@RMichaelHimself

8 months ago

4:18 the nuances to how Gordon defends this arm bar is incredible. Watch it in 0.25x speed and note how Gordon uses his shins and forearms to shield his chest and stomach - preventing his opponent from getting his legs involved in the arm bar to create leverage. The opponent is unable to secure any points of attachment or control to Ryan aside from the arm itself, which is not sufficient to prevent the subsequent roll & escape. Forreal, watch it in 0.25x and pause liberally to take it in. It’s amazing… especially when you consider this was EARLYYY in Gordon’s career and the very beginning chapter of his development into the GOAT. Nowadays he has every single position, every single movement, every possible outcome from every possible angle… all down to a science. Gordon isn’t even really putting on an athletic performance when he competes anymore… he’s out studying people and out-nerding them with his understanding of physics and human body mechanics. Like he’s doing stuff and creating wedges and angles with hus body that his opponents don’t even understand, let alone know how to defeat it. Then on top of it, he obviously IS an athletic specimen… and he’s taking steroids. Put it all together and I’m not sure the laws of physics, nor our current modern understanding of the human body, allow this man to be defeated in a 1 vs 1 submission competition.

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