Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285
Alexa Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) shocked the world when she brought Valentina Shevchenko’s (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) historic women’s flyweight title reign to an end.
Grasso became just the third fighter to hold the 125-pound belt when she upset Shevchenko by fourth-round submission. The Mexican fighter capitalized on a missed kick from Shevchenko, taking the back and locking in a rear-naked choke to claim gold.
Jon Jones def. Ciryl Gane at UFC 285
Despite all of the anticipation and build, the highly anticipated return of Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) lasted just over two minutes, as he submitted Ciryl Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) to claim the vacant UFC heavyweight title.
The bout began with a touch of gloves and a feeling out process ensued. Jones went directly at Gane and eventually ducked under a left punch. Jones shot for a takedown, which he secured. Gane briefly rose up, but Jones dumped him again and sprung right into mount. Immediately, Jones grabbed hold of Gane’s neck. After a few adjustments, a tap quickly came from the guillotine choke.
Usman Nurmagomedov def. Benson Henderson at Bellator 292
It took Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) just over two minutes to sent former UFC/WEC titleholder Benson Henderson (30-12 MMA, 7-7 BMMA) into retirement while defending his Bellator lightweight championship.
Henderson recovered from the initial knockdown, though he was continually punished with follow-up punches. Nurmagomedov shifted to the back and worked for a submission. Initially, Henderson defended but after he scooted to the cage, Nurmagomedov used his punches, found a grip on the neck, squeezed, and got the tap with a rear-naked choke.
USMAN NURMAGOMEDOV! 🔥
The lightweight world champion remains #AndStill with an incredible submission!
📺 #Bellator292 | LIVE NOW | 🇺🇸 @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/i55msZgfu3
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) March 11, 2023
Davey Grant def. Raphael Assuncao at UFC Fight Night 221
Davey Grant (13-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) locked in a rare and spectacular submission to put Raphael Assuncao (27-10 MMA, 12-7 UFC) unconscious in their bantamweight bout.
Rather than stuff a takedown attempt, Grant went up and over Assuncao, as he wrapped his legs around the head with a reverse triangle choke. Grant squeezed and squeezed. It appeared Assuncao was not moving for several seconds before referee Keith Peterson pulled Grant off his unconscious opponent.
Davey Grant with the reverse triangle submission 😱 #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/XIPSrJ5Ab8
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 11, 2023
The winner
The winner: Alexa Grasso
The belief heading into UFC 285 was that Grasso would need to fight a perfect fight to defeat Shevchenko. Who knew that also applied to the champion?
In a closely contested fight, Shevchenko made one mistake that Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke for a fourth-round submission win to claim the women’s flyweight from the longstanding dominant champ.
The stunning outcome makes Grasso the first Mexico-born woman ever to win a UFC title (she was the first to compete for one) as she becomes the third newly crowned Mexican champion of 2023.
“Please pinch me, because I feel like I’m dreaming,” Grasso told Joe Rogan during her post-fight octagon interview.
Through three rounds, Grasso had a moral victory of sorts as her boxing served as a wake-up call to Shevchenko early, which made the champ resort to takedowns and grappling that likely had her winning two of the first three frames.
Then came the moment in Round 4. After they spent most of the round standing and exchanging jabs, Shevchenko threw a spinning back kick in the final minute that missed, which allowed Grasso to immediately jump on her back and take the fight to the mat.
From there, Grasso worked hard for the finish until she got it by sinking in the choke and forcing Shevchenko to tap out with 26 seconds left in the fourth. Grasso indicated the finish was no accident.
“I train for that thing,” said Grasso, a former strawweight who is 5-0 as a flyweight. “It was training. I train every single day that thing, because I knew she did those spinning things. … I trained so, so hard like I never have before in my life.”