On April 29, 2023, Cage Warriors, one of the most popular MMA promotions in England, held its highly anticipated event, Cage Warriors 153, in Dublin, Ireland.
While there were many exciting bouts throughout the event, it was a preliminary card flyweight match between Nicolas Leblond and Ryan Curtis that really stole the show.
Leblond, a French athlete, entered the cage with one win and one loss in his previous two bouts. However, he showed a significant skill gap when he dominated Curtis from the beginning of the action with his grappling abilities.
In the middle of the opening round, Leblond executed a rare and impressive submission move – a bulldog c hoke – on Curtis. This submission is a hybrid of a guillotine and a RNC, but it does not require the use of hooks, making it harder to control the opponent.
Despite Curtis’s efforts to escape the submission by circling on the ground, Leblond’s hold was too strong, and he eventually went out. The Frenchman’s victory extended his professional record to 8 wins and 4 losses, with a two-win streak following his previous defeat of Sylvain Sommereisen.
This submission is not a commonly used submission move in mixed martial arts, making Leblond’s execution all the more impressive.
Pat Miletich, a former UFC welterweight champion, was another MMA athlete who successfully used this when he submitted Carlos Newton in the middle of the third round in 2001.
The 1st 🇨🇦 UFC Champion:
Pat Miletich 🇺🇸 vs. Carlos Newton 🇨🇦#ViolentMoney #VMTV #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/pI1Hc4Jxvc
— Violent Money TV (@ViolentMoneyTV) May 4, 2022
The UFC 235 bout between Lawler and Askren was stopped in the first round due to a bulldog sub applied by Askren, despite Lawler’s protests.
Back when Robbie Lawler pummelled Ben Askren then got stuck in a headlock.. was he out? pic.twitter.com/qiXvWXg437
— BRAWL UNIVERSE 🌐 (@BrawlUniverse) January 29, 2023
Lawler’s coach and UFC President Dana White called for a rematch after the controversial finish.
