While undeniably a squash match, we argued that Rousey vs. Correia lies in the Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen territory of title fight mismatches — a fight between an ultra dominant champion and a brazen, yet almost completely outgunned challenger which has been (underwhelmingly) sold using the classic “grudge match” storyline. That was until yesterday, however, when new evidence surfaced and proved outright that, yes, this is in fact the biggest mismatch of all time.
Check out the video after the jump, then head over to OwnedSports.com for more videos on daily fantasy sports.
While undeniably a squash match, we argued that Rousey vs. Correia lies in the Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen territory of title fight mismatches — a fight between an ultra dominant champion and a brazen, yet almost completely outgunned challenger which has been (underwhelmingly) sold using the classic “grudge match” storyline. That was until yesterday, however, when new evidence surfaced and proved outright that, yes, this is in fact the biggest mismatch of all time.
Check out the video after the jump, then head over to OwnedSports.com for more videos on daily fantasy sports.
Did Ronda Rousey anger the UFC gods, or is somebody in the marketing department getting fired?
What the hell is Rousey, the UFC’s cash cow up until a quaint little Irishman stole her limelight, doing headlining a barely advertised card in Brazil after about a thousand UFC events in a few weeks time? It makes me wonder if this is intentional, or if this is a marketing blunder.
Let’s put our tinfoil hats on for a bit and pretend like we can get to the bottom of something using pure speculation, and very little else.
Did Ronda Rousey anger the UFC gods, or is somebody in the marketing department getting fired?
What the hell is Rousey, the UFC’s cash cow up until a quaint little Irishman stole her limelight, doing headlining a barely advertised card in Brazil after about a thousand UFC events in a few weeks time? It makes me wonder if this is intentional, or if this is a marketing blunder.
Let’s put our tinfoil hats on for a bit and pretend like we can get to the bottom of something using pure speculation, and very little else. If the UFC strategically placed Rousey:
1. On the tail end of a string of UFC cards that is,
2. In a foreign country and,
3. Because of the other recent fight cards that preceded her main-event title fight, were unable to run a full marketing campaign since every preceding card needed to be marketed, thus, taking time, money, and media away from Rousey.
If the UFC did the above intentionally, it would lead me to believe that:
Now, if this is just a marketing blunder, and someone thought it would be a good idea to have Ronda (we’ll assume that she really is a superstar) headline a card that would be lost in the shuffle of fight cards that were kicked off by the Conor McGregor/Chad Mendes fight, who’s head is going to be on Dana’s silver platter when the Pay-Per-View numbers come in?
But, what if Ronda isn’t the marketing savior the UFC has convinced us she was? Well, then, it means that the UFC is having more issues with it’s marketing than we all thought. I made a short editorial video about how important McGregor winning was for not only the UFC, but MMA as a whole. If Ronda isn’t pulling in the numbers, and we know that nobody besides McGregor has the power to pull in Brock/GSP/Liddell/Jones numbers, then what?
There’s a void that needs to be filled in the UFC and in all of MMA, and that’s star-power. As I say in the video, boxing had this dilemma a few years ago—they didn’t have stars to promote. They got over it when Floyd Mayweather beat Oscar De La Hoya, but it took years and some building up of superstars. The UFC has a lot of “potential” stars on its roster (Yair Rodríguez, Henry Cejudo, *cough* CM Punk *cough*), but it’s how they develop and groom those fighters that will determine if people are going to buy big ticket fights in the next few years. They need to start thinking long term marketing now, or there will be some abysmal PPV numbers while they try to find that captain to helm their warship.
When women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was just eight years old, she lost her father, Ron, to suicide. Ron had been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder sometime earlier, and was given the grim prospect of spending what few remaining years he had left paralyzed and in constant need of assistance. Not wanting to become both an emotional and financial burden to his family, he chose to end his life with his memory intact.
Ron’s decision was one of the only forms of suicide that to even the most close-minded of us can empathize with, perhaps because of how selfless an act it is in cases like his. While discussing her father on Howard Stern, even Rousey herself stated that she completely understood his reasons for what he did and that, were the same circumstances were to befall her, she would arguably do the same thing.
