Khamzat Chimaev submits John Phillilps in UFC debut, ufc fight night

The Submissions of UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige

UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige featured three submission victories all during the preliminary bouts. Two chokes and one armbar but one of those submissions came from the debut of a middleweight that is certainly going to be a problem for the division, so we’ll start with that one first. 

Khamzat Chimaev had a dominant UFC debut against John Phillips where he was beating him everywhere. Credit to Phillips for getting through round one and taking a lot of damage but it was all part of Chimaev’s plan. He continued his brutality in the round, almost immediately controlling Phillips on the ground, and here is where he started working for the choke. 

From knee on belly position, Chimaev makes Phillips turn into him to relieve the pressure and reach out for his leg. This is exactly what Chimaev wants him to do since the extension of Phillips’s arm makes space for him to reach under the extended arm and set up the D’arce choke. From that point on it is a wrap in every sense of the word. Check out this clip from ESPN for the finish:

Working backward from that fight, Liana Jojua’s armbar finish of Diana Belbita came from a position Belbita probably could have prevented. Jojua found herself working off her back after a clinch initiated by Belbita who seemed to have a striking advantage when the fight started. Jojua found herself on her back and was able to pull guard where she was able to start working the armbar. It took some time to get the tap but Jojua was attacking non-stop once she secured the limb, check out the finish here:

The first bout of the night started with the undefeated Jack Shore’s submission win over Aaron Phillips. Shore gave away his setup early in round one if you rewatch the fight. His double underhook setup is something he obviously drilled to take the back and go for the choke, Michael Bisping picked up on this when it started and it’s something that obviously works for him as he was able to find himself there throughout the round. 

Once round two started, and while Phillips had the right idea to keep the fight on his feet he made the mistake of trying to jump and punch which gave Shore a takedown. With the grappling advantage on his side, it was only a matter of time before Shore would open up the opportunity to get the choke he was looking for with a few elbows. Check out the handy work that moved him to 13-0:

Hopefully, these breakdowns are helping new fans understand the ground game. The UFC has one more event from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi which might bring a submission or two this weekend. Follow MyMMANews for more of these breakdowns.

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Edward Carbajal
Edward holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Bachelor's degree in Communications. Along with over 30 years of martial arts experience, he co-hosts The Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour podcast, and also writes for Spectation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel