Toby Imada's Triangle Choke On Jorge Masvidal Is Still The Greatest Submission In MMA History

Toby Imada's inverted triangle on Jorge Masvidal is still the greatest submission in MMA history.

Imada caught Masvidal in a truly unique choke back in 2009 at Bellator 5 and his submission remains one of the greatest stoppages inside a cage.

In their lightweight main-event bout, Masvidal repeatedly tagged Imada. He was lighting him up in the first and second round before Imada completely changed the course of the fight with a jaw-dropping moment.

Imada applied a triangle choke whilst straddling on Masvidal's back, then locked in the submission to choke out his opponent in stunning fashion in the third round.

Image: Bellator MMA

Naturally, he won 'Submission of the Year' at the World MMA awards as well as a shot at then-Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez. He lost the bout and fell off the radar.

Masvidal, on the other hand, refused to be the guy 'who lost to Imada in the craziest submission' as he persevered to complete a remarkable career turnaround.

"Nah it wasn't," he told Ariel Helwani when reflecting on his defeat to Imada. "I knew for a fact, life had hit me so much harder than anything you've seen in my pro career.

"Life at the age of like 12/13 had hit me way harder, choked me out way harder than anything I had come in contact with in the sports world."

Image: PA

The 35-year-old went onto fight in Strikeforce before moving to the UFC following the premiere MMA organisation buying out their rival promotion, and he's enjoying his most prolific run in the UFC.

He's resurrected his career with stoppage victories over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz.

He stopped Till in London then destroyed Askren with a flying knee in just five seconds to record the fastest knockout in UFC history, before stopping Diaz at UFC 244 in November to win the BMF title.