Every UFC Title Fight Submission Win Part 2

Every UFC title fight within the 170lb, 185lb, 205lb, Heavyweight, and Superfight weight classes that ended in submission

Unlike the lower weight classes of MMA, the big man divisions have been well established since the sport’s infancy during the early 2000s. As of June 2024:

The submissions by division are:

10* submissions in 50* title fights at 170lbs

4 submissions in 42** title fights at 185lbs

10 submissions in 54 title fights at 205lbs

8 submissions in 50 title fights at 265lbs

2 submissions in 5 title fights at “Superfight”

*Includes title fights that were changed to non-title fights due to the challenger missing weight (Hughes vs Riggs, Silva vs Lutter, Whittaker vs Romero II)

The submissions by type:

11 Rear Naked Chokes

7 Guillotine Chokes

5 Armbars

2 Kneebars

1 Arm-Triangle Choke

1 Triangle Armbar

1 D’Arce Choke

1 Neck Crank

1 Kimura*

1 Americana

1 Bulldog Choke

1 Ankle Lock

1 Scarf-hold

MMA fighters with 2+ submission win in UFC 170lb+ title fights

Jon Jones (4)

Matt Hughes (4*)

Daniel Cormier (3)

Georges St-Pierre (2)

Anderson Silva (2)

Pat Miletich (2)

Frank Shamrock (2)

Ken Shamrock (2)

The corresponding thread on “X” is in chronological order and will be updated. This article is ordered by weight class and will also be updated.

1. Superfight (Defunct)

Prior to UFC 12 in Feb 1997, the UFC and many other MMA promotions didn’t have weight classes. The first ever UFC title was the “Superfight” belt which was meant to create and maintain a UFC championship. The tournaments winners would serve as title challengers to the Superfight champion.

There was a total of 5 Openweight title fights in UFC history – 2 of which ended by submission. The first title fight between the “King of Pancrase” Ken Shamrock vs the 3-time UFC tournament winner Royce Gracie ended in a draw. The second attempt to crown the inaugural champion saw Shamrock submit UFC 5 tournament winner Dan Severn with a Guillotine choke within 3 minutes.

Shamrock would defend the Superfight belt twice before losing it to Dan Severn, one of which ended with a Kneebar against Kimo Leopoldo. After losing position, Shamrock finds the leg from the bottom and eventually hyperextends the knee to force the tapout.

2. Heavyweight (265lb)

UFC 12 saw the introduction of weight classes. The initial structure of these new weight classes was that 200lbs+ is Heavyweight while 200lbs or below is Lightweight. At this event, a title unification bout was to take place. For the inaugural heavyweight title, Superfight champion Dan Severn would face UFC 10 and 11 tournament winner Mark Coleman. 2 minutes and 57 seconds into the fight, Mark Coleman forces the tapout with a scarf-hold to become the UFC’s first heavyweight champion.

From 1998 to 2009, 3 HW title fights ended in submission. The first was by Frank Mir in Jun 2004 – a technical submission by armbar in the opening minute of the fight. The referee saw Tim Sylvia’s forearm break and called off the fight without the need for a tap out. The second was by Andrei Arlovski in Feb 2005. In the first 30 seconds of the fight, a right hook drops Sylvia and Arlovski is quick secure the ankle lock to force the tap out. Tim Sylvia’s final submission loss in UFC title fights would come against Big Nog in a Feb 2008 interim title fight. In round 3, Nogueira pulls guard, reverses position, and eventually passes guard to set up a Guillotine choke.

Brock Lesnar’s title defenses were both against interim HW champions. The second interim champion was the heavy-handed Shane Carwin and faced Lesnar in Jul 2010. After surviving a dangerous 1^st round, Lesnar would eventually secure the takedown against Shane Carwin in the second. While passing to mount, an arm-triangle choke is eventually locked up and forces the tap.

Fast forward 5 years and the division has experienced major changes. There’s another title unification bout between champion Cain Velasquez and interim champion Fabrício Werdum. In round 3, the wrestling-based champion shoots for a takedown but is immediately caught in a guillotine choke. Werdum is all smiles even prior to the tap-out, knowing that it was checkmate.

