Alice Ardelean's capsule lock wins MMAmania submission award
Alice Ardelean delivered the first capsule lock in UFC history and walked away with MMAmania's submission of the year through June 2026.
The 34-year-old TikTok personality trapped Polyana Viana's crossed legs at UFC Vegas 117 on May 16, crushing Viana's calf into the back of her own knee until the tap came. MMAmania described the finish as functioning like a modified calf slicer or knee separator, and called it "one of the strangest and most unique finishes you will ever see inside the Octagon."
What made Ardelean's submission stand out
Other submissions landed cleaner or carried bigger stakes, but novelty tipped the scales. "When you pull off the first submission of its kind in UFC history, that gets the nod," the outlet wrote. Ardelean's finish beat out Murtazali Magomedov's twister against Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Vegas 119, Asu Almabayev's Suloev stretch on Charles Johnson at UFC Baku, and Nursulton Ruziboev's standing rear-naked choke that left Andrey Pulyaev unconscious in Azerbaijan.
Ronda Rousey also earned a mention for submitting Gina Carano in 17 seconds during their exhibition bout, though the brevity kept it out of the top spot. Both women returned from extended layoffs for the nostalgia showcase.
Ardelean competes next at UFC Vegas 124 on August 9 against an opponent still to be announced.
Photo: OnlyFans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Original reporting:
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