- On paper, it was a classic style clash: Bryce Mitchell, the outspoken Arkansas featherweight with a dominant grappling base, against Jean Silva, the rising Brazilian striker who’s quietly been building a highlight reel.
- But at UFC 314, the only thing that got louder than Mitchell’s pre-fight headlines was the thud of him hitting the canvas—and the silence that followed when he was rendered unconscious by one of the most technical ninja chokes the Octagon has seen in years.
The finish came in Round 2. After softening Mitchell up with consistent forward pressure and clean, accurate shots, Silva landed a perfectly timed right hand that dropped his opponent.
However, instead of chasing with ground-and-pound, he saw the opportunity. As Mitchell instinctively tried to scramble and base up, Silva wrapped his neck, secured control, and locked in a ninja choke—a rare submission that’s both high-level and high-risk.
Mitchell never tapped. The referee stepped in after realizing he was unconscious.
JEAN SILVA SUBMITS BRYCE MITCHELL AT #UFC314 😱 pic.twitter.com/xLHG1QHDlk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 13, 2025
What Is a Ninja Choke—and Why Don’t We See More of Them?
The Ninja choke is a move you might see occasionally in high-level grappling rooms but rarely on a UFC broadcast. Silva not only executed it under pressure—he hit it in transition, mid-scramble, and made it look effortless.
That’s not just finishing ability. That’s awareness, timing, and mechanical precision.
So, how does the choke work, exactly? Well, it is a blood choke that appears in two variations in BJJ, one done with the Gi and the other without it:
No-Gi Ninja Choke (UFC Version)
The ninja choke isn’t common for a reason. It sits somewhere between a front headlock and a no-arm guillotine. That said, it is highly effective in terms of finishing mechanics and power. The main ‘issue’ with it is the difficulty of setting it up.
What you want to do is wrap an arm around your opponent’s neck, but instead of finishing shallow, like a traditional guillotine, you want to wrap your arm around as if you’re going for a rear naked choke. Essentially, it is a front-naked choke.
Those with long, lanky arms have a huge advantage when setting this choke up. Interestingly enough, it works from standing all to better than it does on the ground, delivering quick taps. It’s tight, technical, and unforgiving when done right.
Ninja Choke With the Gi
The Gi version is related to the No-Gi one only by name. That said, it would be sloppy to skip over it as we pay homage to the Ninja choke. Who knows, maybe this will be the kick it needs to spread more in Gi BJJ.
For a Gi Ninja choke, you start in top side control. You’ll need your far-side lapel (the one nearer to the opponent’s legs) to get it. The goal is to sneak the lapel across the opponent’s chest and around their neck on the far side. The palm of the arm you have cross-facing receives the end of the lapel.
From there, it is like finishing a baseball or Samuari choke – you head over to North-South, pulling on the lapel and driving your shoulder into your opponent. It’s very nasty, which is the only thing justifying the elaborate setup.
Silva’s Statement Win Caps a 13-Fight Streak
With the victory, Jean Silva improved his record to 13 straight wins and earned a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. The 27-year-old now looks like a serious player in the featherweight division.
He’s dangerous on the feet, composed in chaos, and clearly not afraid to jump on a finish when it’s there. If this was his breakout moment, he earned every bit of it.
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“I hope you all pray for Bryce Mitchell, because there’s something wrong with him,”
– Silva in his post-fight interview
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This was Bryce Mitchell’s first fight back since a wave of unwanted headlines, including controversial social media comments that made him a lightning rod outside the cage. Inside it, the loss marks his second in three fights.
Once considered a top-10 grappling specialist in the division, Mitchell now faces questions about his defence, durability, and trajectory. Still, he’s young, experienced, and talented. But on this night, he ran into someone who was just faster, sharper, and far more clinical in every phase of the game.
The Submission Hall of Fame: Ninja Choke Joins Elite Company
UFC history is filled with wild, creative finishes: Korean Zombie’s twister. The Von Flue choke resurgence. Oleinik’s crazy run with Ezekiels from the bottom. Jon Jones’ standing guillotine on Lyoto Machida. But Silva’s ninja choke at UFC 314 deserves a spot among them—not just for style points, but for the sheer composure and precision under fire.
It wasn’t flashy. It was fundamental jiu-jitsu, deployed at full speed, in real time, against a high-level grappler—and it ended with his opponent flatlined on the canvas.
1. Aleksei Oleinik’s Ezekiel Choke (From Bottom Mount!)
Possibly the most mind-bending choke in MMA history. In 2017, Aleksei Oleinik submitted Viktor Pesta with an Ezekiel choke—while mounted. That’s right: he was on bottom, in the worst position imaginable, and still managed to choke out a full-grown heavyweight. Oleinik is the only fighter in UFC history to have pulled this off, and he did it more than once.
2. Jon Jones’ Standing Guillotine on Lyoto Machida
At UFC 140, Jon Jones locked up a guillotine against Lyoto Machida, lifted him off the ground, and choked him unconscious—standing. The moment is infamous not just for the technique but for how Jones dropped Machida’s limp body like a sack of laundry once the ref waved it off.
3. The Korean Zombie’s Twister vs. Leonard Garcia
In 2011, Chan Sung Jung made history by landing the first twister submission in UFC history. It’s a spinal lock that’s more common in catch wrestling than BJJ, and it stunned both the crowd and Garcia, who had no idea what hit him.
4. Bryce Mitchell’s Twister vs. Matt Sayles
Ironically, before getting choked unconscious at UFC 314, Bryce Mitchell himself landed one of the craziest submissions in UFC history—a twister finish over Matt Sayles in 2019. At the time, it was just the second twister ever to land in the promotion, after the Korean Zombie’s opening one.
5. Ben Askren’s Bulldog Choke on Robbie Lawler
Askren’s UFC debut in 2019 was chaos from the opening second. After nearly being TKO’d, he reversed a position and locked in a bulldog choke—an old-school move rarely seen at the elite level.
The finish was controversial, with Lawler’s arm appearing to go limp before springing back to life, but the result stands: a rare and dramatic comeback win by bulldog choke.
Silva’s Ninja Choke Wasn’t Just a Submission—It Was a Statement
Jean Silva didn’t just notch another win at UFC 314—he carved his name into the highlight reels of 2025 with one of the rarest and most technically demanding submissions ever pulled off inside the Octagon.
The ninja choke wasn’t just effective; it was flawless. In a sport where timing, precision, and composure separate contenders from pretenders, Silva delivered on all three—and put the featherweight division on notice.
For fans, it was a masterclass. For grappling nerds, it’s a treat. For Bryce Mitchell, it is a hard lesson in what happens when the moment gets away from you.
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