Video Timeline: MMA’s Greatest Techniques of the Year, 1993-2011
(Ah, 2007. A very fine year for gogoplatas.)
By Ben Goldstein
Over the last two decades, MMA has evolved so consistently that fighters are still finding new and unexpected ways to destroy their opponents — while causing fans to spit their beers in shock. We decided to take a lil’ spin through MMA history and identify the single most awe-inspiring technique from each year since the sport’s modern inception. We expect you to disagree with us; there’s a comments section just for that purpose. And away we go…
1993: Royce Gracie‘s Rear-Naked Choke
vs. Ken Shamrock @ UFC 1, 11/12/93
(Fight starts at the 3:54 mark)
You have to remember that in the early ’90s, a well-placed roundhouse kick to the head was considered the pinnacle of martial arts. What Royce Gracie introduced to fight fans in his early UFC run was something much more practical, less flashy, and a little bit scary. Gracie’s submission of Ken Shamrock — and the similar hold he used to stop Gerard Gordeau in the finals — proved that skill beat size, and pajamas beat man-panties.
1994: Dan Severn‘s Suplexes
vs. Anthony Macias @ UFC 4, 12/16/94
(Fight starts at the 1:53 mark)
Of course, the UFC’s formative years weren’t all about subtlety. The arrival of Dan Severn, followed by his ground-and-pounding spiritual descendants Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr, showed that a hulking wrestler could do just as well as a skinny grappling whiz. The suplexes that Severn pulled off in his UFC debut were straight out of a pro-wrestling match, but my God, they were real. As commentator Jim Brown sums up the performance, “what I’m looking at is a wrestler with a lot of strength, but not the true technique of the jiu-jitso man.” And sure enough, the UFC’s original “jiu-jitso man” Royce Gracie caught Severn in the Octagon’s first-ever triangle choke later that night.
1995: Marco Ruas’s Leg Kicks
vs. Paul Varelans @ UFC 7, 3/10/95
It’s not like Marco Ruas was the first guy to throw leg kicks in a vale tudo match, but the technique became part of his legacy due to how he used them — as a savage fight-finisher, perfect for chopping down bigger opponents. During his 13-minute UFC 7 finals match against Paul “The Polar Bear” Varelans, Ruas executed a leg-kick based strategy that hobbled the American behemoth. Varleans became so aggravated that he started kicking back, and seemed to learn how to check the incoming kicks mid-fight. But in the end, the King of the Streets pulverized Varelans’s lead thigh until he collapsed to the mat, unable to defend himself. Of course, if the UFC outlawed fence-grabbing at the time, the fight wouldn’t have lasted half as long. Honorable mention: Ken Shamrock’s kneebar against Bas Rutten @ Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 2.
1996: Gary Goodridge’s “Goose Neck” Crucifix
vs. Paul Herrera @ UFC 8, 2/16/96
Let’s just say that Big Daddy didn’t earn his 4th-degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won the old-fashioned way. But when the former arm-wrestling champ and all-around tough guy made his UFC debut, he at least knew how to pull off a rather nasty grappling maneuver that would leave his opponent’s head wide-open for elbow strikes. As Goodridge told us in his final “Ask Gary” column, “I was shocked like everybody. Since I practiced my counter-move the night before I was ready, but surprised it worked that easily.” Though Jon Jones pulled off a variation of this finish against Vladimir Matyushenko in 2010, the Goodridge Goose-Neck hasn’t been duplicated in the Octagon since, which is probably a good thing. Honorable mention: Bas Rutten’s liver shots against Jason Delucia @ Pancrase: Truth 6.
1997: Chris Haseman and Mark Kerr’s Chin-in-Eye Submissions
vs. Hiriwa Te Rangi and Elvis Sinosic @ Caged Combat 1, 3/22/97 (Haseman)
vs. Don Bobish @ UFC 14, 7/27/97 (Kerr)
(Kerr vs. Bobish starts at the 7:01 mark of the above video.)
Look, eye-gouging is dangerous and underhanded, and when the Unified Rules banned all forms of it in 2000, we were all better off. But you have to respect the brutal ingenuity of locking down your opponent from the top, inserting your chin into his eye-socket, and squeezing. Gross but effective, and not something that you’d think to prepare for. Responsible for three separate finishes that year — two of which came in the same night from the same guy — 1997 was the Year of Chinjitsu.