The next submission win in the division would happen in Madison Square Garden in Nov 2018. The champion Daniel Cormier took on Derrick Lewis. No surprises happened in this tune-up of a fight as the champion submits Lewis with a rear naked choke (RNC) in the 2^nd round.

In his highly anticipated return to MMA and arrival to the HW division during Mar 2023, Jon Jones faced Cyril Gane for the vacant title. This fight would not last more than a round as Jones was able to get the takedowns and muscle Gane towards the fence. Jones locks in a guillotine choke and Gane taps out in an historically awful title fight performance.

3. Light Heavyweight (205lb)

The inaugural Light Heavyweight championship of the world took place on Dec 1997 in the Yokohama Arena of Japan. Pancrase veteran Frank Shamrock would face UFC 14 LHW tournament winner Kevin Jackson. In just 16 seconds, Shamrock gets the tap out with the armbar. The title reign of Shamrock would last for 4 defenses before leaving the UFC, citing a lack of competition. In one of those title defenses, he defeated Jeremy Horn by kneebar 88 seconds into the 2^nd round – the first round being 15 minutes long.

By the time that Shamrock vacated the belt and left the UFC, a new round format of 5x5 minute rounds was used for championship fights. What would be known as LHW would still be referred to as Middleweight and its floor limit being 199lbs. Tito Ortiz was Shamrock’s last title defense but would win the vacant title against Wanderlei Silva in Apr 2000 while going on to defend his title 5 times. In his 1^st title defense on Dec 2000, he submitted Yuki Kondo in just 2 minutes with a neck crank from the side mount.

Almost 11 years later, the division has gone through two generations of fighters. The P4P phenom Jon Jones took the division by storm and maintained a dominant title reign in the division. During his first 2 years of championship, Jones would win by submission 3 times within the span of just 12 months between Sept 2011 and Sept 2012. In his 1^st title defense, he submitted former UFC champion and PRIDE icon Rampage Jackson after breaking him to exhaustion and sinking in the RNC during the 4^th round. In his 2^nd title defense, he choked former UFC champion Lyoto Machida unconscious with a standing guillotine choke in the 2^nd round. An Americana, commonly called a keylock and is the inverse of the kimura, was secured from the side mount against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort – in the 4^th round of his 4^th title defense.

From 2013 to 2020, only 2 LHW title fights ended in submission. The legal troubles of Jon Jones would pave way for Daniel Cormier to prove that he’s the 2^nd best fighter of the division. He would go on to do this multiple times – twice against Anthony Rumble Johnson. In their first fight during May 2015, the belt was vacant and DC would survive a dangerous 1^st round to eventually grind Rumble en route to a RNC finish during round 3. In their second encounter during Apr 2017, Rumble entered the fight with a self-defeating strategy of trying to outwrestle DC. This would exhaust him even quicker and the champion DC would go on finish another RNC, this time in round 2. Retirement would immediately follow for Rumble Johnson while the Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier rivalry concluded.

After newfound success at the age 42, Glover Teixeira earned one last title shot against Jan Błachowicz for Oct 2021. Their fight would prove to not be competitive as Teixeira was able to consistently secure the takedown and eventually get the RNC finish within round 2.

In his title defense scheduled for Jun 2022, the elder champion would face Jiří Procházka in one of the greatest MMA fights ever. What was projected to be a decision win for Teixeira would take an abrupt turn as the challenger escapes Glover’s mount and is eventually able to secure a figure 4 RNC without any hooks in.

4. Middleweight (185lb)

The inaugural 185lb Middleweight championship took place during UFC 33 on 28 Sep 2001. It was the first event that was sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic commission and followed the unified rules of MMA established by the New Jersey State Athletic commission. It didn’t end in a submission but the 3^rd MW title fight that happened 8 months later did. The 2^nd MW champion Murilo Bustamante would defend his belt only once before leaving for PRIDE FC. Against the wrestler Matt Lindland, the BJJ ace would submit the challenger twice. The first would be an armbar in round 1 while the second would be a guillotine choke in round 3. Referee John McCarthy looked to stop the fight due to Lindland tapping but second guessed the situation after Lindland protested the stoppage.

