5. Jeff “The Snowman” Monson
Jeff “The Snowman” Monson doesn’t really look like your everyday jiu-jitsu specialist. Monson is an American born out of Olympia, Washington and a full-blown Anarchist. Monson can almost pass as a power lifter and looks the type to chuck his opponents across the cage and pummel them into a bloody pulp. Well, that’s not the case, usually.
Monson actually trains with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL and is a world class submission wrestler and an ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion. Monson received the nickname “Snowman” at the 1999 ADCC World Championship. The Brazilian participants gave him the nickname after he came in as an unknown and swept through four Brazilians in a row to win his 88-98 kg weight class. Through the tournament Monson was described as a snowman because he seemed to only get better and better as he ran through his opponents, resembling a rolling snowball increasing in size. Strange metaphor but sure why not, I’m sure as hell not going to say anything to Monson about it.
Monson also holds three boxing bouts, consisting of two wins and one draw. Surprisingly enough, Monson has a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in psychology.
Of Monson’s 23 wins, a whopping 14 are due to submissions. Monson’s most exciting win was his most recent one against Kazuyuki Fujita at PRIDE 34:Kamikaze. Monson was dominant throughout the fight and concluded it with a beautifully sunk rear naked choke.
4. Shinya Aoki
Shinya Aoki is not well-known amongst the casual MMA fan or TUF newbies out there, however, this doesn’t count him out as a top notch submission artist and MMA fighter. Aoki holds a black belt in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. Aoki’s unique blend of superior jiu-jitsu and judo surely makes him stand out in the crowd of submission wrestlers. Aoki also stands out with his rainbow colored and/or neon tights in his fights, which is pretty damn awesome if you ask me.
Shinya Aoki has made most of his MMA career in the Shooto organization along with PRIDE FC and is the current Shooto middleweight champion.
In a way, Aoki reminds me of a Japanese version of BJ Penn. Aoki is best known for his remarkable flexibility and fluidity in his movements, usually gaining him the edge over his opponents on the ground. Nicknamed “Tobikan Judan,” meaning “Tenth degree black belt in jumping locks,” Aoki often surprises his opponents with his flexibility and exceptional submissions.
From what I hear, Aoki is a strong fighter, despite his lanky appearance. Aoki’s craziest wins would have to be against Clay French at Bushido 13 and against Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. I was in absolute awe when watching Aoki’s win over French, he won via FLYING triangle choke, YES, FLYING! What looked like an everyday match was turned into a mind-blowing win as Aoki slapped a flying triangle choke on Clay French and turned French into what looked like a human pretzel. I kid you not. Aoki’s win over Joachim Hansen was equally impressive as he took the victory via gogoplata, an extremely rare submission in MMA.
Aoki truly proves that a submission victory can be equally if not more entertaining than a knockout victory. With his gravity defying submissions, Aoki is surely one of the top submission artists out in MMA today.
Here is a highlight video of Aoki I posted a while ago.
3. BJ “The Prodigy” Penn
Fighters don’t earn the nickname “The Prodigy” for nothing. If there is one fighter out there to be deemed the prodigy, Penn is certainly the one. He's best known for his spectacular dexterity, flexibility, remarkable balance, as well as his “heavy hands.”
Penn began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of seventeen and was awarded a black belt in 2000. Penn was the first non-Brazilian to win a gold medal in the black belt division of the Mundial World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Penn also destroyed a well accomplished black belt in Judo as a white belt.
Penn established his mixed martial arts career with three consecutive knockout wins in the UFC over Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno before running into a majority decision loss against Jens Pulver at UFC 35.
Penn’s foremost achievement would have to be when he moved up from his normal lightweight division to the welterweight division, and defeated the heavily favored champion Matt Hughes. In Penn-Hughes I, Penn dominated the entire beginning first round on his feet and continued his onslaught on the ground. Penn sealed the deal with a beautiful rear naked choke forcing Hughes to tap. Penn also holds a win over current Japanese superstar and PRIDE FC lightweight champion Takanori Gomi.
