5. Demian Maia
The 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World championships gold medalist has parlayed his otherworldly grappling skills into 24 submission attempts and success in multiple UFC weight classes. Maia’s first incarnation was as a middleweight, where he started his run with consecutive submissions on Ryan Jensen, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry and Chael Sonnen. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt later challenged Anderson Silva for promotional gold at 185 pounds before losses to Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman blocked his path back to the top and prompted a move to welterweight. Maia has gone 9-2 in 11 appearances since downshifting to 170 pounds, including submissions of Rick Story, Neil Magny, Matt Brown and former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Carlos Condit. He has piled up $315,000 worth of submission-related post-fight performance bonuses.
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