The 2008 MMA HQ MMA Awards continue today with the best submissions of 2008.
- Dustin Hazelett vs Josh Burkman – If you enjoy submission grappling even the least little bit, then you have to be a fan of Dustin Hazelett. “McLovin” enters each match with the stated goal of displaying the best jiu-jitsu skills in the UFC, and nine times out of ten he succeeds in that goal. Hazelett’s armbar submission against Josh Burkman was something truly spectacular and tops our 2008 submission list. Locked up with Burkman against the cage, Hazelett attempted a hip toss that crashed both fighters to the mat. Hazelett then quickly rolled over the top and swept a leg over Burkman’s back to lock in an armbar. Burkman attempted to roll out, but only managed to sink in the armlock deeper.
- Shinya Aoki vs Katsuhiko Nagata – Many of Shinya Aoki’s submission victories are beautiful displays of technical grappling, but his victory over Katsuhiko Nagata at DREAM.4 was truly impressive. Aoki controlled Nagata from the top for most of the first four minutes of the fight but was unable to ground-and-pound or secure any serious submission attempts. That was until Aoki decided to take matters into his own hands and locked in an inverted gogoplata from the top that probably won’t be repeated any time soon in MMA. Who knows what kind of submissions the new WAMMA lightweight champion will pull off in 2009, but his victory over Nagata left a lasting impression on 2008.
- Steve Cantwell vs Razak al Hassan – Steve Cantwell’s armbar victory over Razak al Hassan gets a spot in the top three submissions of the year, not so much for its technical excellent but more for its sheer nastiness and cringe-factor. Cantwell joined the UFC as the reigning WEC light heavyweight champion and the fight against al-Hassan was the UFC debut for both fighters. Call it willpower or call it stupidity, but al-Hassan failed to tap out from an armbar submission that he obviously wasn’t going to escape from and paid a huge price for that decision.
Check back tomorrow when give out the award for the Best Knockout of 2008.
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Caesar Gracie
John
Yael Grauer
Dale
Tyler Johnson
felo
Mike
Tony
Shawn
Ben Cartlidge
I still think Maia vs. Herman should be in the top 3
definitely it was an excellent sub. where on the list would you put it and which one would you knock off from the list?
As has been stated below, I would replace Cantwell at #3. Cantwell was definitely cringe-worthy, but it was a pretty run-of-the-mill submission.
dr j
steve cantwell shouldnt be on the list,we see armbars everyday nothing was special except to have someone dumb enough not to tap.
Ya Doc, you might wanna make it a top 5 atleast… there were alot of sweet sub in 2008. You should post up some animated jpegs for these if you can just to remind everyone who doesnt feel like searching for them.
I think your #1 is right, that was just beautiful, amazing transition and a pretty high risk move to try at the UFC level. He got the takedown from the whizzer but Josh got back up for a split second then it was almost a flying armbar, great display of flexibility too.
A very close #2 for Aoki just because of the sheer imagination he showed.
Cantwells sub was nice, but i dont think its #3 should probably bump it to #4. Like Drehog said, Maia vs Herman should be #3.
#5 i would have to say the Nate Diaz pattented double finger triangle was pretty noteworthy.
I can buy that. I just watched the Maia sub on Herman again and it definitely was nice. I’d probably move it up to #3 and knock Cantwell down. Cantwell just got in there only because of al-Hassan’s stupidity in refusing to tap.
what about when griffin tapped against evans?
Aoki Shinya should have gotten #1 not only for the Gogoplata from top position, but because of a year of excellent submissions and top-notch grappling to back it up.
Although it should be pointed out that although Aoki’s timing was perfect and the barrage of submission attempts that culminated in the inverted Gogoplata was huge, he did not invent it. Aoki studied with Eddie Bravo, and Eddie Bravo teaches the Gogoplata from both the bottom and top position. What Shinya Aoki did was apply it at the right time and under the right circumstances.
Razor i think you might have misread the post, it says inverted gogo, not invented.
Respect.
Yeah, man, I read it correctly. I was responding not only to this post specifically but to all the buzz surrounding it. And I’m definately a fan of Aoki Shinya, and am in no way trying to take away from his performance. It’s very reasonable to argue that applying the correct technique at the correct time is better Jiu Jitsu than creating a new technique. I was simply pointing out the source of the technique. Maybe someone else on here knows better than I.
It’s my understanding that Nino Schembri invented the Gogoplata shin choke. I believe Eddie Bravo developed the Gogoplata from the top because it flows from his “monkey mount” technique, whereas the standard Jiu Jitsu top game would not set up the inverted Gogoplata. (As a side note, during Dream Bas Ruten, in his excitement, said Aoki had pulled on Omaplata from the top.)
Regardless, Aoki also had a high-profile standard Gogoplata submission win in either early 2008 or late 2007. I think it was against Joachim Hellboy Hansen. Aoki is becoming a Gogoplata legend, so maybe in 2009 we’ll see something completely new from him, like a reverse Gogoplate from a failed kneebar attempt or something.
Yea i see what your saying razor, i dont really buy much into who invented what. Like Bravo says he invented the rubber guard using Shembri as inspiration. While some old Judoka will insist they used it before Eddie was even born hehe..
What we have to realize is that grappling has been around for thousands of years, to say you invented ANYTHING in grappling or striking is pretty fishy.
I mean you can say Bravo specializes in it and hes gone into more detail breaking it down and analyzing it more than anyone, maybe even go as far as saying he mastered it, but not invented.
I think what really matters is how your able to successfully utilize the moves in competition or on the street. We have seen alot of great BJJ excel in grappling tourneys but struggle in MMA.
Like you said, Aoki delivers the goods under pressure when it really matters and he does it in incredible fashion. I would hate to see Eddie compete in MMA because im pretty sure he would get beat up like Gurgel does. Guys like Aoki and BJ are very rare.
man is animal, and animals have instinct, one of those instincts are to fight, not to fight for sport or fame but fight for survival. before man left the cave im sure he was fighting to protect his food and offspring, and after only a few years of fighting you will learn what works and what doesnt without being taught anything, or you will die. if someone in a gym today thinks they a trying something that no one has ever tried before then they are fooling them selves. thousands of years of man fighting man, i dont think you discovering something totally new.
@BV,
How’d you make out with FedEx? Did you get your delivery fine?
Oh i called them and gave them my buzz code and phone number and they said someone would come by tomorrow. Pretty sure its all good, but ill tell you tomorrow and will probably be thanking you incessantly :)