Ronda Rousey is set to make her UFC debut on Saturday night against Liz Carmouche. Not many people give Carmouche a chance to defeat Rousey, but if Rousey wants to truly impress hardcore MMA fans, she’ll show us more than her signature armbar.
There is some credence to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but Rousey is in a position of great influence.
As a pioneer in women’s MMA, she has been saddled with taking the sport to new heights.
After a while, fans that are students of the sport will tire and lose respect for an attack that is centered around the armbar. Rousey has used this technique to win all six of her professional fights.
Since she is undefeated, it would be only natural for her to fall back on this move as a way to finish Carmouche.
A KO win—or a submission victory with another technique—would be more impressive than a repeat of her six professional fights.
It would show that Rousey is well-rounded as a fighter, and that would garner her respect as more than just a pretty face.
If she continues to dominate her opponents by exclusively using the armbar, fans will lose respect for her competition as well. Of all the prominent fighters in the UFC, none of them could be successful using the same move over and over again.
The competition is too fierce, and fighters are too well-rounded.
In many ways, Rousey is perhaps set up to be the Royce Gracie of women’s MMA. For years, Gracie dominated UFC competition with his expert knowledge and execution of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
He took the sport to a new level with his brilliance, but as the rest of the world began to improve their grappling skills, he wasn’t able to dominate more well-rounded fighters.
Ultimately, Rousey may find herself in that position.
If she can start to show that balance on Saturday night against Carmouche, she will further cement her place in MMA history, and her reign as the premier female fighter could last for some time.
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