Sherdog.com’s 2014 Submission of the Year

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4. Eduardo Dantas vs. Anthony Leone
Bellator 111
March 7 | Thackerville, Okla.

The year did not end so well for 25-year-old Nova Uniao upstart Dantas, as he lost his Bellator bantamweight crown to Joe Warren after the hyperactive Greco-Roman wrestling world champion ran him out of gas in the fifth and final round. However, “Dudu” did have a hot start to 2014, turning in one of the niftiest rear-naked choke executions you will ever see against Leone at Bellator 111 in March.

Leone lucked into his title shot and unfortunately wound up on the wrong end of a highlight reel. The American had lost to Brazilian Rafael Silva in the final of the Bellator 2013 Summer Series bantamweight tournament, but “Morcego” was forced to pull out due to injury and the aforementioned Warren had a knee injury. However, that is not to say Leone got run over in this fight. In fact, the Team Bombsquad rep grounded Dantas for the duration of the first round and landed punches while fending off the Brazilian’s active guard.

In the second round, however, Dantas got his long jab and body kicks working and stuffed Leone’s early takedowns. With just over 90 seconds to go in the round, an increasingly desperate Leone charged in on a single-leg attempt, which Dantas incredibly limp-legged out of, posting off Leone’s face with his left leg almost over his own head. When Leone dropped for another takedown, Dantas nearly spun out and took his back. In defense, Leone grabbed another single, but Dantas stood up to limp-leg out again, a la teammate Jose Aldo. This time, a crawling Leone tried to pick his ankle, which turned out to be his fatal mistake.

Through some combination of grappling prowess, body control and a little luck, Dantas basically moonwalked out of Leone's takedown, sliding backwards over his opponent and dropping straight into a deep back mount with Leone's left arm trapped inside, part Michael Jackson, part B.J. Penn. Leone was instantly ensnared in the rear-naked choke in one fell swoop, Dantas turning him over and popping his hips to seal the deal. The whole shebang unfolded in under six seconds, and half of that seemed to be Leone getting over the shock of the situation and realizing he had no other recourse but to submit.

Rear-naked chokes are typically dominant submissions, usually used to take out a foe has been beaten up already or has least surrendered dominant position. Very often, even a well-executed rear-naked choke is a mere formality at that point in a contest. For a rear-naked choke to really capture the imagination of the audience, there usually has to be some sort of provocative setup. Maybe only one arm is used and blood squirts out of the victim’s head, like Denis Kang on Amar Suloev or the back take is simply breathtaking, like Genki Sudo on Leigh Remedios. Dantas’ improvisational genius against Leone puts him into that same “Cooler Than Your Average Rear-Naked Choke Club,” which is notoriously hard to crack.

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