Top 5: Fastest UFC middleweight submissions

TL;DR

Rory Singer achieved the fastest submission in UFC middleweight history with a triangle choke in just 44 seconds during his debut on June 24, 2006. This remarkable feat remains unmatched nearly two decades later.

Key points

Rory Singer holds the fastest submission record in UFC middleweight history.
The submission was achieved in 44 seconds during his debut fight.
Singer defeated Ross Pointon with a triangle choke.
The fight took place on June 24, 2006, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
Singer's record remains unbroken nearly two decades later.

Rory SingerRoss PointonThe Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale

Rory Singer took the necessary steps to ensure his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut would not be so easily forgotten.

The SBG Athens patriarch swept aside Ross Pointon with a first-round triangle choke as part of “The Ultimate Fighter 3” Finale undercard on June 24, 2006 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Providing support for the Kenny Florian-Sam Stout main event, Singer drew the curtain a mere 44 seconds into Round 1.

The two middleweights circled each other at the outset. Pointon dropped the Brooklyn, New York, native with a clean left and powered into top position for a potential finish. However, in his haste to bring their encounter to a close, the marauding Englishman became entangled in a triangle. Singer drew upon his extensive grappling experience, cinched the choke and forced his counterpart to capitulate.

Nearly two decades later, Singer’s successfully sprung trap on Pointon still ranks as the fastest submission in the history of the UFC middleweight division. The best of the rest:

Rousimar Palhares vs. Tomasz Drwal

UFC 111
March 27, 2010 | Newark, New Jersey
Palhares dispatched the “Gorilla” with a heel hook in the first round of their middleweight prelim at the Prudential Center. Drwal packed his bags 45 seconds into Round 1, as he suffered his first submission defeat in nearly six years. Palhares zeroed in on his adversary’s left leg when the Polish powerhouse slipped while throwing a front kick. He then wrenched on the heel hook with maximum torque. Drwal yelled out in pain, issued his surrender and limped out of the cage, albeit under his own power. It was the second of three career sub-minute finishes for Palhares.