Will Khabib Nurmagomedov win UFC Submission of the Year? Check out the nominees
Khabib Nurmagomedov's victory via triangle choke over Justin Gaethje is a nominee for the 2020 UFC Submission of the Year award. The fight, which was the last before Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement, happened at UFC 254.
The other nominees are Jimmy Flick's flying triangle choke against Cody Durden, Mackenzie Dern's kneebar versus Hannah Cifers, and Ariane Lipski's kneebar on Luana Carolina.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was also nominated for the unofficial award last year when he defeated Dustin Poirier with a rear-naked choke submission in the third round of their fight at UFC 242.
The winner will be elected through popular vote on the UFC official social media pages.
Here is a breakdown of how every submission nominated for this year's award happened.
Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
Living up to her nickname 'The Queen of Violence,' Ariane Lipski forced her opponent to tap after barely a minute of the fight. Following the violent submission, Luana Carolina had to stay out of battle until 2021.
Carolina's team announced that her left knee's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) had partially torn. The kneebar also resulted in a medial tibia edema. But upon more detailed examination, the doctors decided that Carolina didn't need to go under surgery.
Jimmy Flick vs. Cody Durden
Jimmy' The Brick' Flick made his UFC debut against Cody Durden in UFC Fight Night 183, the last UFC event of 2020. A product of Dana White's Contender series, Flick is another prodigious ground fighter to make his way into the promotion.
Although Durden brought Flick to the canvas, the new UFC flyweight contender rapidly changed positions, bringing the fight to his advantage with an arm triangle that trapped Durden. From there, Flick's opponent couldn't get away from the situation and tapped not too long after.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Hannah Cifers
Mackenzie Dern secured the first leg lock submission in UFC women's history to force Hannah Cifers to tap in the first round of their UFC Vegas bout.
Dern learned Brazilian jiu-jitsu directly from her father, the BJJ master Wellington 'Megaton' Dias. One of the most skillful grapplers in the UFC, Dern has secured 60 percent of her wins in the promotion via submission.
Quickly identifying a position that she could benefit, Dern grabbed Cifers leg and forced her into the ground with her own body on top of Cifers' leg. There was nothing else that Cifers could do from there other than tap.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje
Khabib Nurmagomedov had a challenging year. His father died three months before his bout with Justin Gaethje in UFC 254 due to COVID-19 complications.
While Gaethje was considered by many the ideal UFC lightweight contender to break Khabib Nurmagomedov's unbeaten run, 'The Eagle' showed why he is regarded as one of the best MMA fighters ever.
As soon as Khabib Nurmagomedov got Gaethje to the ground, it was a one-man fight. Transitioning from the back to a full mount in the first few movements, Khabib Nurmagomedov instantly went for an arm-bar, but he noticed he was in a better position for the arm-triangle.
Gaethje didn't tap, and the referee stopped the fight after he noticed Khabib Nurmagomedov's opponent was unconscious. The retired champion later revealed that he went for the arm-triangle instead of the arm-bar because he didn't want to break Gaethje's hand in front of his parents.
What do you think it is the best 2020 UFC submission? Sound off in the comments.