With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from January 2026: Here are the nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Nominee: Pierre Manzo def Nicolas Santos at ARES 38
Pierre Manzo continued the strong start to his young career with a tenacious choke out of Nicolas Santos in a welterweight regional bout in France.
Once Manzo (2-0) snatched onto an anaconda choke, he was relentless. He wouldn’t let go of Santos’ (4-2) neck until the fight was over, all of which happened in just 94 seconds.
Nominee: Jonathan Micallef def. Oban Elliott at UFC 325
Jonathan Micallef rallied to score a conclusive stoppage in his second octagon appearance against Oban Elliott.
Micallef (8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) became the first to submit Elliott (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in MMA competition when he put him to sleep with a rear-naked choke less than four minutes into the second round of a fight he was losing.
Nominee: Billy Elekana def. Junior Tafa at UFC 325
Billy Elekana picked up his third UFC win in a row when he submitted Junior Tafa in the second round of their light heavyweight.
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The first round was a slugfest as both men slung leather toward the other. Tafa (6-5 MMA, 2-5 UFC) landed his fair share of hard blows, but Elekana (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) neutralized danger, got the fight to the ground and finish with a rear-naked choke.
The winner: Quillan Salkilld def. Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 325
Quillan Salkilld continues to look like the real deal as a future lightweight contender with a one-sided finish of Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 325.
After making waves in his previous octagon appearance with a vicious head kick knockout of Nasrat Haqparast, Australia’s Salkilld (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) reminded everyone that his ground game is serious, too, when he took Mullarkey (18-9 MMA, 6-7 UFC) down early, moved to the back and forced a tap due to what was announced as a rear-naked choke, but looked like a neck crack.
Although it wasn’t the most flashy finish, Salkilld became the first to submit 15-year veteran Mullarkey in MMA competition, and at 26, is showing signs of being the next great Australian fighter.
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“Sometimes it ends nice and simple in the first round,” Salkilld said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I come into these fights expecting everything. We’re staying active and we’re getting that top 15 opponent next. We don’t care who it is.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for January: Quillan Salkilld
