Urijah Faber’s choke will not soon be forgotten. | Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/UFC/Getty
3. Choke Artist
Style points can be critical in MMA. There is a reason why Jon Fitch has morphed into a historical symbol for elite grinders being overlooked -- or perhaps screwed around -- in their careers. Conversely, there is a reason Chris Lytle got 20 UFC bouts and a whole lot of them were on television.
The first fight between Faber and Ivan Menjivar took place back in January 2006 inside Quebec’s now-defunct TKO promotion and ended with Menjivar unceremoniously soccer kicking “The California Kid” and getting disqualified. When they met seven-plus years later at UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., Faber was by fight time a -400 favorite at some sports books. Most expected Faber to grind out a win, using his superior wrestling and ground-and-pound while diffusing Menjivar’s submission threats.
Conventional wisdom was not necessarily wrong. For four minutes, Faber did exactly what was predicted, bullying the Montreal fighter with relentless top pressure and elbows. Menjivar scrambled back to his feet with a minute left in the round, but Faber was in vintage form with his brilliant taking of the back. He was so quick that Menjivar nearly threw him right over the top, but in “Matrix”-esque fashion, Faber latched onto Menjivar with a standing back crucifix.
From what looked like the setup for a professional wrestling pinning combination, Faber swung himself into an upright body triangle on the standing Menjivar, momentarily trapping his left arm. As Menjivar tried to get his arm loose, Faber figure-foured his arms and gradually adjusted the choke as Menjivar tried to tuck his chin and peel away the choking arm of the former World Extreme Cagefighting champion. It did not matter. Menjivar backed up to the fence, but despite standing on his own two feet, he was still completely at the mercy of “The California Kid.” Faber’s forearm slipped under Menjivar’s jaw and forced the inevitable grimace and tap.
This was not Faber’s only fantastic submission in 2013, as he used his boxing to butter up Scott Jorgensen and Michael McDonald before polishing them off with masterful chokes. However, the unforgettable visual at its conclusion truly elevates it: a dejected Menjivar standing in the middle of the Honda Center, his back still inhabited by a triumphant Faber, whose arms shot to the sky in celebration in front of more than 15,000 folks. Faber released the body triangle at precisely the appropriate moment to avoid being called an unsportsmanlike showboat, while still getting to author one of the best post-fight celebrations in recent memory.
With the choke, Faber became the first man in 11 years to submit the tough and technical Menjivar and just the second man period; the other was Jason Black in 2002. Black is twice the size of Menjivar and fought him at 170 pounds. Quite simply, Menjivar has faced tons of spectacular grapplers -- Georges St. Pierre, Vitor Ribeiro, Caol Uno and Matt Serra, to name a few -- and none have ever treated him like Faber, who used him as playground equipment. That is award-winning style.
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