Anderson Silva’s title reign started in Oct 2006 and would last more than 2450 days – almost 7 years. During his title reign, 2 submission wins occurred. The first was a title unification bout against the PRIDE 183lb champion Dan Henderson during Mar 2008. In the 2^nd round the champion overwhelms Henderson to force a bad takedown that would eventually be reversed. Back mount is attained and Henderson is forced to tap to the RNC. In one of the greatest MMA comeback fights, Anderson Silva secures the Triangle armbar against Chael Sonnen in the 5^th round of a fight he was dominated in.

From Sept 2010 to Jul 2024, only one 185lb title fight ended in submission. Returning from the 4 year long hiatus, Georges St-Pierre moved up a weight class to challenge the champion, Michael Bisping. On the historic night of 4 Nov 2017, GSP immortalized himself as double champion by knocking down the champ with a left hook and pounding him until he secured the back mount and the figure 4 RNC.

5. Welterweight (170lb)

In the UFC’s first event in Brazil, the inaugural 170lb championship was awarded to Pat Miletich after officially defeating Mikey Burnett. The event took place on 16 Oct 1998 and the division would be referred to as “lightweight” until 2001. Pat Miletich defended his belt 4 times – 2 of which ended by submission. Miletich would dominate the young John Alessio on his way to a 2^nd round mounted armbar finish. Against Kenichi Yamamoto, Miletich finds (the headbutt and) the left hook before finishing the guillotine choke from the front headlock.

In his 5^th attempt to defend his 170lb title, the belt changed hands on 4 May 2001. While both were scrambling for higher ground, Carlos Newton secures a bulldog choke in the 3^rd round and squeezes as hard as he could to get the tap out, becoming the second 170lb champion in UFC history.

Carlos Newton would lose his next fight after choking the challenger Matt Hughes unconscious, causing Hughes to slam Newton’s head into the canvas and knocking him out. During the first title reign of Matt Hughes, the belt was defended 5 times with the 5^th defense coming by way of standing RNC against Frank Trigg.

In his 6^th title defense, the dominant champion would face the challenger BJ Penn – a prodigy in the art of Jiu Jitsu and a naturally small man coming from the 155lb division. The fight would take place on 31 Jan 2004. Penn would prove to be difficult for Hughes as the only takedown attempt would be reversed and Penn’s top control and eventual back mount would lead to the RNC finish all within 1 round.

Penn would shortly vacate the 170lb belt allowing for Hughes to challenge for it against the inexperienced French Canadian phenom Georges St-Pierre. After the loss to Penn, Matt Hughes would achieve 3 consecutive submission wins in a row. The first would be for the vacant belt against GSP as he secured the buzzer beating armbar in round 1. In his 1^st title defense of his second reign, a referee error fails to catch the low blow from Trigg that hits Hughes. This rollercoaster of a fight and round would see Hughes almost get submitted before he reversed his fortunes and eventually gets another round 1 RNC against Trigg. Joe Riggs was the intended challenger for Nov 2005 but a weight miss by Riggs forced this to be changed to non-title fight. While working from the side mount, Hughes secures the kimura finish in the opening round.

An interim title fight was set up between Matt Hughes and GSP for Dec 2007. Heading into this fight, they both had 1 win over the other and this rubber match proved to settle the rivalry while giving the winner a shot at the undisputed belt. After a dominant grappling showcase, GSP eventually secures the belly down armbar in round 2 and Hughes is forced to verbally tap.

Over the many years that followed GSP vs Hughes 3, many historic 170lb title fights took place. Some like GSP’s lesser title defenses were unspectacular while others like Robbie Lawler’s incredible title fights produced 3 consecutive fight of the years. In all these fights from Jan 2008 to Dec 2023, only 1 title fight ended in submission.

After being fast tracked to a title shot for Sep 2018, the UFC had big plans for Darren Till and his potential as the next star from the UK. All that fell apart when he challenged Tyron Woodley for the belt. In what is the worst title performance ever, Darren Till would get out struck 57-0 over the course of two rounds. While securing the half guard and keeping the challenger on his side, Tyron Woodley eventually secures the D’Arce choke to force the tap out.

That concludes every submission win in UFC title history for the 170lb and above divisions. Until next time…