(Props: DrTurboFightChannel)

Before he was a spinach-eating heavyweight wrecking machine, Alistair Overeem was just a wiry kid with a dream. Here’s the video of his MMA debut at the age of 19 against the very insane-looking Ricardo Fyeet, at the first "It’s Showtime" event in the Netherlands in October 1999. It’s amazing to see how far Overeem has come in the last ten years. Check out his broke-ass gong-and-dash when the fight starts at the 1:45 mark, and that sad attempt at a guard-pull at 3:01. In what would later become a recurring theme, the Demolition Man manages to finish his opponent by guillotine choke. Overeem didn’t have long to savor the victory; he fought again just four days later at a Rings event in Tokyo, losing to Iouri Kotchkine by majority decision.

After making my MMA highlight reel debut with "Sakuraba: Survivor," I decided to follow it up with a new compilation that’s both shorter and less depressing. The concept of "Stranglehold" is quite simple: Here are some of the most creative and infamous choke-submissions in recent MMA history, soundtracked by Ted Nugent. The cast of characters include Nate Diaz, Dan Miller, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Shinya Aoki, BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, Demian Maia, CB Dollaway, and Toby Imada. Let me know what you think, and if you dig it, please share with a friend.

(BG)