MMA Submission of the Year 2025: Jean Silva gives the world a pound of Bryce Mitchell’s flesh

In April, the MMA world lived vicariously through Jean Silva as he choked the life out of Bryce Mitchell.

By that point, Mitchell had rubbed the whole damn sport the wrong way. On the first episode of his podcast, the UFC featherweight infamously declared that he would like to go fishing with Adolf Hitler, who, based on Mitchell’s own research, was “a good guy.”

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While that would lead to most people losing their job in any other walk of life, UFC CEO Dana White had another punishment in mind. Shortly before describing Mitchell as “literally one of the dumbest human beings,” the UFC CEO and president summed up the promotion’s unique position in sports.

“That’s the beautiful thing about this business,” he said. “For all of you who hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to see him hopefully get his ass whooped on global television.”

And who did the powers that be select to administer such an ass-whooping?

A wild man who barks like a dog, of course.

Silva, perhaps the most feral member of Brazil’s Fighting Nerds team, barked like a dog throughout the whole ordeal. Seriously, the first time they met he barked right in Bryce’s face. When he wasn’t barking himself hoarse, he was leading a chant of “F*** Bryce Mitchell!” in his lovable broken English.

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It really messed with Mitchell, too.

Less than a month before they fought, Mitchell appealed to the world to pray for him as he claimed he was being attacked by “demons and beautiful women” in his sleep. The thought intruders had been sent, according to Mitchell, by Silva, who was possessed by “a legion of demons” — Mitchell’s words, not mine.

It was perceived to be a classic grappler versus striker matchup. The masses believed Mitchell could submit Silva if the fight hit the ground, but knew he would be in grave danger as long as the fight was standing. Half of that forecast proved to be true.

About 20 seconds into the second round, Mitchell was downed by a Silva right hand. He reacted by trying to force grappling exchanges that resulted in him being fed a feast of elbows. The punishment continued up until a body-head combo from Silva prompted a final desperate shot from “Thug Nasty,” who was so adamant to get the fight to the ground, he left his neck open, upon which Silva closed a tight ninja choke.

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It wasn’t the most beautiful submission, nor the most technical. Instead, it was brutal in a “Nature is Metal” kind of way. What it lacked in artistry, it doubled in vibes. It made us feel something, man.

You know what Silva did to celebrate the win, which ultimately earned Uncrowned’s Submission of the Year honors for 2025?

He got up in Mitchell’s face one last time and — you guessed it — he barked like a dog.

And we absolutely loved it.

2. Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Eblen

With 55 seconds left in their middleweight championship bout, Johnny Eblen was on Costello van Steenis’ back with hooks in. Yet, somehow, he ended up unconscious with eight seconds left on that very same clock.

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Eblen had long been considered one of the best fighters outside of the UFC. Up until the fourth round of his July title defense, it appeared to be a standard outing for the ATT standout. But then van Steenis came alive in that penultimate round and started tagging the previously undefeated American, whose gas tank aggressively drained.

The late takedown in the fifth felt like it’d allow Eblen to coast to victory, yet somehow, with the American on his back, van Steenis pulled off a sweep that effectively reversed their positions. He torqued a rear-naked choke in the dying embers, with Eblen’s limp limbs signalling the end of the contest in the nick of time.

3. Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley

The Merab Dvalishvili love-in of 2025 kicked into overdrive when he pulled off a rare north-south choke on his old adversary, Sean O’Malley.

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He was already one-up on the technicolored striker after dethroning him with a unanimous nod nine months previously. This time, the Georgian didn’t leave it in the hands of the judges. The technical mastery that concluded the contest underlined Dvalishvili’s dominance in the rivalry.

The now-former champ may not have ended 2025 as he’d hoped, but his third-round submission win still sparked widespread debate as to whether “The Machine” is the greatest UFC bantamweight ever.

4. Youssef Zalal def. Josh Emmett

Set free from UFC APEX, Youssef Zalal announced himself as a legitimate featherweight contender with his cerebral submission win over divisional stalwart, Josh Emmett, on the UFC 320 main card.

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After conceding a perfect takedown just 30 seconds into the bout, Emmett was immediately immersed in Zalal’s entanglements. “The Moroccan Devil” threatened with an arm triangle before transitioning to a triangle, and eventually settled with an armbar.

There were no dramatics from Emmett when he ended the bout 98 seconds in. He verbally submitted so quietly that the broadcast had to enhance the sound so the watching world could hear it via replay.

5. Henrique Madureira def. Eriglent Prizreni

We don’t expect any of you to have heard of Henrique Madureira or Eriglent Prizreni, but that’s the beauty of this submission.

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You don’t need to know what was at stake in the bout, where the guys were ranked or anything else — you just need to see the madness that transpired when they met in November at Oktagon 80 in Munich, Germany.

In just the second bout of the night, an upside-down Madureira locked up an inverted triangle on a standing Prizreni. The Albanian stumbled around, likely in disbelief that he got caught in such an obscure web, before succumbing to the freak technique.

Uncrowned’s voting breakdown for Submission of 2025:

Honorable mentions:

• Sean Brady def. Leon Edwards

• Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Dolidze

• Valter Walker def. Kennedy Nzechukwu

• Kayla Harrison def. Julianna Peña

• Alexandre Pantoja def. Kai Kara-France

More from Uncrowned’s 2025 MMA year-end review: