MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for February: Yair Rodriguez wins interim gold from his back

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from February 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for February.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

Nominee: Yair Rodriguez def. Josh Emmett at UFC 284

[autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has a piece of gold now in his possession after claiming the UFC interim featherweight belt against Josh Emmett (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC).

With champ Alexander Volkanovski taking a stop at lightweight, Rodriguez took advantage of the situation. He lite up Emmett on the feet before locking up a fight-ending triangle choke on the mat, giving Rodriguez the first submission win of his octagon tenure on the biggest of stages.

Nominee: Mayra Bueno Silva def. Lina Lansberg at UFC Fight Night 219

[autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) added a slick leg submission to her highlight reel at the expense of Lina Lansberg (10-8 MMA, 4-7 UFC).

Silva secured the first kneebar finish in UFC women’s bantamweight history. She found an opening in the second round of the fight to roll into the submission, and Lansberg was ultimately unable to escape and forced to tap out.

Nominee: Erin Blanchfield def. Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 219

When the lights shined the brightest of her entire career, so did [autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) en route to a breakthrough win against former UFC title challenger Jessica Andrade (24-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC).

Blanchfield took a step up in competition and submitted Andrade with a rear-naked choke at the 1:37 mark of Round 2, possibly securing an opportunity to challenge for the women’s flyweight title in the near future.

Nominee: Tatiana Suarez def. Montana De La Rosa at UFC Fight Night 220

[autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) shined in her return to competition from a 1,258-day layoff when she finished Montana De La Rosa (12-8-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) in their women’s flyweight bout.

Nearly four years after she last competed, Suarez came back to the octagon and got a definitive win when she locked in a guillotine choke on De La Rosa in the second round. She started somewhat slow, but Suarez found her groove as the fight wore on and found her chance to finish the fight.

Nominee: Brendan Allen def. Andre Muniz at UFC Fight Night 220

Brendan Allen (21-5 MMA, 9-2 UFC) wasn’t expecting to compete in his first octagon headliner, but that’s what happened – and he took advantage against Andre Muniz (23-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

After Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann was canceled in the midst of the event, Allen was promoted to the top of the card opposite Muniz and managed to emerge victorious with a rear-naked choke in the third round of the middleweight contest.

The winner

The winner: Yair Rodriguez

The dynamic offense of Rodriguez has led him to a piece of UFC gold.

Mexico’s Rodriguez took on Emmett in the co-main event of UFC 284 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia with the interim featherweight title on the line. Emmett threatened Rodriguez with big power, but would find himself trapped in a triangle submission in the second round.

The fighters covered a lot of real estate early on as they looked for openings. Rodriguez got the action started with a series of kicks, including a hard blow to the body that hurt Emmett. A moment later they were trading furious punches as the action intensified. Rodriguez’s combinations added kicks, while Emmett stuck with his fists. A hard punch from Emmett connected, causing Rodriguez to drop to the canvas. The fight continued on the mat while Rodriguez didn’t appear hurt, as he was able to maintain guard and answer back with a few sharp elbows from his back.

The action continued at a furious pace early in the second round. Rodriguez unleashed a few hard kicks to the body, landing to the same spot that hurt Emmett in the first round. They continued to trade before the fight slowed for a moment in the clinch. Once back in space, Rodriguez kept the pressure high with an array of kicks and a sneaky short elbow.

Rodriguez went for a jumping knee that connected, but Emmett held on for a takedown. Rodriguez stayed busier with elbows and short punches off his back before finding the opening to throw up a triangle submission. He was able to tighten it quickly, and there was no escape for Emmett.

The tap came at 4:19, marking Rodriguez’s first submission win in the UFC.

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Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie