Sherdog.com’s 2013 Submission of the Year

Rose Namajunas took to the air in Invicta. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

4. A Rare Jewel

Flying submissions are some of MMA’s truest and rarest jewels. They are cherries on the sundae, if the cherry was grander than the sundae itself. They are events in and of themselves, like spectacular astronomical occurrences that can never be forecasted.

Invicta Fighting Championships 5 on April 5 was one of the year’s most exceptional cards, and Rose Namajunas turned in its most exceptional moment. In just 12 seconds, the then-20-year-old showed that she is an electrifying entertainer, just like her UFC slugger boyfriend. More importantly, Namajunas showed grappling chops that might eventually make the strawweight fighter much more than “Pat Barry’s girlfriend.”

The opening bell rang and Namajunas punched her way to her Oklahoman opponent. Kathina Catron clinched to halt Namajunas’ salvo, and just like that, it was over. Namajunas clamped down on Catron’s left arm, sprung from the hips, cleared her right leg over her head cleanly, snuck her left leg between Catron’s in mid-air to assist in the roll, hit the ground, popped her hips and got the tap. Namajunas exploded to her feet in righteous jubilation and disbelief. In her frantic celebratory dancing, she spastically attempted a snow angel, the worm and breakdancing windmills, with varying levels of failure. It is about the only way one could be critical of her in-cage performance that night.

Even more impressive, Namajunas jumped for the flying armbar with her back close to the fence and was able to turn over Catron deftly, allowing her to finish it properly. Most flying submission attempts get messy and fall apart when competitors hit the ground. Hooking through Catron’s legs helped roll her into a more natural finishing position despite Namajunas starting with her own back to the fence. It was a flying armbar that looked exactly like a flying armbar is supposed to look -- a feat even rarer in the midst of MMA combat.

Naysayers may look to Catron’s pedestrian record and question the level of competition involved here. These naysayers should be scoffed at. How many great flying submissions have come against world beaters? Apart from Ryo Chonan giving Anderson Silva the business on New Year’s Eve in 2004, the pickings are slim. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

The most iconic flying armbar -- and perhaps the most iconic flying submission period -- is high-flying Shooto hero Rumina Sato’s six-second highlight reeling of Charles Diaz, who at that time was still a college wrestler with no MMA experience. Sometimes it is not about the speed of the pitch but the form on the swing, and Namajunas hit this one above the upper deck and out of the park.

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