MMAjunkie's 'Submission of the Month' for January 2014

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best submissions from Jan. 1-31. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for January 2014.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Submission of the Month.”

THE NOMINEES

Russell Doane over Leandro Issa at UFC Fight Night 34
Russell Doane opened up the UFC Fight Night 34 fight card in style with a picture-perfect triangle choke victory over Leandro Issa. Doane had his way with Issa throughout most of the contest, and with just seconds remaining in the second round, put his opponent to sleep with a slick triangle choke that earned him his first UFC win and a “Submission of the Night” bonus.

Cole Miller over Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 35
Cole Miller is near the top of the UFC record books when it comes to submission-related categories, and he showed why when he tapped out Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 35. Miller implemented a superior striking game to get Sicilia to open up and make a mistake, allowing him to capitalize for a fight-ending guillotine choke. Miller now ranks in the top-5 all-time for UFC submission wins.

Jessica Aguilar over Alida Gray at World Series of Fighting 8
Jessica Aguilar was the odds-on favorite to become World Series of Fighting’s first women’s champion. She did just that, submitting an overmatching Alida Gray with a slick arm-triangle choke less than three minutes into the opening round. Aguilar remains the No. 1-ranked women’s strawweight in the world.

James Moontasri over Rick Reger at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 12
James Moontasri and Rick Reger went at it from the opening bell at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 12. After an entertaining first round, Reger found himself caught in a rear-naked choke attempt early in the second. Unfortunately, “Boom Boom” was unable to get out of the choke and instead of tapping out, he opted to let Moontasri put him to sleep.

Alex Caceres over Sergio Pettis at UFC on FOX 10
After being down on the scorecards going into the third round against highly touted prospect Sergio Pettis, Alex Caceres pulled off a stunning submission victory in the final 20 seconds of the fight. Few expected Caceres to win at UFC on FOX 10, but when the event was over, he was one of the shining performers and earned both “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” honors.

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THE WINNER

Alex Caceres over Sergio Pettis at UFC on FOX 10

Alex Caceres may not have had the most textbook submission of the month, but the drama surrounding his victory was unparalleled by anything else, as he handed one of the sport’s most highly touted prospects his first professional defeat at UFC on FOX 10.

Caceres (10-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) was the betting underdog going into his fight with Sergio Pettis (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) inside Chicago’s United Center, but when all was said and done, the spotlight was shifted off Pettis and focused directly on “Bruce Leeroy”

“It was a pretty good fight, pretty exciting fight,” Caceres told MMAjunkie. “I noticed it was very competitive, the pace never stopped.”

The fight was so exciting, in fact, UFC officials opted to award the two bantamweight fighters with an additional $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus for their efforts. That bonus only came as the cherry on top of a perfect night for Caceres, who also received another $50,000 bonus for “Submission of the Night.”

With each fighter likely taking one of the first two rounds, the win was up for grabs in the third and final frame. It seemed Pettis was getting the better of the striking exchanges until he made a decision that will haunt him for the foreseeable future. The fight-ending sequence came when “The Phenom” went for an ill-advised takedown that forced a grappling exchange where Caceres took the back and locked in a rear-naked choke.

A series of subtle events ultimately led to the submission opportunity, and even with his adrenaline flowing, Caceres fondly recalls how he set up the choke.

“I remember pretty clearly,” Caceres said. “He went for a single leg takedown and wrapped his hands around my waist so I was able to whizzer his knees and kick my leg up, kind of like a small little hip toss over.

“When we landed, he immediately went for the heel hook and I was able to take my leg over and bend my knee outwards so I could take his back. That’s when I started trying to land some shots. He started getting up, and when he left his neck exposed I sunk in the choke from behind and that was that.”

The tap came at the 4:39 mark of Round 3, which enters the record books as the second-latest submission ever in a three-round UFC bantamweight fight. Caceres admits he was aware valuable time was ticking off the clock in a fight he was potentially losing, but he was focused solely on getting the finish.

“Once I had the back and once I sunk the choke in, I just started squeezing,” Caceres said. “I was aware I had little time, but hoped I would finish, and I did.”

While a number of impressive submissions went down in the month of January, the dramatic nature of Caceres’ finish was worthy of MMAjunkie’s “Submission of the Month” award.