Published On: Tue, Mar 3rd, 2026

MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month for February: Which choke won?

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from February 2026: 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.

Nominee: Luke Trainer def. Rob Wilkinson at PFL Road to Dubai

Luke Trainer returned from a long layoff and dispatched of 2022 PFL champion Rob Wilkinson.

Trainer (10-1) grounded Wilkinson (19-5) in the opening minutes of the first round when he latched on a guillotine choke that left the Aussie with nowhere to go but to tap out less than four minutes after the light heavyweight contest began.

Nominee: Usman Nurmagomedov def. Alfie Davis at PFL Road to Dubai

Usman Nurmagomedov continued to build on his surname’s legacy with another dominant performance against Alfie Davis to defend the PFL lightweight championship.

Nurmagomedov (21-0) made it look easy as he put Alfie Davis (20-6-1) to sleep with a modified arm-triangle choke in the closing moment of the third round, living up to his promise to show his elite level on the ground first displayed by cousin and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nominee: Jakub Wiclacz def. Muin Gafurov at UFC Fight Night 266

Jakub Wiklacz was on his way to the scorecards against Muin Gafurov in their catchweight bout. But late in the fight, Gafurov shot for what turned out to be an ill-advised takedown.

It didn’t work out, Wiklacz (18-3-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) wrapped up a guillotine choke on top, and he squeezed for all he was worth until the horn. And though it appeared that Gafurov (20-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) gave referee Chris Tognoni the thumbs up that he was OK in the choke, right before the horn, his left hand started to tap – and his right hand tapped more definitively just after.

The winner: Mario Bautista def. Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 266

Vinicius Oliveira had a goal of getting to a bantamweight title shot this year. He’s going to have to rethink that goal.

Mario Bautista (17-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) showed Oliveira (23-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) there is plenty to be said about experience at the highest level of MMA. He dominated him in a career-defining performance and poured it on late in the second for a rear-naked choke finish.

Frankly, the 32-year-old made it look easy thanks to his wrestling, which allowed him to sweep with ease in the second round to get on top to the crucifix position, and it was continually downhill for Oliveira from there.

Oliveira kicked up the middle early and pushed Bautista toward the fence from the middle. Bautista fired one big kick in return, but Oliveira kept with the calf kicks as a clear early strategy. When Bautista tried to get inside, Oliveira tied him up along the fence. They separated after 45 seconds, but fell into the cage again after a wild scramble that saw Oliveira look for a single-leg takedown. But Bautista defended it, initiated a scramble of his own, then wound up on top. Oliveira worked briefly for a leg lock, but Bautista recovered to get back on top in guard.

The second was more scrambling, and the type of bantamweight groundwork that almost certainly had future opponents paying attention. It was all Bautista in the second, and Oliveira looked wiped out after just the first five minutes.

Oliveira lost for the first time in the UFC. He had a six-fight winning streak snapped and had to tap out for the first time since he was an amateur more than a dozen years ago.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Submission of the Month for February 2026: Which slick choke won?

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