Rear Naked Choke Statistics: How Often It Actually Finishes
Share
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset · Data Study
Rear Naked Choke Statistics: How Often It Actually Finishes
The rear naked choke accounts for 417 of 3,209 recorded submission wins (13.0%) across 97 elite grapplers — the third most common individual finish in jiu-jitsu. Combine it with the wider choke from the back category (484) and strangles from back control alone produce 901 taps, or 28% of every submission in the dataset.
The RNC has a reputation as the highest-percentage submission in grappling. Reputation is cheap, so we counted. Here is where it actually lands across 97 of the sport's best competitors.
Where the RNC ranks
Recorded submission wins, out of 3,209 total finishes.
Counted properly, back chokes are the No. 1 finish by a distance
Our source data separates the rear naked choke from other strangles applied from back control — in the gi, usually a collar choke. Treated as one thing, which is how a coach would think about it, the picture changes:
| Category | Finishes | Share of all taps |
|---|---|---|
| Rear naked choke | 417 | 13.0% |
| Choke from the back (incl. collar chokes) | 484 | 15.1% |
| All strangles from back control | 901 | 28.1% |
| Armbar (next most common single technique) | 467 | 14.6% |
Nothing else in jiu-jitsu comes close. The nearest single competitor, the armbar, finishes barely half as often as the back does.
Who finishes with it most
The RNC is the signature finish of two of the ten most prolific submission artists in our dataset: Gordon Ryan, whose most recorded finish is the rear naked choke (24 of his 73 submission wins), and Dante Leon (70 submission wins). Five more of the top ten — Joao Miyao, Felipe Pena, Adam Wardzinski, Gianni Grippo and Andre Galvao — favour the gi version, the choke from the back.
Why it works when everything else fails
A strangle does not care how strong, flexible or determined your opponent is. Joint locks can be resisted through pain tolerance; blood chokes cannot be resisted through willpower, because they interrupt blood flow to the brain in seconds. Apply one from a position where the defender cannot see your hands and cannot counter-attack, and you have the closest thing grappling has to a sure thing. That is the whole argument for back attacks in one paragraph.
Frequently asked questions
How common is the rear naked choke in BJJ?
It is the third most common individual submission, with 417 of 3,209 recorded finishes (13.0%) across 97 elite grapplers. Counting all strangles from back control together, the number rises to 901 finishes, or 28% of all taps.
Is the rear naked choke the highest-percentage submission?
Effectively yes. Only the broader choke-from-the-back category outranks it as a single line item, and both come from the same position. No other family of finishes in our data produces anywhere near as many taps.
Can you escape a rear naked choke?
Only before it is locked in. Once both the choking arm and the second arm are set behind the head, escapes stop working — which is why the real defence is hand-fighting early and escaping back control before the choke arrives.
Which submission does Gordon Ryan use most?
The rear naked choke, with 24 recorded finishes — part of 73 total submission wins across 18 different techniques in our dataset.
Sources & method
Data captured from athlete Submission W/L Methods tables on FloGrappling in July 2026 — 97 athletes with recorded methods, 3,209 submission wins, 53 distinct techniques, gi and no-gi combined across each career. Full write-up: Tap Stats. Technique breakdown: the rear naked choke, step by step.
More from this series: The most common submission in jiu-jitsu · Back attacks · The most prolific finishers · Catch The Jiu Jitsu Mindset on YouTube and Spotify.