Submission Of The Year – LowKickMMA 2021 Awards
The Submission of the Year contest was ridiculously close this year, in fact, it was so close that we have a tie for the award in 2021. So, we’ll lay out the two contenders and leave it to our readers to decide who gets SOTY.
Andre Muniz vs. Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza – UFC 262
Brazilian submission specialist, Andre Muniz, announced himself as a real player at middleweight at UFC 262 back in May when he picked up the biggest win of his career.
Muniz, who hasn’t lost since 2016, was riding a six-fight win streak into his fight with Ronaldo Souza. Although ‘Jacare’ is clearly past his prime he is still a handful and certainly represented the toughest task Muniz has faced to date.
What was so impressive about Muniz was not that he beat ‘Jacare’ but the manner in which he did it. The former Strikeforce champion is a renowned grappler who had never been submitted through 36 fights.
Muniz not only submitted ‘Jacare’, but he also broke his arm. Crazy stuff!
Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo II – UFC 263
According to the LowKickMMA, the only thing that might top Muniz breaking Souza’s arm is Brandon Moreno upsetting the odds to dethrone Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263. ‘The Baby Assassin’ also made history with his third-round submission victory as he became the first Mexican-born fighter to hold UFC gold.
Moreno and Figueiredo put on an exciting, Fight of the Year candidate when they first squared off at UFC 256 in December 2020. The pair threw down for five rounds at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas before the judges scored the fight a majority draw and Figueiredo retained his 125lb strap.
Naturally, a rematch was quickly booked, and Moreno got his second shot at UFC gold on June 12. ‘The Assassin Baby’ left no doubt the second time around as he dominated Figueiredo from the first bell before tapping him out in round to become the champ and take a share of LowKickMMA’s Submission of the Year award.
The flyweight duo are expected to complete their trilogy of fights at UFC 270 on January 22.
Full List Of Submission Of The Year Votes
Jordan: Muniz vs. Jacare
Lewis: Moreno vs. Figueiredo II
Michael G: Moreno vs. Figueiredo II
Curtis: McKee vs. ‘Pitbull’
Ross: Muniz vs. Jacare
Ian: Nunes vs. Anderson
Michael C: Magomedkerimov vs. Millender
Abhinav: Muniz vs. Jacare
Ryan: Moreno vs. Figueiredo II
Keelin: Teixeira vs. Blachowicz
Patrick: Hernandez vs. Vieira
Who do you think deserves the LowKickMMA Submission of the Year award? Andre Muniz, Brandon Moreno, or someone else?
