What is a kimura lock? Breaking down Sean Brady's nasty submission win ruining Kelvin Gastelum's welterweight return at UFC Austin 

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Sean Brady submitting Kelvin Gastelum with a kimura [Image Courtesy: @ufc via X/Twitter]

Sean Brady has found his way back to the win column, having defeated Kelvin Gastelum via third-round submission at UFC Austin. After outwrestling his foe for the majority of the fight, Brady secured a Kimura lock in less than two minutes of round three to draw the tap.

The win is his first since he was dealt a deflating defeat by Belal Muhammad back at UFC 280. But what exactly is a kimura lock? At first glance, it appears to be an armlock that targets the elbow. While the submission is indeed an armlock, it does not actually target the elbow. Instead, it mainly targets the shoulder.

Named after all-time great judoka Masahiko Kimura due to his historic use of the submission in his win over Brazilian jiu-jitsu co-founder Hélio Gracie, the kimura lock is one of the most widely-known armlocks. It entails a wrist-lock while using one's body to keep the opponent's torso pinned to the mat.

Once the wrist-lock is secured, the fighter applying the submission rotates the opponent's forearm behind their shoulder, bringing their wrist up to the ceiling and cranking at the arm to apply a tremendous amount of pressure on the shoulder and, to a lesser extent, the elbow.


How many MMA fights has Sean Brady won with the kimura lock?

Sean Brady boasts a record of 16 wins and just one loss in 17 fights. Of those 16 wins, five have come by way of submission. Unfortunately for him, he has only one win via kimura, which is generally difficult to execute on skilled grapplers, so it is a progressively rarer sight the higher the level of competition.

Every other submission win on Brady's record has been a choke of some sort, whether a rear-naked and guillotine or an arm triangle. In fact, Brady's win over Gastelum is his first submission win via joint-lock in MMA.

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