EA Sports UFC 5: Submission System Breakdown

After nearly a decade of not changing, EA Sports UFC 5 finally upgrades the submission system. Gone are the mini-games of the past; everything has now been reworked into the transition system.

Instead of spinning your right stick endlessly or pushing buttons that appear on the screen, a submission is a brand-new position on the ground. In this UFC 5 guide, we’ll break down how to submit opponents, upgrade submissions, and escape them in tight spots. Remember that it’s usually a good idea to practice against the AI, especially if you are a newcomer.

Related: EA Sports UFC 5 Review: A Paper Champion

How to Submit Opponents in EA Sports UFC 5

Once you’re on the ground in EA Sports UFC 5, you can use the L2 button on Playstation or the LT button on Xbox to check if you have submissions; they will appear purple, as shown in the screenshot below. Once you have successfully transitioned, you, as the attacker, will be able to either relinquish the hold to get a better position or try to lock in the hold to do submission damage.

Submission damage done is based on your submission offense against the opponent’s defense. According to EA Sports, it’s technically possible to end a fight in UFC 5 in one submission attempt, but in our testing, it’s almost always two submission attempts and sometimes three.

If you find that an opponent is escaping too easily, you can guarantee a submission attempt will do damage by ensuring the opponent has zero Stamina as you go for the submission. To do this, hold the R1 button on the Playstation or the RB button on the Xbox to drain both fighters’ stamina simultaneously; remember that you, as the attacker, can’t do submission damage if you have zero stamina. So keep an eye on the HUD.

How to Escape Submissions in EA Sports UFC 5

The defender’s job in UFC 5 is much easier, but it’s important not to panic and pay close attention to your stamina on the ground. The opponent is more likely to go for submissions when your stamina is low, so even if you are in a dominant position, be careful not to rush yourself into a bad situation.

When you are caught in a submission in UFC 5, you want to escape before the attacker can finish the transition; the simple solution is to hold the stick to the right or the left as the submission is starting; this will give you a big boost against the AI. However, if you are fighting another human, your best bet is to hope your opponent tries to deny your attempt and escape slightly later. It’s important to remember that Submission Resilience will recover in between rounds, so if you find yourself losing that first submission battle, try to survive until the next round to give yourself more chances.

How to Upgrade Submissions in EA Sports UFC 5

In UFC 5’s career mode, submissions now gain move progress anytime you do submission damage, meaning that they upgrade much quicker than UFC 4. The most efficient way to level up your submissions in UFC 5 and earn as many evolution points as possible early on is to start the fight by applying one submission, and then finish it with the submission you want to use most. As you level up submissions, not only will the amount of damage you do increase, but so will your ability to use submissions in more places, allowing you to finish a fight anywhere on the ground.