By Michael Owens
Deciding which submission was the best of any given year is a slightly different process than choosing which was the best fight or fighter of the year. The choice stems from the pick of spectacular fight-ending moments rather than evaluations of three to five rounds of action or an entire year’s worth of performances. Because of this, the winner can come from way out in left field.
In terms of the year-defining highlights, it doesn’t get much more left field than the undercard of an Invicta event in Kansas, but that’s where my choice for 2013’s most dazzling submission comes from. Before Invicta FC 5 in April, it’s unlikely many people would have ever heard of Rose Namajunas unless they somehow knew her as Pat Barry’s girlfriend. She had next to no exposure with the lone outing of her 1-0 pro MMA record coming on the female-only MMA promotion’s previous event in January. Likewise, her opponent – Kathina ‘Kill Switch’ Catron – was just three fights into a pro career that had only begun the previous September. All told, there was not too much in the way of hype, anticipation or eye balls on this match up.
Just 12 seconds into the fight that all changed when a finish that would soon create enough animated GIFs to crash bowsers the world over was thrown up out of nowhere. After landing a jab and a quick one-two, ‘Thug’ Namajunas was threatened with a knee and backed up into the cage. We all know the drill from here under normal circumstances. One fighter will look to dirty box, knee or take their opponent down from that position, while the other will try reverse the position to get out of Dodge as soon as possible and back into a neutral position.
This didn’t seem to be on the Namajunas’s mind though as she pushed off the fence and leapt onto her opponent, feet first. A textbook roll and armbar followed, giving her victory after just 12 seconds. Catron tapped instantly. The 21-year-old fight winner seemed to know what an unbelievable thing she just did too, as she flipped out, running, falling to her knees, the cageside and then her back before convulsing on the mat in a fit of elation.
Seeing a flying armbar is a rare thing indeed. There are probably a few examples, but before this effort, the only one I can ever remember seeing was by Shooto legend Rumina ‘Moon Wolf’ Sato way back in 1999. There’s are several good reasons why they are not commonly seen too. It takes a split second of technical precision and athleticism to pull one off and it usually has to be early on in a fight so the fighters aren’t too sweaty.
Because of this I don’t think much more explanation is needed. In fact, I could have just stopped at ‘flying armbar’ and the educated combat sports would have got it then and there. It was the most electric move of the year and deserving of the title of submission of 2013.
Agree? Disagree? Tell us in the comments below.
Picture by Invicta
