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PARK: Profiling five of the UFC's top submission specialists
Sep 5, 2010 - 9:50:30 PM PARK: Profiling five of the UFC's top submission specialists

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By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist

Next week the UFC will make a return trip to Austin, Texas for a Fight Night event that sets up the new season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The main card of the evening will showcase a number of fights that could have serious implications on their respective weight divisions, including Nate Marquardt taking on Rousimar Palhares in the main event of the evening.

Marquardt will be looking to climb back into middleweight title contention with a win over grappling master Palhares. The Brazilian, meanwhile, will be hoping to catapult himself into the title picture for the first time with a win in Texas.

There are several other up and coming jiu-jitsu specialists looking to make a splash in Austin with TUF 5 alum - and Jiu-Jitsu brown-belt - Cole Miller out to make a statement when he takes on British lightweight Ross Pearson. Brazilian sensation Charles Oliviera will make his second UFC appearance having exploded into the UFC with a 40-second destruction of Darren Elkins in August.

After being taken down early, Oliviera aggressively locked in a triangle choke before transitioning into the impressive match-winning arm-bar. Next up is an extremely tough challenge as Oliviera squares off against The Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner Efrain Escudero.

The nature of his debut has left many touting the undefeated Oliviera as the next big thing. Whether this submission ace is able to live up to his billing will only be revealed in due course. With that in mind it seems appropriate to take a closer look at some of the more accomplished submission experts around today and how their UFC careers have worked out so far.


Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira - Heavyweight

Minotauro Nogueira is quite simply a world class Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who himself has handed out black-belts to the likes of Anderson Silva and more.

Nogueira made his UFC debut back in 2007 when he took on old foe Heath Herring. A decision victory over Herring saw Nogueira fast tracked to an interim title showdown with Tim Sylvia. As reigning champion Randy Couture was absent from the UFC - due to a contract dispute - Nogueira seized his golden opportunity and submitted former champ Sylvia in the third round to become the first man to hold the Pride and UFC world titles.

Nogueira once again had found a way to absorb punishment early yet still come from two rounds down to get the submission he needed to claim the Interim Heavyweight Championship.

Nogueira had compiled an impressive MMA record with notable submission victories over the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Colman and Dan Henderson. After agreeing to coach on the The Ultimate Fighter, Nogueira would then take on his opposing team's coach: Frank Mir.

Mir came into this fight as an extremely talented grappler himself, but knew he was facing a different prospect should he hit the floor with Nogueira. Mir managed to turn this expected ground fight into a boxing match, and after dropping Nogueira on a number of occasions, Frank Mir handed Nogueira the first stoppage loss of his entire 37-fight career.

Rumours of a staph infection took a lot of the shine from what was a career defining moment for Mir, and the two were due to do battle for a second time later this month only for Nogueira to withdraw due to an enforced knee surgery.

There is no date set for Nogueira’s return at the moment but having suffered a vicious knockout loss at the hands of Cain Velasquez in his last outing, it is a very real possibility that Nogueira’s best days are now behind him.



B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn – Lightweight

The man known as “The Prodigy” joined the UFC in 2000 after company President Dana White convinced the Hawaiian to try his hand at MMA. White had been alerted to Penn’s abilities when The Prodigy won the black-belt division of the 2000 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

After a mere three years of training Penn had not only managed to become a black-belt, he had gone on to win the World Championship and subsequently became the first non-Brazilian competitor to do so.

B.J. Penn has had a glittering UFC career, and became only the second man (the other being Randy Couture) to hold UFC titles in two separate divisions by attaining the strap at both 155 lbs. and 170 lbs.

The Jiu-Jitsu pedigree of Penn has made him a very difficult opponent to face. His guard is arguably the best in the business and his flexibility makes him extremely difficult to gain any control over. With notable submission victories over the likes of Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver and Kenny Florian, Penn is without question worthy of one day taking his place in the UFC Hall Of Fame.

The speed at which Penn adapted to life in the Octagon is staggering, having stopped his first three opponents, all in the very first round. This included one of the most devastating finishes in UFC history against Caol Uno. Penn then went on to fight for the title in only the fourth bout of his MMA career.

While B.J. Penn is currently suffering a slump in fortunes having lost back-to-back title fights with Frankie Edgar, his legacy as the greatest lightweight of all time is still intact.


Renzo Gracie – Welterweight

The only member of the legendary Gracie family on the UFC roster today, Renzo is up there with the best Jiu-Jitsu coaches in the world.

