In a strange turn of events, Gordon Ryan has issued a challenge to Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa in order to find out who’s the best at… demonstrating an ambar? Ryan made the challenge public on his official Instagram account after Barbosa made the comment that he wouldn’t even be able to explain an armbar when wearing the gi, and challenging him to compete in one with “real fighters” instead. This is just the latest in a long line of clashes between Gordon Ryan and the various members of ATOS, like Barbosa, Kaynan Duarte and Andre Galvao.
This has all been part of the buildup as we edge ever closer to the ADCC World Championships 2022, where Ryan should come up against Galvao in a grudge match years in the making with the superfight championships on the line. To date though, even ADCC head organizers have been unable to confirm whether the match will go ahead. Even more recently, Galvao has hinted at making a return to MMA in 2021 which could also put the match in doubt.
The armbar is of course one of the oldest submissions in any form of grappling and the basic concepts of the armbar have been existed in some form for over a thousand years. Regardless, there’s so many tiny details that will change dependent on the position that you use the technique in, or the style of grappling that you come from, that two people will likely show very different versions when asked to demonstrate an armbar. Seeing as Gordon Ryan already mentioned showing the technique from the same position in his challenge, it’ll be interesting to see how the minor details will change when being taught by either him or Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa.