Penn was also a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 5, which aired on April 5, 2007. Penn lead a team of eight lightweight fighters, and fought a rematch against Jens Pulver at the finale of the TV series on June 23, 2007. Penn took it to Pulver the entire match and won with a rear naked choke in the second round. Penn was able to trap the left arm of Pulver with his leg to sink in the choke. Penn’s future plans once again lie in the welterweight division where he hopes for a possible rematch against Georges St. Pierre and to fight Matt Hughes for the third time.
2. Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko
It must hurt to not see Fedor at the number one spot on any list. However, because the list is based on submissions alone, I hope you guys can forgive me. Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko is of course the current PRIDE FC World Heavyweight Champion and has been since March 16, 2003. Emeliananeko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last four years by many major MMA publications.
Emelianenko’s worldwide assault in MMA began in the art of Judo and Sambo. In 1997, Emelianenko earned the official certification of a “Master of Sports” in Sambo and Judo and soon became part of the Russian national team. In 2000, Fedor decided to compete in combat sambo and mixed martial arts because he was “poor.” Thank god for poverty!
Fedor’s best fights are well, all of them. I mean there isn’t one fight that Fedor has out there that doesn’t have me on the edge of my seat. Emelianenko is an absolute animal in the ring, from his lightning fast strikes to his smooth transitions and submissions on the ground. Fedor seems to be able to tangle his opponents from any position and slap on whatever submission at will. He just makes it look all too easy!
What catches my eye the most about Fedor though has to be his composure inside the ring. There has been many times where he has been caught in what seems to be a threatening situation, but shows no sign of panic whatsoever. For instance, in his fight with Mark Hunt, Fedor seemed to be caught in a tightly locked kimura and instead of panicking he patiently worked out of it.
Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianeko will go down as one of the greatest MMA fighters in history. No doubt about it!
We are down to the crème of the crop ladies and gentlemen. My number one rated submission artist in MMA today. And no, it is not Rickson Gracie, sorry. It is Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. From a jaw dropping 29 wins, 18 by way of submission, Minotauro is known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).Nogueira is ranked #2 in most MMA heavyweight rankings around in the Internet. The majority of his career has been completed in PRIDE but, he was recently signed into the UFC, where I think he will do BIG things.
Nogueira made his way to the top of the heavyweight ranks around the world and has competed against some of the biggest names in MMA. From Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Heath Herring, Ricco Rodriguez, Dan Henderson, Fabricio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov and even Bob Sapp, who outweighs Nogueira by a good 100 lbs.
If you’re not impressed with Nog’s more than stellar record, or his striking abilities or even his ground game, you must be blown away by this man’s fighting spirit and heart. Nogueira will NEVER give up in a fight, no matter what the situation or who the opponent. He is as tough as nails and is always respectable to all his opponents. Cro Cop, who Nogueira defeated via armbar, mentioned an interesting fact about Nogueira in a post interview. Cro Cop stated that he’d never experienced a grip as strong as Nogueira’s and it was as if his wrists were going to break every time he’d grab a hold of them.
Nogueira’s fight against Bob Sapp and Semmy Schilt are worth watching only because of the ludicrous size disadvantage he had coming in. In his bout against Sapp, he seemed to be getting dominated by Sapp’s overwhelming power and weight but managed to flip things around and win via armbar. With Schilt, Nogueira was forced to face a 6’11 giant with top notch striking credentials. Nogueira, being the “submission magician” he is, was able take the win with a triangle choke.
I am ecstatic with Nogueira’s signing to the UFC and hope to see him take the HW belt in the future!
Here are my picks for Top 5 Strikers of MMA Today just in case you missed that one.
-The Lianger
1 comment:
Good list. I'd like to throw Jeremy Horn's name into consideration as well. He's had a ton of fights, probably more than any two guys on this list, and has won almost half by submission.
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