MMA Fighting’s 2023 Submission Of The Year: Alexa Grasso Vs. Valentina Shevchenko

It’s always the quiet ones you need to look out for.

Heading into UFC 285, Alexa Grasso was an afterthought. Valentina Shevchenko was the most dominant fighter in MMA: The only true champion that the women’s flyweight division had ever known, with seven straight title defenses under her belt. Sure, Shevchenko struggled against Taila Santos and Grasso had won four straight since moving up to 125 pounds, but still, what chance did this humble, soft-spoken fighter from Guadalajara, Mexico have against arguably the greatest female fighter of all-time?

Every chance, as it turned out.

From the moment the first bell rung, Shevchenko found herself in a nip-tuck battle, not the perfunctory title defense that most people expected. Grasso repeatedly tagged Shevchenko with combinations, gave ground sparingly, and made the champion work for everything. Had the fight played out like it did for most of the first three rounds, Grasso may have lost a competitive decision that had everyone talking about how much better she is than we thought.

But Grasso didn’t come for a participation trophy. She came for the belt. And in the fourth round, she took it.

With one minute left in the round, Shevchenko threw a lazy spinning back kick, and Grasso pounced — literally and figuratively — jumping on Shevchenko’s back and immediately attacking with a rear-naked choke.

The champion tried to fight Grasso off by tucking her chin, but the quiet woman from Guadalajara would not be denied, locking in the choke over Shevchenko’s chin and squeezing so hard it looked like she might simply pop Shevchenko’s head like a zit. Moments later, Shevchenko tapped, and one of the greatest upsets in MMA history was complete. Against all odds, Alexa Grasso was a UFC champion.

What Grasso accomplished that night is one of the rarest feats in MMA: Dethroning a dominant champion in thrilling and emphatic fashion. Think Chris Weidman upsetting Anderson Silva, Conor McGregor knocking out Jose Aldo, or Julianna Peña submitting Amanda Nunes. Those are the sorts of performances that live on forever, and this one joins their ranks. There’s a reason it was the only unanimous decision by our ranking panel this year, and even I, who has plenty of reason to hate it, still voted it as the Submission of the Year: Because it deserves it.

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2. SHAVKAT RAKHMONOV DEF. GEOFF NEAL

Alexa Grasso’s submission of Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285 was so stunning that fans can be forgiven if they don’t recall that about 30 minutes before it happened, Shavkat Rakhmonov staked his own claim to Submission of the Year by throttling Geoff Neal in the featured main card fight.

Heading into their bout, much was made of Rakhmonov’s perfect 16-0 record with eight submissions and eight knockouts to his name. But for 14 minutes, Neal wasn’t having it. Sure, Rakhmonov was winning, but it was a hard-fought battle (one of the best of the year) and it looked for all the world like Rakhmonov was finally going to see the judges’ scorecards.

Nope.

In the last minute of the fight, Rakhmonov simply grabbed Neal by the throat and strangled him, forcing the tap. Officially, the finish is listed as a rear-naked choke, but in reality, this was the sort of thing your older sibling hits you with when you’re getting too rambunctious. Shavkat big-brothered Geoff Neal just so he wouldn’t leave things in the hands of the judges. What a hero.

3. JON JONES DEF. CIRYL GANE

So remember that thing about how UFC 285 had back-to-back Submission of the Year candidates? Well, make that back-to-back-to-back.

Though it’s almost an afterthought from that evening, UFC 285 did not end with Alexa Grasso submitting Valentina Shevchenko. That fight was merely the co-main event to the much ballyhooed return of Jon Jones, as he made his long-awaited heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane with the vacant heavyweight title on the line. It was supposed to be a matchup for the ages: “The greatest fighter of all-time” finally moving up in weight but coming in off a three-year layoff vs. the future of the heavyweight division. Instead it was a coronation.

It took the former UFC light heavyweight champion just over two minutes to walk across the cage, take Gane down, and tap him with a guillotine choke. It was arguably Jones’ easiest fight in the UFC, and while the technique itself was not particularly cinematic, what it meant was. Jones finally moved up to heavyweight and claimed a second title, further entrenching himself as the greatest fighter in MMA history, and, for at least a little while, making the MMA world forget about Francis Ngannou.

4. LOUIS GLISMANN DEF. MELVIN VAN SUIJDAM II

Submission of the Year is always my favorite year-end category because it’s where you can get some really cool stuff. Yes, the category is usually won by an immensely significant outcome (like the three above) or a UFC first (think Korean Zombie’s Twister in 2011), but there are simply so many fights that happen each year that the regional scene is always going to deliver one or two things you’ve never seen before.

Case in point: Louis Glismann hitting an inverted omoplata on Melvin van Suijdam II at OKTAGON 43.

In case you haven’t seen it, check out the video below. I’ve been watching MMA for 20 years and I’ve never seen something like that. Glismann just sort of ties up the arm and yeets himself across the cage, nearly yanking van Suijdam’s arm out of socket as he rolls, and he does all of this with just seconds left in the round. I can confidently say that there was no cooler maneuver in an MMA cage or ring this year.

5. DAVEY GRANT DEF. RAPHAEL ASSUNCAO

Speaking of cool things that are rarely seen in MMA, inverted triangles don’t exactly grow on trees, particularly not under the circumstances that Davey Grant managed to land one in his fight with Raphael Assuncao at UFC Las Vegas.

After a competitive first two rounds, Grant looked to be in need of a finish against Assuncao as referee Keith Peterson docked a point from Grant in final round for grabbing the fence. With time running out and the fight restarted on the feet, Grant went for broke, bombing on Assuncao with punches and dropping the Brazilian fighter with a spinning backfist. As Assuncao tried to survive to the bell by shooting a takedown, Grant jumped on an inverted triangle and squeezed for the finish. It was a risky move, but one that paid off as Grant put Assuncao to sleep and scored one of the best submissions of the year.

Here is how the voting for MMA Fighting’s 2023 Submission of the Year played out.