# The 20 Best MMA Submission Specialists of All Time

> Some of these fighters won belts with a single armbar; others built whole careers on leg locks and chokes nobody saw coming. Early-UFC pioneers share the bracket with modern record-holders.

*By YPB Team · Published November 1, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-mma-submission-specialists-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Royce Gracie** — score 1000/1000
   Gracie jiu-jitsu pioneer who choked and armlocked bigger men to win three of the first four UFC tournaments.
2. **Charles Oliveira** — score 847/1000
   Brazilian former UFC lightweight champion who holds the UFC record for submission wins.
3. **Ronaldo Souza** — score 794/1000
   Multiple-time BJJ world champion known as Jacare who carried his grappling to Strikeforce and UFC middleweight gold contention.
4. **Joe Lauzon** — score 794/1000
   New Jersey lightweight famous for scrambles and a stack of submission-of-the-night bonuses.
5. **Ken Shamrock** — score 716/1000
   Pancrase and early UFC star whose leg locks and chokes made him the first King of Pancrase.
6. **Glover Teixeira** — score 661/1000
   Late-blooming Brazilian who submitted Jan Blachowicz to become UFC light heavyweight champion at 42.
7. **Rousimar Palhares** — score 600/1000
   Brazilian grappler whose ferocious heel hooks made him one of the most feared leg lockers in MMA.
8. **Islam Makhachev** — score 529/1000
   Dagestani lightweight champion whose sambo-based grappling finished elite opponents with arm triangles and chokes.
9. **Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira** — score 529/1000
   Pride and UFC heavyweight champion famed for surviving punishment and pulling off submissions from his back.
10. **Gillian Robertson** — score 448/1000
   Canadian flyweight and strawweight who holds the UFC women's record for submission wins.
11. **Ronda Rousey** — score 353/1000
   Olympic judo medallist whose signature armbar ended most of her UFC and Strikeforce title fights inside a round.
12. **Shinya Aoki** — score 353/1000
   Japanese grappling wizard with dozens of submission wins, including rare finishes like the gogoplata.
13. **Fedor Emelianenko** — score 353/1000
   Pride heavyweight king whose sambo armbars finished a long line of heavyweight contenders.
14. **Jim Miller** — score 353/1000
   UFC lightweight veteran who ranks among the promotion's leaders in submission victories.
15. **Kazushi Sakuraba** — score 353/1000
   Japanese catch wrestler nicknamed the Gracie Hunter for his Pride wins over four members of the family.
16. **Demian Maia** — score 240/1000
   Brazilian black belt whose relentless back takes and chokes made him a perennial UFC welterweight contender.
17. **Fabricio Werdum** — score 240/1000
   Former UFC heavyweight champion who submitted Fedor and Cain Velasquez with his elite jiu-jitsu.
18. **Tony Ferguson** — score 240/1000
   Unorthodox former interim lightweight champion known for his d'arce and brabo chokes.
19. **Frank Mir** — score 0/1000
   Two-time UFC heavyweight champion who snapped limbs with armbars and kimuras against some of the division's best.
20. **Brian Ortega** — score 0/1000
   Featherweight contender who built an unbeaten run on comeback guillotines and triangles.

Tags: sports, ufc, fighters, mma, jiu-jitsu