Penick's Take
Penick's 2014 Year-End MMA Awards: Submission of the Year
Dec 29, 2014 - 4:00:28 PM Penick's 2014 Year-End MMA Awards: Submission of the Year

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

2014 was a year packed to the brim with fights, but with so many major injuries and so many fairly inconsequential fights on a big stage, it was hard for a lot to rise above the rest. Still, the year featured plenty of moments that have stuck with us through the year, and we'll be highlighting the top finishes, events, and fighters here this week as we close out the year.

Over the next several days, I'll be running down my awards for the year, and we'll have thoughts from the Torch team in a series of roundtables with their favorites from the year as well. The awards continue this afternoon with the "Submission of the Year."


2014 Submission of the Year: Charles Oliveira submits Hatsu Hioki via modified guillotine/D'Arce/necktie choke - UFC Fight Night 43 - June 28

I love everything about this finish. Oliveira started it as a D'Arce choke, getting his forearm across Hioki's throat and under the left arm as well, then rolled back, tossing his left leg over Hioki's right shoulder almost in a Peruvian necktie position. It was a wholly unique, extremely impressive finish, all the more fantastic by the fact that no one had ever submitted Hioki before. It was my favorite finish of the first half of the year, and nothing, for me, beat it out in the last half.


The Best of the Rest (In Chronological Order)

Charles Oliveira's triangle choke over Andy Ogle - UFC Fight Night 36

It was a very good year for Charles Oliveira, and it started with this win over Ogle in Brazil. Ogle was on the defensive throughout the fight, while Oliveira continued to attack in a mostly one-sided fight. Then, midway through the third, Oliveira locked up the triangle choke out of nowhere after an attempted up kick, and Ogle was forced to tap.

Joseph Benavidez's "Joa Constrictor" over Tim Elliott - UFC 172

Joseph Benavidez and the rest of the guys at Team Alpha Male are deadly with their guillotine chokes, and Benavidez pulled off a beauty in April. After Elliott tried to fight out of the choke, Benavidez turned him over, trapping his arms with the mount, and forcing Elliott to furiously tap out with his feet. Unlike anything I've seen before or since.

Luke Rockhold's inverted triangle/kimura over Tim Boetsch - UFC 172

There were a bunch of submissions on that card in April, but this fight, along with Benavidez, stood out. This was absolute domination on the part of Rockhold, who locked on the inverted triangle, caught Boetsch's arm, and wrenched a painful looking hold to force the tap. Great work from a potential 2015 title challenger.

Ben Saunders' omoplata over Chris Heatherly - UFC Fight Night 49

A finish that's never happened before in the history of the UFC? Yeah, that'll get you on the list. Saunders made an exciting and successful return to the Octagon in August, finishing the omoplata shoulder lock that is so often used as a transition hold. The only other omoplata finish seen out of a major promotion came in Strikeforce when the late Shane Del Rosario pulled it off. It's hard to get an opponent to the right position to lock the shoulder in place and give no choice but to tap, and that's what Saunders pulled off against Heatherly.

Liam McGeary's inverted triangle choke over Kelly Anundson (Bellator 124)

Inverted triangles don't happen that often themselves, and though it's a hard position to lock up, it's always exciting when a fighter pulls it off. McGeary's finish over Anundson came in a tourney finals bout, and he's getting his title fight with Emanuel Newton because of that win.


Honorable Mentions:

-Pat Curran's rear naked choke over Daniel Straus (Bellator 112)
-Ovince St. Preux's Von Flue choke over Nikita Krylov (UFC 171)
-Mitch Clarke's D'Arce choke win over Al Iaquinta (UFC 173)
-Patrick Holohan's rear naked choke over Josh Sampo (UFC Fight Night 46)
-Yancy Medeiros' reverse bulldog choke over Damon Jackson (UFC 177)
-Olivier Aubin-Mercier's inverted triangle/kimura over Jake Lindsey (UFC Fight Night 54)
-Raquel Pennington's bulldog choke over Ashlee Evans-Smith (UFC 181)
-Anthony Pettis' mounted guillotine choke over Gilbert Melendez (UFC 181)
-Ian Entwistle's heel hook over Anthony Birchak (UFC on Fox 13)