But despite ultimately agreeing with her father’s decision, Rousey obviously remains sensitive to the subject of suicide to this day, which is what makes bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia‘s recent comments about her all the more unforgivable.
When women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was just eight years old, she lost her father, Ron, to suicide. Ron had been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder sometime earlier, and was given the grim prospect of spending what few remaining years he had left paralyzed and in constant need of assistance. Not wanting to become both an emotional and financial burden to his family, he chose to end his life with his memory intact.
Ron’s decision was one of the only forms of suicide that to even the most close-minded of us can empathize with, perhaps because of how selfless an act it is in cases like his. While discussing her father on Howard Stern, even Rousey herself stated that she completely understood his reasons for what he did and that, were the same circumstances were to befall her, she would arguably do the same thing.
But despite ultimately agreeing with her father’s decision, Rousey obviously remains sensitive to the subject of suicide to this day, which is what makes bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia‘s recent comments about her all the more unforgivable.
Though she doesn’t carry the name value of a Tate or a Zingano, the Brazilian scrapper known as “Pit Bull” has been doing her damndest to sell her UFC 190-scheduled title fight with Rousey as anything more than another one-sided beatdown for the UFC’s biggest star. During a recent interview with Combate (as translated by Yahoo!), however, Correia may have taken things a little far, doubling-down on a pair of suicide jokes that would’ve made a Comedy Central roaster cringe:
I want to knock her out, show to everyone that she is a lie. She wants to stand up with me, let’s see. I want to humiliate her.
Under pressure, she is proving weak. When her mom put pressure on her, she ran away from home. When she lost, it was because of drugs. That’s not a superhero. She is not mentally healthy, she needs to take care of herself. She is winning, so everybody is around her cheering her up, but when she realizes she is not everything that she believes she is, I don’t know what might happen. I hope she does not kill herself later on (laughs).
Later in the interview, Correia used the potential of a rematch to once again throw the darkest kind of shade Rousey’s way.
I will give her a rematch if she doesn’t cry too much. She can’t take the pressure. I will give her the chance to get the belt back. Please, don’t kill yourself, don’t commit suicide, because I will give you the rematch.
Oh boy.
I don’t know what to say, honestly. When I first read Correia’s comments, I was all…
But then just as quickly, I thought…
I guess what I’m getting at is, Bethe Correia just said something really dumb and will pay dearly for it. Lowball insults are not the way to get in Rousey’s head, and if Bethe honestly thinks that, than she knows even less about Rousey than casual fans of the Expendables franchise. Ronda Rousey is a force — an unflinching, terrifying machine powered by self-confidence, and unbreakable resolve, and a skillset that is centuries beyond that of anyone she’s ever faced in MMA. She is essentially The Bride from Kill Bill come to life. SHE IS SPARTA.
Bethe Correia, on the other hand, holds just 2 stoppage victories in 9 pro fights.
If the circulating reports have any truth to them, it looks like Ronda Rousey will make her next title defense against Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190 on August 1st. According to my local gambling expert, Vegas oddsmakers should list Rousey as something around a kajillion-to-one favorite over her Brazilian opponent out of the gate, a betting line which will only continue to swing in Rousey’s favor as fight night approaches.
This is not what you’d call a gambler’s paradise, folks, so much so that I asked the top statistician I know to punch up some numbers and find me a handful things more likely to occur than a Bethe Correia win at UFC 190. Here’s what he came up with…
(Props: Fox Sports)
By CP Reader Ramsey O’Shea
If the circulating reports have any truth to them, it looks like Ronda Rousey will make her next title defense against Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190 on August 1st. According to my local gambling expert, Vegas oddsmakers should list Rousey as something around a kajillion-to-one favorite over her Brazilian opponent out of the gate, a betting line which will only continue to swing in Rousey’s favor as fight night approaches.
