question for tapping/following through on subs
 

1. there is not a rule which says you can't go through with a submission, right? like an arm bar, why don't you see more arms get broken if this is the case. it only takes a split second to break the arm before the ref stops it

2.there also is not a rule that says when someone taps, you stop. you wait for the ref to stop it right?

my point is, if you jump in the cage and your a good grappler can't you just snap someones arm with no repercussions?......but why, out of all the crazy people in mma, does nobody just snap their arm.
(mir vs sylvia is not an example, he applied continuous pressure and tim didn't tap.)

Because most guys will tap before their arm gets broken. With highly trained fighters they are able to resist the submission enough to prevent an opponent from just breaking their arm quick.

When an opponent taps, most fighters will let up enough not to injure them but still keep the position until the ref breaks them up (incase it wasn't really a tap or the ref missed it)

A la Ken Shamrock.......

they let go cause they have respect for each other. i dont think most of the fighters really want to hurt the other guy long term

With the exception of a few armbars, most submissions apply pressure through joint manipulation shoulder, elbow, ankle etc. There are tendons, ligaments etc. that stretch before breakage accurs. These are profeesional athletes that know when they are in trouble. (for the most part) there is a certain degree of professionalism that when they have an opponent in a submission and a tap occurs like clint said they will hold position and wait for the ref to break them apart.

Exactly.

Guy throws an armbar on in competition to make the guy tap...not break his arm, so its alot slower motion and applied pressure than a guy would use in a street situation.