Five fights, five first round armbar submissions. In her longest fight to date, Ronda Rousey put Miesha Tate into two armbars, the second of which had her arm bending in a way that arms were never meant to bend.
In the process, she has become the new Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion, dominating a fight that many people said should have went to Sarah Kaufman. With Kaufman’s win, however, she’ll likely be the next in line to fear for her limbs.
Rousey has shown herself to be the female version of Rousimar Palhares—a fighter who will dive on submissions and constantly be looking to finish the fight. Her judo background allows her to constantly be looking for trips and throws whenever she clinches, while her great Brazilian jiu-jitsu game is shown off as she works for position as soon as she hits the ground. Rousey had Tate mounted within seconds of hitting the ground. This was particularly notable because it followed a bout in which Josh Thompson was content to cruise to a safe decision win over KJ Noons.
Sarah Kaufman’s slugfest with Alexis Davis and Ronda Rousey’s excellent back and forth grappling match with Miesha Tate were probably the two most entertaining bouts of the night—except for maybe watching Lumumba Sayers slam and choke Scott Smith into obscurity.
Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey was probably the strongest argument to date that women belong in mixed martial arts. It also showed that Ronda Rousey is an animal and all other female fighters should fear her.
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