Today we will see how to fix your side control armbar with Demian Maia. It’s a great pleasure to be here with him. In my opinion, he has the best jiu-jitsu game in the history of MMA fighters. He is going to show us a very simple technique that works very well in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA.
Many people know this armbar technique from side control. When you close your forearm on your opponent’s chest, lift his arm and step over, turning to the other side and finishing with the armbar. However, people often lose the armbar when their opponent is able to bend his arm, pull the arm out and escape from the armbar.

Demian has a technique he likes to do from side control to make the armbar tighter, especially in MMA, where the fighters are more explosive.
Let’s see how to fix your side control armbar with Demian Maia:

After he has established side control, his opponent often responds by placing his arm on Demian’s back, between his head and his opponent’s legs.
At this point, he controls his opponent’s arm around the bicep and he closes his forearm tight on his opponent’s chest. When he does this a typical reaction from his opponent is that he will try to bend his arm and pull down. So when he attempts to lift his opponent’s arm in order to step over for the armbar, his opponent can pull his arm down and escape.
So what Demian likes to do is when his opponent tries to bend his arm, instead of trying to lift his opponent’s arm, he transfers his weight to his opponent’s opposite hipbone. He also sprawls with his legs out to increase the pressure. This pressure makes it very difficult for his opponent to bend his arm and pull his arm out to escape.
At this point if his opponent tries to stand up or sit up, he puts his hand on his opponent’s chin. Then he pushes down. This pressure stops his opponent from standing up or sitting up.
After he has control of his opponent’s arm and pressure on his opponent’s hipbone, he steps to the other side bringing his knee under his opponent’s arm. Then he turns and finishes the armbar.
This is a simple technique but the way he puts pressure on his opponent’s hipbone while controlling his arm makes this technique more efficient. The key is controlling his opponent’s bicep and transferring his weight from his knees to his opponent’s hipbone.
I see a lot of people missing this armbar position especially in no-gi. However, I felt a lot of pressure on my arm when he did this technique on me. I couldn’t move my arm at all when he transferred his weight to my hipbone. My arm was completely trapped. I think that is the key detail to this technique. It’s also key to not lose the pressure on the hipbone when you step over to finish the armbar. Make sure to stay low, this will help you maintain the pressure.

Here are the key points to fix your side control armbar with Demian Maia:

1. After you have established side control make sure you control your opponent’s arm around the bicep. Then close your forearm tightly on your opponent’s chest.
2. To prevent your opponent from pulling his arm out, transfer your weight to your opponent’s opposite hipbone and sprawl out. Then use your legs to help increase the pressure.
3. Press down with your opposite hand if your opponent tries to stand up or sit up.
4. Stay low to maintain the pressure as you step over to the other side to finish the armbar.

Thank you so much for this awesome technique Demian. I hope you all enjoyed it. Oss.