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With one other action-packed month of MMA within the books, MMA Junkie appears at one of the best submissions from January 2025: Listed below are the 5 nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for January.
On the backside of the put up, tell us if we obtained it proper by voting on your alternative.
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Nominees
Shinebaatar Bat-Erdene def. Kai Yoshida at Gladiator 029
Shinebaatar Bat-Erdene (3-0) delivered an ultra-rare submission towards Kai Yoshida (6-1) with a scissor choke within the opening spherical of their bantamweight bout.
Felipe Bunes def. Jose Johnson at UFC Battle Evening 249
The primary submission end below the UFC banner in 2025 was nothing wanting stunning, and it got here courtesy of Felipe Bunes.
Along with his again on the mat early within the flyweight bout, Bunes (14-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) rapidly transitioned into an armbar assault on Jose Johnson (16-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC), who valiantly tried to flee, however was pressured to faucet out simply over two minutes into the opening spherical.
Mackenzie Dern def. Amanda Ribas at UFC Battle Evening 249
Mackenzie Dern checked loads of containers when she defeated Amanda Ribas of their strawweight rematch.
Not solely did Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) pull off her first stoppage since April 2021, she avenged a previous loss to Ribas (12-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and solidified herself as a possible title challenger. Dern submitted Ribas with an armbar within the third spherical in any case judges had the struggle scored 19-19.
Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland at UFC 311
Kevin Holland made it clear that he wasn’t overly impressed with Reinier de Ridder going into their middleweight bout. Maybe now his opinion has modified.
De Ridder (19-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), the previous two-division ONE Championship title holder, got here up aces towards Holland (26-13 MMA, 13-10 UFC). He obtained the struggle to the bottom within the opening seconds then took the again. As soon as de Ridder secured the place, it didn’t take however 30 extra seconds to lock in a rear-naked choke for the end.
The winner
Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano at UFC 311
Is Islam Makhachev the best light-weight fighter in UFC historical past? After UFC 311, he’s obtained one report working in his favor.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) wanted a fast wakeup name, however as soon as it occurred, it didn’t take lengthy for him to get rid of Renato Moicano (20-6-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) with a D’arce choke. The end got here on the 4:05 mark of the primary spherical, marking Makhachev’s fifth consecutive title protection.
Makhachev now holds that report, surpassing Khabib Nurmagomedov, Benson Henderson and B.J. Penn for probably the most title defenses in divisional historical past.
For a short second, Moicano – who took the struggle on someday’s discover after Arman Tsarukyan was pressured to withdraw – gave Makhachev a scare when he knocked him down. However Makhachev rapidly bounced again as much as his ft.
As soon as standing once more, Makhachev wasted no time capturing for a takedown, simply getting it, and dealing for the end utilizing the identical approach he beat Dustin Poirier with to defend his belt at UFC 302 in June.
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