Ten Best – The Submissions of 2010
The most graceful finish in all of combat sports, the submission win can come in a number of ways, but the end result is always the same – a victory for the man pulling off the move, & a look of ‘what happened?’ from the victim. 2010 had its share of memorable wins by way of submission, & in part III of the Highly Unofficial awards, here are the superfine. 10 – Jim Miller gives Oliveira his first “0” Jim Miller felt a little disrespected in the lead-up to his UFC 124 bout against unbeaten phenom Charles Oliveira, & despite his lengthy win streak in the Octagon, he was seen by many as the underdog. So how did the Jersey native respond? By doing what veterans do. In this case, Miller walked through a few kicks to the head, took Oliveira down, & then finished him off with a kneebar less than two minutes into the fight. Don’t expect any disrespect to be thrown Miller’s way anymore. 9 – Davis breaks new ground against Boetsch ? Already known for his wrestling & ground & pound, Phil Davis’ submission game is starting to get some positive notices as well, not surprising since three of his five finishes have come via tap out. In his most recent bout at UFC 123 in November, “Mr. Wonderful” even went as far as to create his own move, a modified kimura that finished veteran Tim Boetsch & which is already being dubbed “The Philmura.” 8 – Palhares introduces Drwal to the heel hook If there’s one fighter in the UFC that you don’t want around your feet or legs, it’s Rousimar Palhares. In March, he gave a quick & deadly demonstration why, as he caught & submitted Tomasz Drwal with a heel hook in just 45 seconds. & while these moves happen so quick that they never look like much, a glance at the pained face of the fighter on the receiving end speaks a thousand words when it comes to the devastating effects of a well-placed move like the one the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt specializes in. 7 – Dogged Dollaway hangs on to finish Doerksen Ever since his Peruvian Necktie finish of Jesse Taylor in July of 2008, fight fans have been waiting for another submission to remember from The Ultimate Fighter alum CB Dollaway. They got it at UFC 119 in September, when Dollaway showed the continued evolution of his game in submitting veteran jiu-jitsu black belt Joe Doerksen. After locking in a guillotine choke, Dollaway had to weather a feverish escape attempt from the Canadian, but he held on & modified the choke to finish matters at 2:13 of the opening round. 6 – Lesnar roars back, finishes Carwin After taking a hellacious beating from Shane Carwin in the first round of their July bout, Brock Lesnar’s odds of making it out of his corner for round two, let alone winning the fight, were slim. But the then-heavyweight champ showed his warrior’s heart by roaring back, taking down a winded Carwin, & finishing matters with a memorable arm triangle. 5 – Bocek wins battle of black belts with Hazelett A lot of times, if you match up two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, a kickboxing match breaks out. Not this time, & Mark Bocek made sure that his UFC 124 bout with Dustin Hazelett went to the ground almost instantly. In pre-fight interviews, Hazelett said he was just fine with that prospect, but Bocek sapped the joy out from the Kentucky native quickly, finishing the bout via triangle choke just past the midway point of the first round, & establishing Bocek as one of the game’s top groundfighters. 4 – Double Trouble – Lytle Surprises Foster & Brown When you’ve been around the fight game as long as Chris Lytle has, you develop more than a few veteran tricks.
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Ten superfine – The Submissions of 2010
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