There were no surprises, just more dominance on Saturday in Brazil at UFC 190. “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey remained undefeated. She defended her UFC women’s bantamweight championship with a lopsided first-round TKO victory over Bethe Correia.
The win took just 34 seconds to complete. The UFC was quick to congratulate its most dominant champion via Twitter:
Here’s a look at all of the results from the night of fights in Brazil.
Untouchable
Most of the bravado and fighting spirit seemed to be leaving Correia as she walked to the Octagon. The fierceness that she’d shown throughout the hype of the bout was seemingly replaced by nervous anxiety.
When she got to the stare down in the Octagon, she just looked plain scared. Moments later, we’d find out why Correia was so frightened. Rousey not only stopped Correia, she did it by fighting the challenger’s style.
Correia is a grinding brawler and Rousey made it more of a fight than a neat battle of MMA skills. It took twice as long for her to finish Correia than it took to beat Cat Zingano in her last fight, but the performance was just as dominant.
Combination punching and constant pressure told the short story in this one. Rousey put the challenger against the cage and with strikes to the midsection and head. The finishing blow was a right hand to the head that caused Correia to face plant.
How do you know when an athlete has gone to the next level? Stars from every level of entertainment tweet congratulations. Everyone from Nick Jonas to Shaquille O’Neal acknowledged Rousey‘s continued success:
When it was over, Rousey spoke to the UFC’s Joe Rogan and dedicated the win to her deceased father and the late “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. The latter passed away on Friday, per CNN.com.
Rousey‘s father became a central figure in the hype for the main event after Correia said that she hoped Rousey didn’t kill herself after she beat her. The comment struck a nerve because Rousey‘s father committed suicide when she was a child.
Rousey vowed to make Correia pay for her poor choice of words and she did just that on Saturday. A third battle with Miesha Tate is next for Rousey. Tate defeated Jessica Eye at UFC on Fox 16 to earn the No. 1 contender spot.
Quite honestly, there’s a clear lack of formidable competition for Rousey. It speaks to how great and ahead of her time Rousey is in the sport. At this point, she is peerless and most won’t give Tate much of a chance to win the third time around.
Correia will go back to being just another Rousey victim scratching for a piece of the mythical second place trophy. She and every other female fighter aren’t in the champion’s league.
Shogun Takes Rematch
The sequel wasn’t as good as the original.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira I was a tough act to follow. It was especially difficult to re-create the energy and emotion from a fight that took place 10 years ago. Neither Rua or Nogueira are the same fighters they were when the two teamed together for a true MMA classic.
On Saturday, the exciting moments were kept exclusively to the first round. Rua controlled the early part of the first round, but he got caught with a hard right hand that wobbled him.
Nogueira went looking for the finish, but Rua was able to survive the round. Here’s a look at the sequence, per the UFC:
In the second round, hard body kicks kept Rua in control of the action and he mixed in a takedown to regain control of the bout. It was more of the same in the third as Rua seemed to coast to the win in the final round. Here’s one of the kicks that pushed Shogun to the win:
Neither of these legends would stand much of a chance against younger and more dangerous opponents. It almost makes you think the UFC should have a legends division for the old guys that just won’t retire.
In a perfect world, neither Rua or Nogueira would fight again. In reality, we’ll probably see both men underwhelm us once more.
Biggest Loser
Magny
Many didn’t expect Magny to defeat Maia, but how many thought he would get completely dominated and made to look like a novice? That’s exactly what happened. Take a look at the fight stats, per Jason Floyd on the MMA Report:
If that’s not domination, then nothing is.
Magny had won seven fights in a row coming into the bout, but it was clear the streak was about the competition as much as it was Magny‘s development. He crashed into his ceiling as a mixed martial artist hard on Saturday night.
What’s Next
The UFC comes back to the states for the next show. On August 8 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, former Tennessee Volunteers football player and current light heavyweight wrecking machine, Ovince Saint Preux will face Glover Teixeira.
The bout is a key clash between fighters attempting to position themselves for the next shot at the title.
In the co-main event, two lightweights riding four-fight win streaks will battle for a spot in the top 15. Michael Johnson faces Beneil Dariush in an intriguing battle between well-rounded fighters. The fights keep coming.
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