Ronda Rousey became the first women’s UFC champion to make a successful title defense with a first-round defeat of Liz Carmouche in their headline fight at UFC 157.
The former Olympic judo champion came into the event undefeated in her MMA career and the overwhelming favorite to walk away with the title here, and she did not fail to deliver on the hype—chalking up a submission from Carmouche with an armbar at 4:49 in the first.
What did we learn, however, from that four minutes and 49 seconds of UFC action in Anaheim? Read on for the biggest takeaways from Saturday’s UFC championship fight.
Ronda Rousey is the best female fighter on the planet
It seemed so obvious that Rousey would cruise to victory here, but until she actually had the claim of being the official UFC champion, it was hard to declare that the former judo champion was the best female mixed-martial arts fighter on the planet.
Now we can.
The 26-year-old chalked up the first-round victory here that many expected her to, and she did in the style that many had assumed she would as well.
It was quick, it was simple, and it confirmed the assumptions that Rousey is simply the greatest—with no obvious opponent forthcoming as being able to beat her.
Just where Rousey can go from here is mind-blowing.
Liz Carmouche is certainly no slouch of the sport
She won’t get any recognition out of this one for her efforts against Rousey, but credit must be given to Liz Carmouche for her appearance here.
She was up against a highly-favored opponent who has a multi-pronged attack in her arsenal, and yet it was the 29-year-old who very nearly won this fight.
Carmouche stunned many with her early chance on Rousey in a rear-naked choke that very nearly ended this fight, but she was unable to properly close. From there, the former Olympic judo medalist was able to take control of the fight and finish this one with her first opportunity at an armbar.
She will get few of the headlines after this one, but given the dominance that Rousey has had over several fighters before, Carmouche certainly did herself no shame in this one. Even if the final result does show a first-round victory to Rousey, as expected.
How will judo-based fighters fare in the future of women’s UFC?
Given her judo background (and success in that background also), Rousey was always going to win this event when the fight went to ground.
She is simply too strong and too skilled to lose a fight on the ground, with her career wins thus far showing how skilled she is in that department.
Questions must then be asked as to what impact this will have on the future of women’s UFC, and particularly on what background will dominate the sport. Rousey‘s judo background is clearly showing to be highly effective, but will similar judo-based fighters win in the women’s UFC as a result?
Moreover, will there now be an influx of women originally trained in judo heading towards the UFC and mixed-martial-arts side of things with Rousey‘s success?
You’d have to think it is more likely—especially if they have some sort of a standing-up game to complement their ground attack—like Rousey has shown that she has in her arsenal as well.
The complete impacts of this result cannot yet be known, but one must think that the win goes a long way to creating a judo-based legacy in women’s UFC.
What did you take away from Ronda Rousey‘s win at UFC 157?
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