Submissions are the least common finish in professional mixed martial arts. They happen all the time, but on average if a fight is finished, it is more likely to be finished by knockout or technical knockout.
For some fans though, a submission is the purest way to win. You opponent literally has to quit or give up. He has to succeed to the fact you put him a position that would break his joint or put him to sleep and then make a decision to tap out.
The most common submissions in mixed martial arts are the rear-naked choke and guillotine. Armbars, keylocks, etc are less common. One of the rarest submissions in mixed martial arts is ‘The Twister’, invented by and made famous by Eddie Bravo. The Twister, when applied correctly puts an immense strain on the spine of an opponent and could cause immense damage.
Friday Night at Panrase 279, which aired live on UFC Fight Pass, Guy DeLumeau landed this incredibly rare and painful submission on his opponent Satoshi Inaba to get the win by tapout:
https://twitter.com/UFCFightPass/status/757105228176986113
About Pancrase
Pancrase Inc. was a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The company apparently ceased operations in 2008.
The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki practised catch wrestling. They based the promotion and its rules on professional wrestling. The promotion claimed that its events consisted of shoots (actual unscripted wrestling) rather than works (scripted performances). The promotion’s champions were called King of Pancrase.
The rules allowed closed-fisted punches, except to the head, and palm strikes to the head. A wrestler must break a submission hold when the opponent reaches the ropes, but a wrestler who claims a rope break loses a point. A wrestler who claims a specified number of rope breaks (between 3 and 5) was disqualified. From 1998 to 2000, the promotion changed its rules to resemble other mixed martial arts promotions.
source: wikipedia.com
