MMAjunkie's 'Submission of the Month' for September: A featherweight record-setter

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best submissions from September. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Submission of the Month” award for September.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

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The Nominees

Josh Barnett def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night 93

After nearly 20 years as a professional, Josh Barnett (35-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) showed he still has plenty of fight left when he beat Andrei Arlovski (25-13 MMA, 14-7 UFC) in a fantastic heavyweight headliner between former UFC champs.

Barnett battled Arlovski in a back-and-forth fight, but as time progressed his pace took over. By the third round “The Pitbull” was mostly out of it, and Barnett grounded him, then locked up a rear-naked choke for the victory.

Jessica Andrade def. Joanne Calderwood at UFC 203

Joanne Calderwood (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) might have had four inches on Jessica Andrade (15-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC), but Andrade made it clear from the get-go she was the stronger women’s strawweight fighter.

Andrade muscled Calderwood to the canvas just one minute into their meeting and proceeded to have her way with the “TUF 20” vet. She capitalized on Calderwood’s exposed neck and finished the fight with a textbook guillotine choke.

Randy Brown def. Erick Montano at UFC Fight Night 94

For the majority of two rounds, success seemed to elude Randy Brown (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in his welterweight bout against Erick Montano (7-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC). But with his back against the wall, he pounced on a mistake from his opponent and turned the tables.

When Montano got sloppy in the opening seconds of the third round, Brown saw his opening. He cinched on a modified guillotine choke and secured a tapout to bounce back from a what would have been a decision loss on the scorecards.

Chas Skelly def. Maximo Blanco at UFC Fight Night 94

Chas Skelly (16-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) managed to pack a full fight’s worth of action into 19 seconds of featherweight action against the always unpredictable Maximo Blanco (12-8-1 MMA, 4-5 UFC).

Skelly threw a flying kick to match the same from Blanco in the opening moment of the fight. Blanco was knocked to the canvas, and in the ensuing scramble Skelly transitioned from a guillotine choke attempt to a D’Arce choke. Blanco couldn’t get out of the hold and Skelly had to tell the referee he was unconscious to force the stop 19 seconds into Round 1.

Eric Spicely def. Thiago “Marreta” Santos at UFC Fight Night 95

Fighting before a hostile crowd in his opponent’s native Brazil, Eric Spicely (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) locked in a quick submission on Thiago “Marreta” Santos (13-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) to buck the sizable betting odds against him.

Spicely set up a takedown with an overhand right, landing in a considerably better position than moments before when a single-leg attempt put him on his back with Santos in his half-guard. With the tables turned, Spicely got to work by threatening a kimura, worked to mount, and then transitioned brilliantly to the back after threatening an armbar in transition. He secured the choke and Santos was forced to tap.

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The Winner: Chas Skelly

The way Skelly went after Blanco to start their 145-pound contest, you would have thought his car was double-parked outside the arena.

After a furious attack in the opening seconds that dropped Blanco, Skelly snagged a D’Arce choke and used it to put Blanco to sleep just 19 seconds into the opening round, setting a new record for the fastest submission finish in UFC/WEC combined featherweight history.

Skelly began the fight by sprinting across the cage as soon as referee Herb Dean gave the signal to fight, and the force of his opening onslaught seemed to catch Blanco by surprise.

Even as Blanco rushed to the center of the cage to meet Skelly with a kick, Skelly elevated over it and tagged Blanco with a leaping kick that put him down, with Skelly following close behind.

In the scramble that followed, Skelly quickly locked up a D’arce choke and squeezed it as Blanco attempted to roll out. Once Blanco settled on his back, Skelly informed Dean that he’d put his opponent to sleep. When Dean moved in to check, he found that Skelly was telling the truth. Just like that, the fight was over almost as soon as it had begun.