Not even the second performance within the Submission Underground promotion was successful for Satoshi Ishii. After being defeated by Mason Fowler ten days ago in the title fight, the Japanese-Croatian fighter and former Olympic gold medalist, and BJJ black belt failed to threaten the quality of Craig Jones, the man who Chael Sonnen calls ‘The world’s best grappler’ & certainly the biggest global grappling star together with Gordon Ryan.

The two of them performed in the title fight of Chael Sonnen’s event, and Jones opened the fight by pulling the guard. Ishii accepted this, but as soon as he came to Jones, the Australian made the transition and switched to Ishii’s back, from where he set out to work on the “rear naked choke”, one of his favorite moves. He tried to choke Ishii out, eventhough the Japanese had twenty pounds of advantage. In just over two minutes, Jones ’pressure became too tight and Ishii tapped, and Jones triumphantly finished another successful year.

It was Fowler, who defeated Ishii in the last performance after three overtimes, who was the main star of the show, and this time he defended the title of absolute champion against Ryan Bader, Bellator’s heavyweight champion. This time, his job was much faster. After the initial wrestling, Fowler pulled the guard, then from the bottom position came to Bader’s arm, a move that ended the fight after just over one and a half minutes. Behind the new grappling star is a phenomenal year, he built his name right in the arena of this promotion, and a new clash against Jones is to be expected soon. Unless Chael Sonnen manages to get Gordon Ryan to fight, it would just be a real spectacle of ground fight and probably the biggest fight grappling can offer at the moment.

Of the rest of the program, it is worth mentioning the victory of UFC fighter Gillian Robertson over Invicta star Pearl Gonzalez, as well as Gabriel Gonzaga over Hunter Colvin. You can watch the whole show at the UFC Fight Pass.

Main card

Mason Fowler def. Ryan Bader for SUG Absolute Championship– by armbar (1:39 of Regulation)

Craig Jones def. Satoshi Ishii – by rear naked choke (2:08 of Regulation)

Richie Martinez def. CB Dolloway by armbar (0:55 of Regulation)

Gillian Robertson def. Pearl Gonzalez by rear naked choke (4:11 of Regulation)

Gabriel Gonzaga def. Hunter Colvin by armbar (1:06 in Overtime)

Preliminary Card

Andy Varela def. Ben Egli by rear naked choke (4:33 in Regulation)

Micah Brakefield def. Benji Silva by armbar (0:07 in Overtime)

Kristin Mikkelson def. Rita Gribben by fastest escape (No submissions in regulation or overtime)

Alex Larmey def. Juan Bernardo by arm triangle, (0:22 in Overtime)

John Simon def. Charlie Gilpin by rear naked choke (0:23 in Overtime)

Learn the system Craig Jones uses to combine triangle chokes and leg locking into a devastatingly dangerous submission game.

• See how to lock on triangles from everywhere and create the most leverage possible for full strangulation.
• Study Craig’s genius leg locking transitions and finishes for maximum control and breaking power.