Rousey: There’s ‘A Storyline’ and ‘A Very Interesting Fight’ in Bethe Correia

Undefeated UFC women’s bantamweight Bethe Correia may not have won an action-packed decision over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, but she made headlines with her actions after the fight. 
After being announced the winner of the contest, Correia held up …

Undefeated UFC women’s bantamweight Bethe Correia may not have won an action-packed decision over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, but she made headlines with her actions after the fight. 

After being announced the winner of the contest, Correia held up four fingers before putting one down, indicating “one down, three to go.”

Duke is a member of the self-proclaimed “Four Horsewomen” along with UFC champ Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir, and the post-fight gesture was not lost upon the “Rowdy” one. 

As a matter of fact, there’s a feasible scenario, in her mind, where she could be fighting Correia for the title sooner than later, per MMA Junkie

This chick is undefeated. She’s fighting Shayna, so Shayna’s UFC debut is either going to be a huge win for Shayna or this girl is going to be still undefeated, and I’m going to have a huge title fight because this girl is going to have fought both of my girls and is coming after me. That’s a storyline. … 

If Miesha Tate can get a title shot and she hadn’t even won a single match in the UFC, this chick who’s undefeated and beat two of my friends could be a very interesting fight for me.

Baszler vs. Correia is not official, but the bout makes sense from a matchmaker standpoint, as Rousey explained on this week’s edition of The Fighter & the Kid podcast.  

At a glance, a victory over Baszler, a contestant on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, should not be enough to propel “The Pitbull” to a title shot. 

According to the UFC’s official rankings, Correia is the No. 10 women’s bantamweight in the world. 

However, she only has one less victory than Rousey (8-0 versus 9-0), and with one post-fight gesture, she has piqued the attention of a number of fighters and fans alike. 

Rousey fights for the third time in just over six months when she defends her title against Alexis Davis at UFC 175 on July 5. 

Would Rousey vs. Correia be the perfect title fight to make by the end of the year, or does Correia still have a lot to prove inside the Octagon before she is taken seriously as a title contender? 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also thMMA editor for eDraft.com.

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