The undefeated bantamweight, who earned a shot at the UFC title after three wins inside the Octagon, faces Rousey at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 1, and promises to perform better than countrymen Vitor Belfort did against Chris Weidman for the middleweight title on May 23.
“I don’t fear anything. Fear comes, and I reject it,” Correia said during a Q&A with fans before Friday’s UFC Fight Night 67 weigh-ins in Goiania. “Vitor has a lot of qualities, but I’m different than him. He has the conditioning and psychology of a great fighter, but he’s not like me. I’m a fighter that grows under pressure. I don’t put my head down under pressure. I don’t get desperate and give up.
“What happened with Vitor is that he lost himself with the pressure. It was an important title for him. He’s a great athlete, but the pressure of the title was a big weight for him. But I believe a lot in myself, in my striking. I will win.”
Rousey finished three of her five UFC bouts by submission, but Correia doesn’t believe that going to the ground with “Rowdy” means the fight is over.
“I don’t have any problems with going to the ground with her,” Correia said. “People think you will be submitted if you go to the ground with her. If I go down, I come back stronger. I walk straight forward and get better. I grow in situations like that. Pressure makes me wake up.
“I believe I can beat Ronda,” she added. “I have a good team around me, good jiu-jitsu and judo trainers, a good team working on my striking, and I will be able to defend her armbars. I won’t fall into her game and make the same mistakes the other fighters who fought her before did. I will make her fight my fight.”
Unbeaten in nine MMA fights with a pair of TKO victories, Correia expects to beat Rousey with two punches.
“I will only need two punches to beat her,” she said. “The first punch will be to knock that mole off her face. I want to take that mole out of there. And the second punch will be to knock her out. I need two punches.
“Nobody ever fought for a world title in three years as MMA fighter. I did in three years what people do in an entire life. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.”
The undefeated bantamweight, who earned a shot at the UFC title after three wins inside the Octagon, faces Rousey at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 1, and promises to perform better than countrymen Vitor Belfort did against Chris Weidman for the middleweight title on May 23.
“I don’t fear anything. Fear comes, and I reject it,” Correia said during a Q&A with fans before Friday’s UFC Fight Night 67 weigh-ins in Goiania. “Vitor has a lot of qualities, but I’m different than him. He has the conditioning and psychology of a great fighter, but he’s not like me. I’m a fighter that grows under pressure. I don’t put my head down under pressure. I don’t get desperate and give up.
“What happened with Vitor is that he lost himself with the pressure. It was an important title for him. He’s a great athlete, but the pressure of the title was a big weight for him. But I believe a lot in myself, in my striking. I will win.”
Rousey finished three of her five UFC bouts by submission, but Correia doesn’t believe that going to the ground with “Rowdy” means the fight is over.
“I don’t have any problems with going to the ground with her,” Correia said. “People think you will be submitted if you go to the ground with her. If I go down, I come back stronger. I walk straight forward and get better. I grow in situations like that. Pressure makes me wake up.
“I believe I can beat Ronda,” she added. “I have a good team around me, good jiu-jitsu and judo trainers, a good team working on my striking, and I will be able to defend her armbars. I won’t fall into her game and make the same mistakes the other fighters who fought her before did. I will make her fight my fight.”
Unbeaten in nine MMA fights with a pair of TKO victories, Correia expects to beat Rousey with two punches.
“I will only need two punches to beat her,” she said. “The first punch will be to knock that mole off her face. I want to take that mole out of there. And the second punch will be to knock her out. I need two punches.
“Nobody ever fought for a world title in three years as MMA fighter. I did in three years what people do in an entire life. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.”
