Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, unless that woman is UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who has announced she will inflict a “devastatingly embarrassing” punishment on Bethe Correia when the two meet at UFC 190.
Rousey isn’t intimidated by fighting in front of Correia’s home crowd in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 1. She has “love” for the Brazilian crowd’s passion after her previous experiences in the country, per Jimmy Kimmel Live (h/t Damon Martin of Fox Sports), and she would rather concentrate on brutally eliminating Correia from the title picture in front of her most ardent supporters.
Her passion to prolong the beating stems from Correia’s jibe about Rousey potentially committing suicide if she loses. Although the Brazilian apologised after learning her opponent’s father took his own life when she was a child, per Brent Brockhouse of MMA Junkie, the damage was already done.
“The thing is I just want to beat her in the most devastatingly embarrassing way possible,” Rousey said, per Jimmy Kimmel Live (via Martin). “I’m not afraid to let go of the hometown advantage. She’s much more than a hometown advantage away from beating me.”
Last year, Rousey whooped Alexis Davis in 16 seconds, before overcoming Cat Zingano in 14 seconds during their February fight, per ESPN. Ominously, she is planning to drag her encounter with Correia out to ensure the 32-year-old doesn’t cross the line again.
“If I make the fight fast, that means I like you,” Rousey said, per Jimmy Kimmel Live (via Martin). “That’s me at my most merciful. With this next chick that I don’t like, it’s not going to be like that. She’s going to look different walking out than she did walking in.”
Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com commented on Rousey’s reaction:
Rousey provided further quotes during the launch event for Reebok’s UFC attire, as reported by Justin Feck of the MailOnline:
It has definitely become personal for me at this point and when I finish fights quickly that is when I’m being nice, I’m not going to be nice to this chick and she is going to have a very long painful lesson that night.
I’ve never looked forward to beating up someone more in my entire life. This is the only time I will say I will purposely drag a fight out to punish someone.
Both fighters remain unbeaten in their professional MMA careers. Rousey’s transition from Strikeforce champion to the face of the UFC has helped female fighters gain huge traction across the globe. She is 11-0, having won nine fights via her signature armbar submission, as recorded by ESPN.
Miesha Tate is the only competitor to have lasted longer than one round with Rowdy, having pushed her to Round 3 during their rematch at the end of 2013.
Correia enjoys a 9-0 record heading into her fourth UFC fight. The Brazilian isn’t a great finisher of opponents but often dominates throughout, as highlighted by seven of her victories coming via a decision (six unanimous, one split), per ESPN.
She last entered the Octagon against Shayna Baszler on Aug. 30, 2014, so she will need to find her momentum quickly if she’s to challenge Rousey at all.
The confidence and self-belief in Rousey’s words add to the intimidation factor of a fighter who rarely loses control in a fight. We’ve often witnessed her quickly reduce encounters to the ground in order to initiate a successful submission, so it will be interesting to see if her tactics change in order to prolong her exchange with Correia.
Pitbull will have to stay busy and try to avoid constant lockups with Rousey to remain in the fight. It’s going to be extremely difficult to land a decision in this one, mainly because Rousey is capable of ending the encounter at any point with her superior physicality.
Correia finished her battle with Baszler with some tough shots against the cage, but we aren’t going to see Rousey leave her guard down like her last opponent did. Rousey’s comments are scarily assured and robotic—like she’s already carving the W into her record—an attitude fuelled by Correia’s ignorance.
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