This is not what you’d call a gambler’s paradise, folks, so much so that I asked the top statistician I know to punch up some numbers and find me a handful things more likely to occur than a Bethe Correia win at UFC 190. Here’s what he came up with…
Crazier things have happened, right? Anthony Pettis was being listed as high as a 5-to-1 favorite over Rafael Dos Anjos until homeboy From Angels laid a royal ass-whipping on him last weekend. And like Pettis, Weidman has also spent more time sidelined with injury than defending his title since he won it back in 2013.
Vitor Belfort, on the other hand, is a (Jesus) juiced-up ball o’ crazy who once sent Dan Henderson into orbit with an uppercut, so if he’s able to land on Weidman early, it wouldn’t be impossible to think that he could put the champ away. While Correia possesses some solid power of her own, Rousey is arguably just as dangerous on the feet nowadays (and most certainly quicker), which all but negates Correia’s only chance at victory.
The Entirety of Rousey vs. Correia Being Viewable in a Vine — 5 to 1
Now this is one I’m strongly considering. Cat Zingano was the #1 ranked bantamweight heading into her fight with Rousey (and not in a “Dennis Siver is suddenly top 10″ kind of way, either), and she last 14 seconds. Bethe Correia is currently ranked #7 (which, I guess?), which means she should last approximately….mathmathmath….two seconds. Hell, they’ll even be able to fit Joe Rogan’s verbal humiliation of Correia after the fight is over into that Vine as well.
Being Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer: 6 to 1
Here are the facts:
1. There were around 220,000 cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in the US alone last year.
2. Prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer in terms of commonality.
3. More than a third of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men aged over 75 years.
Here are some more facts:
1. Ronda Rousey has only been listed as anything *less* than a 6-1 favorite once in her UFC career (against Sara McMann at UFC 170).
2. It was almost unanimously agreed upon that Correia dropped the first round of her fight against Baszler.
3. Shayna Baszler fights like a 75 year old man.
The connections are all there if you’re willing to look for them, is all I’m saying.
Being Picked on The Price is Right – 36 to 1
Bethe may not stand a snowball’s chance in Hell against Rousey, but seeing her perform her patented victory dance next to a bewildered/emasculated Drew Carey? I’d bet a dollar on that coming to fruition.
What I wouldn’t bet a dollar on, on the other hand, would be the fight I mentioned earlier.
Fast and Furious 7 Topping Furious 6 – 12,800 to 1
The point is, no matter how fast and/or furious Fast and Furious 7 is, it can in no way be more fast and furious than Fast and Furious 6 was. The bar has simply been set too high furious. That being said, the mere inclusion of Rousey’s name in the cast list makes Fast 7 a more solid bet than anything which doesn’t include Rousey’s name (the phrase “Bethe Correia: Bantamweight Champion” for instance).
Dying From Contact with Hot Tap Water: 5,005,564 to 1
First off, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that this joke has gone on for far too long.
“I was willing to play along with your increasingly hyperbolic attempts at explaining how screwed Bethe Correia is,” you said to yourself, “But hot tap water, CP? Really?! THIS IS WHY YOU NEED CROWDFUNDING TO SURVIVE.”
And you’re right, you really should consider donating to CP’s Patreon, but also, I argue that the idea of Ronda Rousey vs. Hot Tap Water is no more ludicrous than the idea of Rousey vs. A Man, or Rousey vs. Laila Ali for that matter. All three matchups have literally the exact same chance of being booked, so there. #PointGryffindor
Secondly, do not — I repeat, DO NOT — overlook how dangerous a glass of tap water can be. We all saw the effect it had on those aliens in the 2002 documentary Signs, and now you’re adding HEAT into the equation? Goodnight, Irene. Which isn’t even to mention the fact that tap water is not physically capable of possessing arms, which gives it a huge advantage in this completely fictional matchup against the current champ.
Am I saying that hot tap water would have a better chance against Ronda Rousey than Bethe Correia? Not at all. I’m saying that I’d sooner bet on old Irene up there croaking after burning her tongue than I would on Bethe beating Ronda. Not that I feel the need to defend these numbers, mind you, as I can assure you that they were given to me by a top numbers man.
