GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – Sometime around 2012 the term “armbar” took on both a place in the American sports lexicon and a mysticism. It was primarily thanks to Ronda Rousey, who used her mastery of the technique to ride it all the way to stardom with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
While Rousey’s juggernaut was stopped in punishing fashion by Holly Holm in November and the former champ remains on hiatus, the armbar, a move so devastatingly effective that its execution made victory a formality, is here to stay.
But to see the move in its original form, the best place to start could be this summer’s Olympics.