With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from September 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’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.
Nominee: Dean Garnett def. Jan Cieplowski at 2025 PFL Europe 3
Nominee: Tom Nolan def. Charlie Campbell at UFC Fight Night 260
After a lightweight war, Tom Nolan emerged triumphant against Charlie Campbell.
After getting dropped early in the opening round, Nolan (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) bit down on his mouthpiece and got into all sorts of wild exchanges with Campbell (9-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC). He eventually got the back in the clinch, dragged it to the mat and locked in a rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 4:08 mark of Round 1.
Nominee: Neil Magny def. Jake Matthews at UFC Fight Night 260
Neil Magny has the second most wins in UFC history after submitting Jake Matthews in their welterweight bout, but none of the two dozen were more controversial.
After Matthews (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) seemingly forced the fight to be stopped by the referee by putting Magny (31-13 MMA, 24-12 UFC) in a first-round choke, the referee changed his mind and sent the action to the next round. The energy changes, and Magny began to find himself in the fight before locking in a D’Arce choke to tap out Matthews.
Nominee: Jimmy Crute def. Evan Erslan at UFC Fight Night 260
Jimmy Crute was too much for Ivan Erslan on the ground, and it was over quite quickly from there.
After some striking exchanges in the opening minutes of the light heavyweight bout, Crute (14-5-2 MMA, 6-4-2 UFC) took the back of Erslan (14-6 MMA, 0-3 UFC) and did a modified neck crack, officially ruled a rear-naked choke, that led to the tap at the 3:19 mark of Round 1.
The winner: Benoit Saint Denis def. Mauricio Ruffy at UFC Fight Night 258
Benoit Saint Denis would not be denied on home soil.
In the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 258 at Accor Arena in Paris, France, Saint Denis (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) turned in a dominant performance against Mauricio Ruffy. The Frechman’s forward pressure was too much for Ruffy (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) to deal with, leading to a submission stoppage at 2:56 of Round 2.
Saint Denis wasted little time bringing the fight to Ruffy. The grappling game was a big area of success for Saint Denis early in the fight, keeping Ruffy away from his distance striking game. The crowd roared and chanted at the top of their lungs throughout the round while the Frenchman controlled the fight.
Ruffy aimed to change the fight early in the second round as he tried to stop Saint Denis’ forward pressure with strikes. Just when Ruffy was finding his target, Saint Denis was able to get back to his grappling game to remain in control. Soon enough, Saint Denis was on the back and slapped on a rear-naked choke. At first, Ruffy appeared to be able to deal with it, but the squeeze kept getting tighter and tighter until he tapped.
