You have never in your life seen an MMA fighter pull off a submission escape quite like this.
During the first round of the Lemino Shooto 9 main event Monday in Tokyo, Shohei Nose had Shoji Saito in serious danger of being finished after locking in a super tight standing rear-naked choke. It was immediately clear that Saito had no chance of breaking Nose's python-like squeeze with his hands.
So what did he do? You won't believe it.
Check out Saito's completely genius escape move (h/t @Halfdeadfrank69 on X) in the video below:
🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠 #LEMINOSHOOTO9 #Lemino修斗 pic.twitter.com/Uk9wtEk69q
— Half Dead Frank (@Halfdeadfrank69) October 19, 2026
For Saito to even think about faking like he's out while oxygen is being cut off to his brain and then pull it off successfully? That is some next-level fight
IQ. The fact that the referee wasn't duped into stopping the fight, either, is remarkable.
Unfortunately for Saito, the fight would not go his way. He and Nose slugged it out before Nose won by ground-and-pound TKO in the third round.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Video: Japanese fighter uses genius tactic to escape dangerous submission
