With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from October 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for October.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominee: Youssef Zalal def. Josh Emmett at UFC 320
Youssef Zalal (18-5-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) needed less than two minutes to submit Josh Emmett (19-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) and announce himself as a featherweight contender
Emmett tried to fire some big shots as Zalal circled away. Zalal then surprised Emmett with a takedown, and immediately latched onto a rear-naked choke. “The Moroccan Devil” then transitioned to a slick armbar, forcing Emmett to verbally tap just 98 seconds after the contest began.
Nominee: Was Schultz def. Mario Mingaj at DWCS 86
Wes Schultz (8-2) pulled off a Dana White’s Contender Series first as he became a sure-thing for a UFC contract against Mario Mingaj (7-1)
LFA alum Schultz submitted Cage Warriors alum Mingaj with a Suloev stretch at 1:51 of Round 1. The submission, which has only been pulled off three times in the UFC (by Kenny Robertson, Zabit Magomesharipov, and Aljamain Sterling respectively), had never been successfully completed in the DWCS.
Nominee: Charles Jourdain def. Davey Grant at UFC Fight Night 262
Charles Jourdain (17-8-1 MMA, 8-7-1 UFC) stepped into the octagon to face Davey Grant (15-8 MMA, 8-7 UFC) in a bantamweight clash where he perfectly predicted the result.
First, “Air” Jourdain took flight with a flying knee – a technique he attempted multiple times in the round. However, in this instance, he smashed Grant square in the face, dropping him to the canvas. Jourdain followed up immediately with ground and pound, and ended up slapping on a guillotine choke as Grant attempted to get back to his feet. He knew it was tight as he was already celebrating the win before Grant tapped – which came just a couple of seconds later.
Nominee: Valter Walker def. Louie Sutherland at UFC 321
Valter Walker (15-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) had everything perfectly planned – and Louis Sutherland (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) still couldn’t stop it.
Walker needed less than two minutes to get hold of Sutherland’s foot and submit him by heel hook at the 1:24 mark of Round 1. It was his fourth straight finish with the same technique, marking an unmatched stretch of results inside the octagon.
The winner: Charles Oliveira def. Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 261
From a betting perspective, Charles Oliveira and Mateusz Gamrot closed as a coin flip. In reality, it wasn’t really close at all.
Oliveira (36-11 MMA, 24-11 UFC) had plenty of first-round success on the canvas against Gamrot (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), then forced him to tap in the second round from a rear-naked choke in the UFC Fight Night 261 main event at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Oliveira extended his UFC record for most stoppage wins (21) and most submissions (17). The former lightweight champ also never has lost in his home country of Brazil, where the fans in Rio went ballistic after his win. He moved to 18-0 in Brazil in his career with a tap that came at the 2:48 mark of the second round. He’s now 7-0 in the UFC in Brazil.
When Gamrot tried for his own attack on Oliveira’s leg, the Brazilian deftly bounced out and around and took Gamrot’s back. With 1:45 left, Gamrot scrambled again, but Oliveira wrapped him up tighter to look for the rear-naked choke. Gamrot got back to his feet, but Oliveira made himself into a backpack until they tumbled back to the canvas with Oliveira in easy control with a body triangle to ride out the round.
Gamrot didn’t appear interested in taking the fight to the canvas in the second, but on the feet had to deal with Oliveira marching him down for the first two minutes. Gamrot got a few punches in thanks to Oliveira’s bit of constant urgency, but they weren’t true threats. And with three minutes left, Oliveira scooped him up and took him to the canvas.
From there, it was absolutely a clinic. Oliveira worked his arm under the neck, tightened up, forced Gamrot to tap – and went over the top of the cage into the crowd to the fans and his family.
