Rousey's Armbar from last night

[wordspeaker]

My take is this. Cat gave her a big opening, and Ronda was perfect in capitalizing. I have no problem with coming in with the flying knee, and she nearly secured a takedown. But Ronda has excellent hips and rolled through to claim top position and a modified back mount.

Cat made the mistake of reaching her arm up for the head and leaving it there. It looked like she was going for the back mount escape when your opponent is riding high and you pull the head, tripod, drive in, and come out on top. But Rousey wasn't in the 2-hooks position with her head leaning over, which is the situation where that makes sense. And rather than grabbing the head, Cat was kind of reaching under the armpit for the head, which left her in position for the armbar. And she hung out there a little too long after she should have realized the escape wasn't happening. It could have been that she didn't recognize the danger, or it could have been that she was caught up in the tension of the moment and did something she normally wouldn't do. That happens sometimes, even to very good fighters.

Ronda was composed, and maintained excellent control of the position, and the arm. I thought it would have been better to control Cat's arms with her own arms and hands for better control, rather than leaving it under the armpit. But Ronda proved me wrong and she had total control. Despite being given a big opening, Ronda still showed very high level technique in getting such an effortless finish.

reading this legit took longer than watching the whole fight.

 

[Shemhazai]

Again, Zingano wasn't going for a back escape, she was going for this:



However, Ronda capitalized almost instantly, turning it into a back take situation.

 

[WrestlinganJudo]

I have no problem with coming in with the flying knee, and she nearly secured a takedown.

I think Cat has taken too much heat for coming in with the flying knee. I'm glad you posted this.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

However, Ronda capitalized almost instantly, turning it into a back take situation.

And then Cat left her arm there, reaching for Ronda's head, and that's the part I was talking about.

 

[Shemhazai]

And then Cat left her arm there, reaching for Ronda's head, and that's the part I was talking about.

I guess you can consider the following position a back escape attempt, but it originated as a side control escape. At that point her arm was already so exposed that she probably figured (if it was a conscious decision) that continuing with the head grab would at least allow her a chance of escaping the back. However, Ronda never fully committed to the standard back control, allowing no real opportunity for that escape. It seemed like a very poor choice of back escape in that situation.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

I guess you can consider the following position a back escape attempt, but it originated as a side control escape. At that point her arm was already so exposed that she probably figured (if it was a conscious decision) that continuing with the head grab would at least allow her a chance of escaping the back. However, Ronda never fully committed to the standard back control, allowing no real opportunity for that escape. It seemed like a very poor choice of back escape in that situation.

The part in bold is exactly the point I was making. But I think she had plenty of time to abandon the head grab attempt and pull her arm back, it just looks like she froze in the moment, which definitely happens sometimes.

 

[randomg1t]

People focus on the arm being left out for Ronda to trap but I think the biggest issue is Cat just not being used to an opponent who moves as quickly as Ronda. Cat's attempting an escape from one position but Ronda's already in another position and going for the arm. It looked to me as though Ronda just moved quicker than Cat could keep up with.

I've said it before and I stand by my statement: there's going up against everyone else and then there's going up against Ronda.

and there's no shame in losing to ronda, especially by submission. i mean it's what she does, and she's extremely good at it. the critique cat is getting isn't for losing, i wouldn't even criticise her for leaving her arm out there. but she is rightfully being criticised for a complete lack of strategy.

it's painfully obvious to everyone that the way you should approach a fight with ronda is to stay on the outside and use long punches to keep her away. no kicks, she'll pick those up and get you to the ground. no close quarters or clinch boxing, because she will wrap you up and toss you. stay on the outside, keep the fight clean and technical and throw a million jabs and right crosses. anything else is asking for trouble.

and what do these challengers of her's do? they run into her with their chins up in the air and their hands down, and try to slug it out. it's infuriating.

 

[jamiehunter]

and there's no shame in losing to ronda, especially by submission. i mean it's what she does, and she's extremely good at it. the critique cat is getting isn't for losing, i wouldn't even criticise her for leaving her arm out there. but she is rightfully being criticised for a complete lack of strategy.

it's painfully obvious to everyone that the way you should approach a fight with ronda is to stay on the outside and use long punches to keep her away. no kicks, she'll pick those up and get you to the ground. no close quarters or clinch boxing, because she will wrap you up and toss you. stay on the outside, keep the fight clean and technical and throw a million jabs and right crosses. anything else is asking for trouble.

and what do these challengers of her's do? they run into her with their chins up in the air and their hands down, and try to slug it out. it's infuriating.

Well Cat claimed she didn't watch any tape on Ronda. I thought she just meant she didn't watch the current videos Ronda was posting during her camp but now I firmly believe she just didn't watch any footage period.

I know most people will disagree with me but honestly I think Cat's strategy made sense and was okay in theory. However, the execution of said strategy left a lot to be desired.

The way I see it, an opponent doesn't want to clinch with Ronda, go to the ground with her, or get in a brawl (girl has some power in those hands). So that leaves staying on the outside and throwing jabs. I agree in theory this is the best strategy.

Problem is Ronda will go through the punches in order to clinch so staying on the outside isn't feasible for most of her opponents. It may work if someone with known KO power faces Ronda because Ronda will be less willing to get hit in order to get the clinch. However, until that happens Ronda will just keep chasing her opponents down.

That leaves hitting Ronda hard and fast with something like a knee to the face right out of the gate. It's more likely to cause damage than a punch to the face and if she's not expecting it than it can rock her enough for an opponent to capitalize.

Of course, the caveat to that is it's unlikely she's not expecting it, she's very quick, and the chances of that succeeding are extremely low. However, until Ronda faces someone with legit KO power, that's the best chance I see for most opponents.