Submission (combat sports)

A submission is a combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat. The submission – then also referred to as a "tap out" or "tapping out" – is often performed by visibly tapping the floor or the opponent with the hand or in some cases with the foot, or by saying the word 'tap' to signal the opponent and/or the referee of the submission. In some combative sports where the fighter has cornermen, the cornerman can also stop the fight by "throwing in the towel" (usually by literally throwing a towel into the ring), which may count as a submission.
Technical submission.
A technical submission may occur when the referee or doctor stops the fight because a fighter has sustained an injury or is rendered unconscious while in a submission hold. An example would be a fighter's arm breaking in an armbar, or a fighter passing out in a choke hold. In both cases the fighter is unable to tap out, and an official decides that the fighter cannot safely continue to fight. Such a match outcome may be called a technical submission or a technical knockout (TKO) depending on the rules of combat used for the match. In UFC, a technical submission is recorded as a submission, and any submission to strikes counts as a technical knockout.