With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from March 2026: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
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Nominee: Alberto Montes def. Ricky Turcios at UFC 326
Alberto Montes keeps snapping necks and cashing checks, this time against Ricky Turcios.
Montes (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) whipped up his signature anaconda choke (announced as D’Arce choke by Bruce Buffer) on Ricky Turcios (12-6 MMA, 2-4 UFC) to secure the submission win less than a minute into the second round of the featherweight bout.
Nominee: Christian Bobe def. Cody McClanahan at CFFC 152
Christian Bobe displayed sensational grappling skills when he caught Cody McClanahan in a web early in their fight that he couldn’t get away from.
Nominee: Michael Chiesa def. Niko Price at UFC Fight Night 271
Michael Chiesa got his fairytale career end when he defeated Niko Price in his home state.
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Chiesa (22-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) was dominant against Price (16-11 MMA, 8-11 UFC) in their dual-retirement contest. He quickly took the back, locked in his signature rear-naked choke, and got the tap just 63 seconds into the opening round.
Nominee: Johnny Eblen def. Bryan Battle at PFL Pittsburgh
Johnny Eblen made quick work of recent UFC fighter Bryan Battle to bounce back from losing his PFL middleweight title.
It was a fast, one-sided affair as Eblen (17-1) tossed Battle (13-3) to the canvas and then got the back where he locked in a rear-naked choke to seal the deal inside the first round.
The winner: Ion Cutelaba def. Oumar Sy at UFC Fight Night 269
Ion Cutelaba pulled off quite the upset, at least in the eyes of the oddsmakers.
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A moderate to heavy underdog, Cutelaba (20-11-1 MMA, 9-10-1 UFC) notched an even more improbable victory over Oumar Sy (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) when he won the bout by first-round submission. Cutelaba snatched a guillotine choke and got the tap at the 4:24 mark of Round 1.
Cutelaba by first-round submission was +3000 on average across major online sports books, according to Best Fight Odds.
With the win, Cutelaba has won three of his most recent four outings. He bounces back from a split decision loss against Modestas Bukauskas in May.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Submission of the Month for March 2026: Ion Cutelaba def. Oumar Sy
