Team Alpha Male is synonymous with the neck-clamping submission, and nobody pulls it off slicker than leader Urijah Faber.

His Golden State good looks and colorful personality have made him a star in the MMA world, but it is his talent for fighting which has earned him his number-one contender status in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Holding impressive submission victories over Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Raphael Assuncao and Jeff Curran, it might shock fans to learn that Urijah is only a brown belt. As well as beating BJJ experts at their own game, Faber has never been submitted in his professional mixed martial arts career.

Immediately after Faber’s most recent guillotine victory, against fellow former WEC champ Brian Bowles, UFC commentator and BJJ brown belt Joe Rogan said: “These Alpha Male guys have some of the best guillotines in the world.” Other Team Alpha Male alumni who have enjoyed success with this technique include undefeated Chad Mendes and five-foot-four bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez, the latter of whom has used it to win fights on four occasions, including a victory over Miguel Torres, a black belt under Carlos Gracie.

With six of his 14 submission wins by way of guillotine choke, all but one of those wins coming in the first round, it is no surprise that Faber is considered the top guy on a team of guillotine specialists.

His devastating vise grip has earned him two ‘Submission of the Night’ bonuses and gave current bantamweight belt holder Dominick Cruz the only loss on his record. So how has the former featherweight champ made this technique work so well for himself?

“The guillotine requires the opponent to be held in a headlock, so it helps if a fighter has short arms so that they fit tightly around an opponent’s neck, leaving little or no room for escape,” says Faber.

When you look at the list of guys who train with Team Alpha Male, one noticeable correlation is that the majority of them fight in the lighter weight divisions (bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight).

This is one of the reasons why these smaller than average warriors, with ‘The California Kid’ at the helm, have been so successful with their guillotine-winning style.

Being able to wrap your arm swiftly around the neck of an adversary and grip tightly requires both strength and speed. With his tempo and short-muscled frame, Faber is perfectly designed for catching opponents with this Team Alpha favorite. But he doesn’t just rely on his physical gifts to bring him success.

He adds: “As well as training almost every day, I teach seminars on, among other things, attacking with the guillotine and also defending against it.”