“Rousey by armbar.”
The three words are quickly becoming a significant entry in the MMA lexicon. The move itself has become so dominant that it’s more about when than about if it is coming.
After Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman main event, it’s six fights, six first-round armbar submissions by the bantamweight champion, who pulled off the trick in just 54 seconds this time.
Ronda Rousey’s latest victim was Sarah Kaufman, a former champion who had been beaten just once in 16 career fights.
Rousey scored a takedown inside of the first 20 seconds and immediately attacked with the armbar. Kaufman defended the initial surge, but Rousey had latched on and wasn’t going to let go until she had it. The two played tug of war for what must have seemed like an eternity for Kaufman, but in reality landed just around 20 seconds. And finally, Rousey won, locking out her hips and hyperextending Kaufman’s elbow, and the challenger was forced to tap.
“Ronda put on a great performance,” Kaufman (15-2) said afterward. “I’m embarrassed by my performance. I don’t really know what else to say. Ronda did a great job. She got the armbar, I defended it. She continued with it, I defended it, and she ended up getting it so I’m really disappointed. I really wanted to land some good quality strikes but it didn’t happen tonight.”
Rousey wasted no time in setting up her next match. Without skipping a beat, she sidestepped interviewer Mauro Ranallo’s first post-fight interview question and took matters into her own hands.
“I need to send out a challenge to Miss Cyborg out there,” she said. “People want to see the first fair fight of your life. I’m the champ now. The champ doesn’t go to you, you go to the champ. Come down to 135 and let’s settle this.”
Cyborg was reportedly in attendance at Valley View Casino Center.
Rousey will have to wait for Cris Cyborg to come off a steroid suspension later this year for that fight to be set up, but it seems like a no-brainer as long as the former featherweight champion can make the bantamweight limit. She has previously said that she cannot, and that she would have to fight Rousey at 145 or a catchweight of 140.
But that talk is for another time. For now, it is fair to marvel at Rousey’s incredible streak of finishes. Six fights, six wins, six first-round armbars.