Despite reports that Ronda Rousey has no more worthy opponent in the UFC, undefeated Brazilian mixed martial artist Bethe Correia has reportedly agree to step up to the plate and challenge the women’s bantamweight champion.
While there has yet to be an official announcement about the fight, initial reports indicate that the two would be meeting on UFC 190 slated on August 1 not in Las Vegas or Los Angeles but actually in the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, giving Correia a sort of homecourt advantage, notes Yahoo! Sports.
Given that Rousey, nicknamed ‘Rowdy’ in UFC, would be involved in the pay-per-view event, her match with Correia is expected to be the main event at UFC 190.
Correia is one of the few remaining women fighters in the UFC with an undefeated record. Since starting her career in the UFC in 2012, she has piled up nine wins from his nine matches, with two of those coming by knockouts, and seven by decision.
After her 14-second defeat of previously undefeated Cat Zingano last month, Rousey now has an immaculate 11-0 win-loss record with the UFC, two of them coming by knockouts and nine by submissions. She has yet to have a match that will go the full distance.
Rousey is the type of fighter who would like to go for the jugular right off the bat while Correia thrives on a slugfest and it would be interesting to see how far she can hold out during the contest.
A statement to Rousey
Correia’s claim to fame in the UFC and the right to challenge Rousey came when she defeated Jessamyn Duke in April of last year.
Duke is a teammate of Rousey along with Marina Shafir and Shayna Baszler. They are called the ‘Four Horsewomen’ of the UFC.
When Correia won over Duke, she held up her four fingers and turned them outside down and plunged them into the floor, short of saying actually that one down, three to go, and that she was out to defeat all of the ‘Four Horsewomen’ eventually.
In August last year, Correia also TKO’d Shayna Baszler in the second round of their fight at UFC 177. Without really mentioning anything, the Brazilian mixed martial artist has already gotten half of the job done. It would have been fitting if she fights Shafir first before ultimately facing Rousey but as it is, Rousey will be next on her plate.
The fight with Correia will be the third time in Rousey’s career where she will be facing an undefeated challenger in the Octagon after Sara McMann and Cat Zingano.
If Rousey continues her incredible dominance of the sport despite her booming Hollywood career and defeats Correia, then she can already start considering taking on the long-rumored fight with Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino from the Invicta FC. Rousey has said that she is willing to fight Cyborg who is on the 145 pound weight class if the latter agrees to go down to 135 pounds.