1998: Vitor Belfort‘s Running Punch-Blitz
vs. Wanderlei Silva @ UFC Ultimate Brazil, 10/16/98
In his prime, Vitor Belfort was MMA’s answer to Mike Tyson — a prodigious talent whose mix of hand-speed and power left most of his opponents staring at the lights in short order. Wanderlei Silva was building his own reputation as a hyper-aggressive brawler at the time, but against the Phenom he was woefully outgunned. Belfort blasted Silva from one end of the cage to the other, landing about a dozen punches in three seconds, most of which were thrown at a dead run. That night, Belfort foreshadowed the next generation of MMA fighters, whose athleticism gave them a stunning capacity to cause damage.
1999: Rumina Sato’s Flying Armbar
vs. Charles Diaz @ Shooto: Devilock Fighters, 1/15/99
Well, speaking of athleticism — turning yourself upside-down in mid-air to snatch an armbar requires a good amount of gymnastic ability, as well as absolute confidence and a touch of insanity. This submission is legendary not just for it’s novelty, but also for its unexpected quickness. Who else would have the balls to try this so early in a fight?
2000: Genki Sudo’s Giant Swing
vs. Craig Oxley @ Pancrase: Trans 6, 10/31/00
MMA fans are funny — we look down our noses at that fake s**t, and yet we mark out so damn hard for pro-wrestling-style antics whenever they creep into the sport. Whether it’s a silver-tongued heel, a dramatic entrance, or a high-flying body-slam (see: 2002, 2005), there are some things that just hit an audience on a visceral level. Genki Sudo understood that as much as anybody else in MMA’s history. Swinging your opponent 720 degrees might not be the most practical setup for a leglock, but it’s a sure way to make the crowd go “ohhhhhhh!” Honorable Mention: Kazushi Sakuraba‘s kimura against Renzo Gracie @ PRIDE 10, for sheer historic value.
2001: Shonie Carter‘s Spinning Backfist
vs. Matt Serra @ UFC 31, 5/4/01
I’m not sure if this is the first spinning backfist knockout in MMA; we’ll just call it the Pimp Daddy Godfather. Shonie Carter landed this backfist with nine seconds left in a fight he was about to lose on points, which helped set up a revenge storyline when he and Matt Serra met again five years later on The Ultimate Fighter season 4. Yahir Reyes’s backfist wins on brutality, but Shonie’s gets the nod for importance.
2002: Bob Sapp‘s Piledriver
vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira @ PRIDE Shockwave, 8/28/02
What would the world be like if Sapp literally killed Big Nog with that thing? Would MMA have gone extinct by the end of the year? Would it have been pushed underground? Would Sapp still become a Japanese cultural icon worthy of his own s*x toy? I don’t know. This is the kind of crap I think about.
2003: Mirko Cro Cop’s Left Head Kick
vs. Igor Vovchanchyn @ PRIDE Total Elimination 2003, 8/10/03
vs. “Dos Caras Jr.” @ PRIDE Bushido 1, 10/5/03
Bruce Lee said it best: “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.” And thanks to his patented left head-kick, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic gave his opponents plenty to fear during his stint in PRIDE. The legend of the LHK was officially born in 2003, as Mirko used the technique to knock out two consecutive opponents in brutal fashion. In later years, Cro Cop would finish Aleksander Emelianenko and Wanderlei Silva with the very same kick, and that ridiculous dude in the mask went on to become the current WWE Champion.
2004: Ryo Chonan‘s Scissor-Leg Takedown/Heel Hook
vs. Anderson Silva @ PRIDE Shockwave 2004, 12/31/04
Okay, this was a tough one. Keep in mind that 2004 also gave us two of the greatest MMA slams of all time — the Randleplex, and Quinton Jackson‘s powerbomb KO of Ricardo Arona, which both happened at the same event, by the way. But six months later, Ryo Chonan pulled off a Hail Mary submission that A) hasn’t been successfully re-created by any other fighter, and B) still stands as Anderson Silva‘s last loss by stoppage. The aforementioned body-slams became just as mythical in the sport’s history, but if we’re talking about creativity and the sport’s evolution, you gotta give it to Chonan.