After a three year absence from action Gracie joined the UFC and took on Hall Of Fame inductee Matt Hughes at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. Renzo came looking to avenge a loss that his cousin Royce Gracie had suffered to Hughes at UFC 60. During fight week he proved to be one of the most respectful in UFC history as the two clearly held one another in extremely high regard.

There was very little wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu on display as both men clearly respected what the other was capable of when in their element, and instead a slow paced stand up fight was what was produced.

The fight made it to round three, and with Renzo clearly the more gassed out fighter of the two, Hughes landed repeated leg kicks and when the American finally put together a hard combination the referee stepped in and stopped the fight with only 20 seconds remaining.

As a 6th Degree Black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Renzo has helped shape the careers of top UFC stars such as Matt Serra, Rodrigo Nogueira and Ricardo Almeida. Gracie has also played an influential part in the career of current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest grappling coaches of all time.


Frank Mir – Heavyweight

Frank Mir proved himself to be one of the most talented up and coming fighters in the UFC, winning five out of six UFC bouts en route to a title showdown with Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.

In one of the shortest title fights in UFC history, Mir impressively locked in an arm-bar on Sylvia. As the champion tried to escape there was a clearly visible break in Sylvia’s arm, forcing the referee to intervene less than one minute into the fight.

While Sylvia bizarrely wanted to continue the fight, the break was clear for all to see and Mir was awarded his Jiu-Jitsu black-belt there and then. There was also the small matter of the undisputed UFC Championship belt, which Frank Mir now found wrapped around his waist, signaling what was expected to be a new era in heavyweight MMA.

After Mir was involved in a career-threatening motorcycle accident, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski battled it out for the Interim Title. Arlovski submitted Sylvia to set up a unification fight with the recovering Mir, but after the Champion was unable to return in time, he was stripped of the title and Arlovski was named the undisputed Heavyweight Champion.

After almost 18 months on the sidelines, Frank Mir made his Octagon return in what was anything but the dream return as he was stopped by Marcio Cruz. Next was a lack-lustre decision victory over Dan Christison which was then followed by another stoppage loss, this time at the hands of Brandon “The Truth” Vera.

Mir was looking a shadow of his old self, and as his record continued to suffer, his legacy was looking in severe jeopardy with two bad losses in his three bouts since making his return. Many thought that Mir would never return to the level he was once performing at, and it would be his next fight that would be telling in the direction his career would go.

After another nine months on the sidelines, Mir returned to take on Anthony Hardonk at UFC 74. Looking in far better shape than his last three boutsm Mir locked in a devastating Kimura which left Hardonk repeatedly tapping just over one minute into the fight.

Mir mouthed to the cameras “I’m back,” and as the screen passed to his emotional wife it was clear that Mir had finally rediscovered the form, the fitness and the passion for MMA that once saw him capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Mir then followed this victory up with a come-from-behind win over the debuting Brock Lesnar at UFC 81. After an early onslaught from Lesnar, Mir managed to lock in a knee bar to tap the former WWE star after 90 seconds of action and set up a showdown with Interim Champion Minotauro Nogueira.

As one of the best Jiu-Jitsu fighters in heavyweight history Frank Mir today finds himself with another mountain to claim. After stopping Nogueira to claim the Interim title, Mir has since been convincingly stopped by both Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin and will next face Mirko Crop Cop in what could pan out to be a make or break fight at UFC 119.


Demian Maia – Middleweight

Widely regarded as the best Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in all of MMA, Maia’s UFC record is an extremely impressive one. Making his UFC debut at UFC 77, Maia submitted Ryan Jenson via Rear Naked Choke. This would trigger three consecutive “Submission Of The Night” victories for Maia as he also took out Ed Herman and Jason Macdonald.

Looking to set a new record, Maia submitted Ultimate Fighter veteran Nate Quarry at UFC 91. The win over Quarry, however, was not awarded “Submission Of The Night” honours, with Dustin Hazelett’s arm-bar victory over Tamden McCrory deemed more worthy of the bonus.

At UFC 95 in London, Maia submitted current #1 contender Chael Sonnen via triangle choke. Maia displayed tremendous technique and bated Sonnen into a choke that, in hind-sight, appears to be Sonnen’s Achilles heel.

This took Maia’s UFC record to 5-0, winning all five of those bouts by way of submission and claiming four “Fight Of The Night” awards in the process.

Damien Maia has since incurred two losses - to Nate Marquardt and a decision loss to Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva - but just last week in Boston, Maia took on fellow Jiu-Jitsu black-belt Mario Miranda at UFC 118.

The fight was an absolute clinic of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with both men attempting submissions from all angles. Maia did not rest for any one of the fifteen scheduled minutes and walked away with a very impressive unanimous decision victory under his black-belt.

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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!