Brianna Ste-Marie has in a short amount of time become a star in submission grappling, with just a few years at black already yielding significant success at the biggest tournaments in the world. BSM is a medalist at the ADCC and IBJJF No-Gi World Championships, often winning by submission, and this Sunday she takes on Elisabeth Clay for the 145lb championship. While Ste-Marie usually competes lower, she has bumped up before with significant success.

So how has Brianna set herself apart as someone who isn't just winning, but often finishing fights by submission? She is winning by finish nearly 2/3 times, with a submission rate of 64% as a black belt. There are a few key sequences that she is using that are worth noticing, positions where she has developed strong submission traps that she can go back to again and again.

We're going to take a look at Brianna's most common fight-ending position from top and from bottom.

The Best Closed Guard Armbar In Jiu-Jitsu?

Brianna Ste-Marie is one of the best closed guard players in modern submission grappling, with a primary focus on the armbar. In a time where most people are chasing the leg lock, she is being successful with a pretty traditional technique - which makes it worth checking out.

Getting to the armbar position from guard means getting your hip up and around the shoulder, then your leg over the head, before you separate the hands and finish a straightened arm in an armbar. That's a lot of steps! Trying to swing up and into an armbar is definitely possible, but hard to rely on. It's situational and often relies on an element of either surprise or mistake by the opposition.

The key to understanding how BSM has developed such a killer armbar is by looking at the top lock she uses, and how that changes the steps involved. The top lock is a sub-position, a small upgrade within the closed guard that makes the next steps easier, that involves bringing your legs up to lock around the shoulders instead of the hips.

From here, there's an element of safety of control from the guard. Those same steps we laid out earlier can be done without having to race your opponent. From here, instead, Brianna frames until she can get the leg over the head, then works on breaking through the gripping for a chance to finish. By giving you the luxury of time, it turns the usual closed guard armbar into a much more controlled, systematic sequence that BSM has mastered.

The top lock isn't just useful for armbars, but that is the focus of the position. We've seen Brianna counter her opponent's defensive reactions and upgrade position instead, taking the back. If people withdraw their arm to safety, they risk giving away a triangle choke. It's a deceptively powerful position that has become a unique weapon for her.

A Ruthless Top Half Guard Submission Combination

From top position, what's unusual about Brianna's style is that she is rarely ever finishing (or even usually attempting) traditional guard passes. Rather, BSM works to top half guard and then she is crashing for a submission threat - either the kimura or guillotine - and using that to finish the fight or advance position.

At a basic level, anytime you can go for a guillotine, you can go for a kimura. They both start with your arm across your opponent's far shoulder, it then just depends on if you wrap up the arm or reach around the neck.

Once she has finally locked on, depending on the defensive reaction of the opponent, Brianna has a great finishing sequence from each submission. The arm-in guillotine quickly becomes the darce if they wrestle up into a turtle, or dig that underhook high enough to prevent the initial choke. That guillotine grip can also turn into a pass, like when she used it to mount Jasmine Rocha at the ADCC Trials.

The kimura rarely gets finished as the actual, traditional shoulder lock. According to BJJ Heroes, she actually only has one kimura finish at black belt, over Kathryn Egan at Trials. Still, it's a valuable position not for the finish alone but because it forces your opponent to keep their hands locked together while you upgrade your situation. Brianna is very skilled at turning the kimura into an armbar (like against Elvira at ADCC Worlds) or using it to take the back in a classic kimura trap.

With these two submissions ready to be cycled through, Brianna has found a really successful way to fight from top without ever having to get slowed down in tough passing sequences. The typical gameplan would be pass the guard, establish dominant position, attack a submission. Instead, there's a simple protocol for BSM's approach: pass only half the guard, attack a submission - and the results speak for themselves.

Also, Check Out This Cool Wrist Lock From Worlds

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These submission threats are only some of the many skills that BSM brings to the competition mats, and she returns to action this Sunday at Tezos WNO 20: Night of Champions when she competes for the vacant featherweight championship against Elisabeth Clay. Who will emerge victorious? Tune in to FloGrappling find out!