In conclusion, Ronda Rousey will win. Bethe Correia will not. Eat more tomatoes.
Welcome to the non-liveblog of UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto, a pay-per-view card so shockingly irrelevant that we’ll barely be covering it tonight. Basically, we’ll update the results through the night — which you can find after the jump — and that’s about it. If something particularly interesting happens, we’ll let you know, and if we find any good GIFs, we will link you to them. Thanks for checking in with us, and follow us on twitter for bonus commentary.
Welcome to the non-liveblog of UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto, a pay-per-view card so shockingly irrelevant that we’ll barely be covering it tonight. Basically, we’ll update the results through the night — which you can find after the jump — and that’s about it. If something particularly interesting happens, we’ll let you know, and if we find any good GIFs, we will link you to them. Thanks for checking in with us, and follow us on twitter for bonus commentary.
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)
– Derek Brunson vs. Lorenz Larkin
– Anthony Hamilton vs. Ruan Potts
– Chris Wade def. Cain Carrizosa via submission (guillotine choke), 1:12 of round 1
(We now to go to our post-fight celebration expert, Michael Kelso, for analysis.)
Not since Nick Diaz invented the Stockton Heybuddy have we seen a fighter gain so much notoriety for a hand gesture, but that seems to be the case with one Bethe Correia. Whether us MMA fans will admit it or not, we all get a semi at the thought of an honest grudge match between MMA fighters, and when Correia silently dissed the “Four Horsewoman” following her victory over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, it was pretty much a done-deal that she would face one of the three remaining members in her next UFC contest.
But being that Marina Shafir just turned pro and that Ronda Rousey is Ronda Rousey, all roads lead to Shayna Baszler, the ten year veteran and final member of the ill-named MMA supergroup. As such, UFC officials announced last night that Correia and Baszler will in fact throw down at UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes 2 on August 2nd in what is sure to be billed as “an intense rivalry between a rising contender and a savvy veteran.”
More on this matchup, including Rousey’s thoughts on Correia as a potential opponent, are after the jump.
(We now to go to our post-fight celebration expert, Michael Kelso, for analysis.)
Not since Nick Diaz invented the Stockton Heybuddy have we seen a fighter gain so much notoriety for a hand gesture, but that seems to be the case with one Bethe Correia. Whether us MMA fans will admit it or not, we all get a semi at the thought of an honest grudge match between MMA fighters, and when Correia silently dissed the “Four Horsewoman” following her victory over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, it was pretty much a done-deal that she would face one of the three remaining members in her next UFC contest.
But being that Marina Shafir just turned pro and that Ronda Rousey is Ronda Rousey, all roads lead to Shayna Baszler, the ten year veteran and final member of the ill-named MMA supergroup. As such, UFC officials announced last night that Correia and Baszler will in fact throw down at UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes 2 on August 2nd in what is sure to be billed as “an intense rivalry between a rising contender and a savvy veteran.”
While the undefeated Correia has scored two straight victories in the UFC over Duke and the now-retired Julie “Cat Lady” Kedzie, Baszler has not actually competed since getting upset by eventual season winner Julianna Pena in the TUF 18 quarterfinals. Her last professional contest ended in equally disappointing fashion, as she was choked out by current title challenger Alexis Davis in the third round of their scrap at Invicta FC 4. Baszler was scheduled to face Sarah Kaufman at the TUF Nations Finale last month before being forced out of the contest with an injury.
Should Correia get past Baszler, it would all but guarantee a title shot against Rousey, if only for the “WWE-style narrative” that’s been established. That’s according to Rousey, anyway (via MMAJunkie):
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.
I think Shayna can f—ing handle it and will shove this s–t in this girl’s face, but there’s no lose in this situation. It’s a huge win for Shayna, or it’s a huge setup for a fight.
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.
Ladies of the bantamweight division, take note: Win a couple fights and include some obscure gestures in your post-fight celebration and you too can earn the chance to be armbarred by Ronda Rousey. GINA CARANO WHO?
