Submissions in MMA are cool as hell.

It's what the first UFC was built on. Royce Gracie went in there and submitted a few guys, many bigger than him, on one night. He became the first UFC champion.

No rules.

No divisions.

Just him and his Gi, making people tap out to moves from a martial art known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). No one knew what it was back then, and for a while...if you were really good at it. You could win a lot of fights.

That's still true in the world, but maybe not so much anymore in MMA.

I'll explain...

The UFC put out a press release announcing they were renewing their partnership with The Cleveland Clinic.

The Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. They do a lot of research in brain health, especially for professional athletes who get their bell rung a lot. Like NFL players, and of course fighters.

So, when I saw the announcement, I thought I'd have AI do a quick rundown of the most common method of victory in UFC events this year.

This is what it came up with:

Last weekend's UFC card had a lot of knockouts. But, surprisingly enough, the most common method of victory in 2026 was decisions.

Knockouts ranked second, and submissions...

...they were last. 😟

As someone who earned their BJJ black belt, that makes me sad. But that's what happens when an art that was once so hard to learn grows, and there's a BJJ Academy on every corner.

It also made me think of something Randy Couture told Grappling Magazine in the early 2000s. It was something like, "Submissions will become dinosaurs." Meaning once everyone learns them, they'll be harder to do.

This weekend's UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan main event features a "grappler vs. striker" matchup.

Brendan Allen, who has most of his wins come by way of submission, faces Christian Leroy Duncan, who has a lot of wins by knockout. Allen seems to be the favorite, but he has not won by submission since 2023. Most of his wins come by way of decision.

Duncan's last two bouts were decision victories. Allen is a small favorite, which seems is rightfully small.

Just something to take note of if you're taking notes.

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