Welcome to MMAmania’s 2025 Mid-Year Awards! Can you believe 2025 is already half done?
With six months of jaw-dropping action behind us, it’s time to celebrate the fighters, fights, and moments that have lit up the MMA world. From stunning upsets and bone-crunching knockouts to rising stars and masterful submissions, 2025 has delivered some good highlights.
Let’s dive into the best submission of the year so far. (Note: For knockouts and submissions, I’m all about style over substance.
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Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2
UFC 316
June 7, 2025
It’s not very often that fans get to see a North-South choke, and especially in a UFC title fight, but Merab Dvalishvilipulled it off in his rematch against Sean O’Malley, and it was beautiful.
Because of the rarity of the submission, it is the best submission of 2025 so far.
Here are a few honorable mentions:
Harrison vs. Pena
In the fight before Dvalishvili submitted O’Malley, Kayla Harrison claimed UFC gold by tapping Julianna Pena with a kimura.
Brahimaj vs. Goff
At UFC Vegas 107, Ramiz Brahimaj viciously put Billy Ray Goff to sleep with a guillotine choke and just dropped him.
Silva vs. Mitchell
Brazilian madman Jean Silva strangledBryce Mitchell in the second round with a nasty ninja choke.
Brady vs. Edwards
Sean Brady became the first person to submit Leon Edwards in his own home country to lock up the No. 1 Welterweight ranking.
Are any of these submissions the best of the year? Let us know below!
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