It’s back!
Over the next few days, Bloody Elbow is going to ask for your opinion on some of the best things that have happened in the MMA world over the course of 2019. There will be a total of eight different categories you’ll be asked to vote on. For the sake of simplicity we’re going to stick with high-level and relevant MMA stuff in these posts. While I’m sure there was a ludicrous knockout in an unscheduled MMA event at The Lumberyard strip club in Des Moines, or an insane pancreas lock submission on an obscure ZST! card in Japan, let’s just stick to stuff a lot of us have seen, okay? (If that spiel looked familiar, it’s because I’ve used the same one for nine years in a row. Originality? What originality? Also, is ZST! even a thing any more?)
It’s pretty simple. I’ll post 5-10 options in a category, you vote for what you think was the best. If you think I left something really important off my list, post it in the comments and we can add it to the poll if it’s deemed worthy. I can almost guarantee you won’t like all my suggestions, but narrowing down these lists is tough.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get onto the first poll - the best submission of 2019. There have been some excellent subs all over the MMA landscape this year, and getting the list down is very difficult. But I did, and here it is.
Brent Primus gogoplatas Tim Wilde, Bellator Birmingham
Charles Oliveira anacondas David Teymur, UFC Fortaleza
Demian Maia chokes out Ben Askren, UFC Singapore
AJ McKee armbars Derek Campos, Bellator 236
Bryce Mitchell twisters Matt Sayles, UFC DC
Jack Hermansson guillotines David Branch, UFC Philly
Misha Cirkunov Peruvian neckties Jimmy Crute, UFC Vancouver
Masakazu Imanari heel hooks Kwon Won Il, ONE Championship: Call to Greatness
Marlon Moraes guillotines Raphael Assuncao, UFC Fortaleza
Ovince Saint Preux Von Flue chokes Michael Oleksiejczuk, UFC Copenhagen