Ronda Rousey congratulates Kay Hansen on stunning armbar finish in UFC debut

UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey took to social media to congratulate Octagon newcomer Kay Hansen on her stunning armbar submission at UFC on ESPN 12.

Hansen, who is only 20 years old, was signed by the UFC one week ago to take on Jinh Yu Frey in a women’s strawweight contest on the UFC on ESPN 12 prelims. Despite being the youngest female fighter on the UFC roster, Hansen had a successful debut as she was able to pull off an incredible armbar submission stoppage in the third round in what was a close fight up until that point. It was an incredible finish that earned her a $50,000 bonus for “Performance of the Night” on a card that was full of standout performances.

Following the submission win, Hansen was sent a positive message by Rousey, who Hansen says was her inspiration to begin competing in mixed martial arts. Hansen has said that watching Rousey knock Bethe Correia out at UFC 190 was something that helped get her into the sport, where she is now one of the top prospects in the women’s weight classes.

Check out the message Rousey sent to Hansen on her Twitter below.

Congratulations 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 looking forward to seeing more from you! Nice armbar 😉 https://t.co/or5nwIgNgr

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) June 27, 2020

Congratulations looking forward to seeing more from you! Nice armbar

Rousey is, of course, known for having the most devastating armbar in mixed martial arts history, as she used her signature move to become and remain the Strikeforce and UFC women’s bantamweight champion for years. Although the armbar has been a staple of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is one of the top submissions used in mixed martial arts, Rousey is the first fighter that comes to mind when you think about an armbar finish.

With Rousey providing positive support for Hansen, the sky seems like the limit for her. Despite coming in as a heavy favorite at the betting window, Hansen was still very much unproven, especially going up against a vet like Frey in her UFC debut. After starting off slowly and losing the first round to Frey in the striking department, Hansen made the adjustments in the second round and started to take the fight to the mat, where she is at her best. In the third round, she was able to get into a position on the mat where the armbar was there for the taking, and she used it to finish the fight.

Do you think Kay Hansen has the potential to be the next Ronda Rousey?