Anyone can get caught — but these fighters make a living off it. We graded the field for grappling and submission skill, then checked the top of the list against real jiu-jitsu pedigree and the UFC record books. These are the ten best submission artists in MMA.
What the submission numbers show
Submission attempts per fifteen minutes is the cleanest measurable signal of a hunter, and
the spread across the roster is enormous. Most fighters sit under one. Charles
Oliveira is at 2.6, which for a lightweight who has fought at the top for a decade is
the number that matters most on this page — sustained submission threat against elite defence,
not against overmatched opponents.
A high number is not automatically a compliment. Attempts are counted whether or not they
were ever close, so a fighter who throws speculative guillotines from bad position measures the
same as one who methodically hunts a back take. Read it alongside how often the attempts finish.
Submission grappling is not the same as MMA submissions
Several of the best pure grapplers alive have modest MMA submission records, and the reason
is simple: getting to the position is the hard part when the other person is punching you.
A world-class guard is a different tool once elbows are legal, which is why decorated
competitors sometimes convert slowly to MMA while wrestlers with basic submissions convert
fast — they can get on top and stay there.
Who just missed
Bo Nickal — 2.3 attempts per fifteen with a wrestling base that gets him
there; the level of opposition is still climbing. Chase Hooper — 2.2, one of
the most active hunters in the lightweight division. Mackenzie Dern — the
credentials are as good as anyone's on this page, but her MMA submission rate has not yet
matched them.
The defensive side
A list of submission artists is incomplete without noting who cannot be caught. Submission
defence rarely gets discussed because it produces no highlight, but the fighters who have never
been finished on the mat are quietly the reason several names on this list have losses. If you
want to test a matchup rather than read about one, the fight simulator
resolves the grappling exchange explicitly rather than rolling a single number.
1Charles Oliveira
· Lightweight Submissions: S (our engine)
“Do Bronx” is the most prolific finisher in UFC history: records for most submissions (17), most finishes (21) and most performance bonuses. In 36 UFC fights he has heard the final bell only twice.
2Mackenzie Dern
· Women's Strawweight Submissions: A (our engine)
A genuine grappling prodigy — an ADCC and IBJJF world champion who became the first woman ever to win IBJJF, ADCC and UFC titles, capturing the strawweight belt in 2025. Her guard is a different sport.
3Khabib Nurmagomedov
· Lightweight Submissions: S+ (our engine)
Twenty-nine and zero. Once Khabib took the back, the finish — or the most suffocating control the sport has ever seen — was all but inevitable.
4Islam Makhachev
· Welterweight Submissions: S+ (our engine)
The Dagestani system perfected: positional dominance that flows straight into chokes, used to dismantle a murderer’s row of lightweights and then a welterweight champion.
5Kayla Harrison
· Women's Bantamweight Submissions: S+ (our engine)
A two-time Olympic judo gold medalist whose throws lead right into finishes; she kimura’d Julianna Peña to win the bantamweight title in only her third UFC fight.
6Demetrious Johnson
· Flyweight Submissions: S (our engine)
A scrambling genius whose creativity produced unforgettable finishes — none better than the mid-scramble flying armbar of Ray Borg.
7Georges St Pierre
· Welterweight Submissions: S (our engine)
He capped his career by submitting Michael Bisping with a rear-naked choke to win a second title — proof his grappling was every bit as dangerous as his record-setting wrestling.
8Khamzat Chimaev
· Middleweight Submissions: S (our engine)
Suffocating top pressure that turns into chokes; he has tapped opponents and smothered champions with equal ease.
9Movsar Evloev
· Featherweight Submissions: S (our engine)
Undefeated and relentlessly grappling-heavy, with a control game that wears opponents down and steadily opens up the back.
10Daniel Cormier
· Heavyweight Submissions: S (our engine)
An Olympic wrestler whose chain grappling set up the rear-naked chokes that finished elite light heavyweights and heavyweights alike.
Settle it yourself
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