Ronda Rousey
After her 14-second destruction of Cat Zingano a few weeks ago, Ronda Rousey will tee it up again in August, according to a report out of Brazil.
Tatame first reported Rousey (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion and arguably the promotion’s biggest current draw, will put her title on the line against Brazilian Bethe Correia (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro. Multiple outlets have since confirmed the initial report.
UFC officials have not yet announced the fight, or the location of the Aug. 1 card, which reportedly will take place at Rio’s HSBC Arena. The currently UFC is in Rio for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 62 at Maracanazinho Gymnasium.
The event also would include a rematch between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Mauricio Rua (22-10 MMA, 6-8), the report said. The two first fought in 2005 under the PRIDE banner with “Shogun” Rua winning a unanimous decision. Rua and Nogueira’s brother, Antonio Rodrigo, will coach Season 4 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” opposite each other, with episodes debuting next month on UFC Fight Pass.
Correia has been calling Rousey out for months and has beaten two of Rousey’s teammates, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler. Rousey hasn’t shied away from saying it’s a fight she wants, as well, and has said she’s willing to go to Brazil for it. After her win over Zingano, Rousey said in the cage Correia would likely make a good next opponent.
Rousey faced what many thought was going to be her biggest challenge yet at UFC 184 less than three weeks ago. But when Zingano rushed her immediately, Rousey threw her and had her tapping to an armbar in 14 seconds – her fastest win yet, even after a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis at UFC 175.
Of Rousey’s 11 stoppage wins – nine by armbar – 10 have come in the first round. And her most recent three fights have taken just 1:36 of total cage time. All told, Rousey’s 11 pro fights have averaged a total time of 2:49.
Correia made her UFC debut in December 2013 after fighting her first six pro bouts in her home country of Brazil, where she had five decision wins and a TKO. She took a split decision from Julie Kedize in her first UFC fight, then outpointed Duke before stopping Baszler with a TKO this past August at UFC 177.
For more on UFC 190, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
