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

When Jean Silva choked out Bryce Mitchell in April, the MMA world lived vicariously through him.

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

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While this would result in most people losing their jobs in other industries, UFC CEO Dana White had another punishment in mind. Shortly before describing Mitchell as “literally one of the dumbest guys,” the UFC CEO and president summed up the promotion’s unique position in the sports world.

“That’s the beauty of this industry,” he said. “For all the Bryce Mitchell haters, you want to see him shine on global television.”

Who is the chosen one with the power to do such a shouting?

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

Silva was perhaps the most ferocious member of the Brazilian Fight Nerds, barking like a dog throughout the entire ordeal. Seriously, he barked in Bryce’s face the first time they met. When he’s not roaring at the top of his lungs, he’s chanting “F*** Bryce Mitchell!” in his adorable broken English.

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This really confused Mitchell.

Less than a month before their fight, Mitchell called on the world to pray for him after claiming he had been attacked by “demons and beautiful women” in his sleep. According to Mitchell, the thought intruders were sent by Silva, who was possessed by “a bunch of demons” — and those are Mitchell’s words, not mine.

This is considered a classic grappler versus striker showdown. The crowd believed that Mitchell could submit to Silva if the fight occurred, but they also knew that he would be in serious danger as long as the fight continued. It turns out that this prediction was half correct.

About 20 seconds into the second round, Mitchell was knocked down by Silva’s right hand. He responded by trying to force the fight, and he was treated to a fest of elbows. The punishment continued until Silva’s body-head combination prompted one last desperate shot from “The Badass Thug” who was so determined to take the fight to the ground that he opened his neck and Silva closed in a tight ninja choke.

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It’s not the prettiest submission, nor the most technical. Instead, it’s brutal in a “nature is metal” kind of way. It lacks artistry, but its resonance doubles. it lets us feel something, man.

You know what Silva did to celebrate this win, ultimately earning Uncrown the honor of being Submission of the Year in 2025?

The last time he stood up in front of Mitchell and – you guessed it – barked like a dog.

We love it very much.

2. Costello van Steenis def. Johnny Ebron

With 55 seconds left in the middleweight title fight, Johnny Eblen landed an uppercut on the back of Costello van Steenis. However, somehow, he lost consciousness with 8 seconds left in the same period.

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Ebron has long been considered one of the best fighters outside of the UFC. This seemed to be standard performance from the ATT standout until the fourth round of his title defense in July. But then Van Steenis came alive in the penultimate round and began tagging the previously undefeated American, with his tank severely depleted.

A late fifth-round knockdown seemed to clinch the victory for Ebron, but somehow, with the American on his side, Van Steenis completed a sweep, effectively reversing their position. He broke his neck in the dying embers, Ebron’s limp limbs marking the end of the game in the nick of time.

3. Merab Dvalishvili Sean O’Malley

In 2025, the romance between the two reached a climax when Merab Dvalishvili performed a rare north-south stranglehold on old rival Sean O’Malley.

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He has now moved ahead of the Colors forward after he was unanimously given the nod to overthrow him nine months ago. This time, the Georgians didn’t leave the game to the referees. The technical prowess of the match highlighted Dvalishvili’s dominance in the competition.

The former champion may not have ended 2025 the way he hoped, but his third-round submission victory still sparked widespread debate about whether “The Machine” is the greatest UFC bantamweight of all time.

4. Yusuf Zalal defends. Josh Emmett

Coming off UFC APEX, Youssef Zalal announced himself as a legitimate contender in the featherweight division with a cerebral submission victory over division stalwart Josh Emmett on the UFC 320 main card.

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After getting a perfect knockout just 30 seconds into the fight, Emmett immediately got tangled up with Zalal. The “Moroccan Devil” threatened with an arm triangle, then transitioned to a triangle, and finally resolved with an arm bar.

Emmett didn’t show any drama when he ended the game at 98 seconds. His delivery was so calm that broadcasts had to enhance the sound so that the world watching could hear it on replay.

5. Enrique Madureira def. Eligent Prizleni

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 the stakes are in this game, where the players are ranked or anything else – you just have to look at the madness that ensued when they met at Oktagon 80 in Munich, Germany, in November.

In the second round of the night, an inverted Madureira locked an inverted triangle on a standing Prizreni. The Albanians stumbled around, probably in disbelief that they could be caught in such an obscure web and then succumb to such bizarre technology.

Uncrown voting details submitted in 2025:

Honorable mentions:

• Sean Brady def. Leon Edwards

• Anthony Hernandez Def. Roman Dolizer

• walter walker def. Kennedy Nzekuku

• Keira Harrison def. Juliana Pena

• Alexandre Pantoja Kekara – France

More from Uncrown’s 2025 MMA Year-End Review: