5 of the best submissions this year, so far

Taylor Mauldin hits a gogoplata on Laura Gallardo at A1 Combat 12 to become strawweight champion - July 2023

Taylor Mauldin fought The Ultimate Fighter veteran Laura Gallardo for Urijah Faber's A1 Combat's inaugural strawweight championship at the promotion's 12th event. Faber started the promotion in 2022 after retiring from the sport and looks to expand it while kicking it off in his home state of California. The event was headlined by Ernie Juarez and Andrew Coyne, who were fighting for the featherweight title. This was also the card where bantamweight Billy Brand accidentally took out the cut woman after celebrating his win. In the co-main event, Mauldin, who is undefeated at 4-0, finished Gallardo by gogoplata in the second round.

Mauldin went 1-0 as an amateur before going pro, now 4-0 with two submission victories, fighting for promotions like LFA and Fury FC. Mauldin had three fights canceled before booking the title fight against Gallardo, but the "ring rust" didn't factor into this fight. Gallardo is a Mexican fighter who trains out of California at Kings MMA. Gallardo was 4-1 before joining the TUF house, fighting for organizations like Invicta FC and CFFC. After an unsuccessful run on TUF where she lost to eventual finalist Brogan Walker, Gallardo is now 0-2.

Mauldin hadn't fought in a year and had a good ground game compared to Gallardo's karate style, winning her first pro fight by kneebar. Mauldin was the underdog going into the title fight but was able to lock in the gogoplata after being taken down by Gallardo in her rubber guard, putting her shin across the neck and pulling down, forcing the tap. Mauldin is a bright prospect to look out for as she climbs the regional scene, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her make that jump sooner rather than later.