Ronda Rousey
MMA’s most dominant female fighter, Ronda Rousey, retained her UFC women’s bantamweight title with a 34-second victory in the main event of Saturday’s “UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia” card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While many had predicted a quick submission finish for the champion, Rousey instead showcased her improved boxing skills and knocked out challenger Bethe Correia with a right hook to the temple.
Leading up to Saturday’s title tilt, Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) did not hide the fact that Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had upset her by making derogatory comments about her family and about her friends in the “Four Horsewomen” stable. Correia earned her title shot by defeating “Horsewomen” members Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler, and she continued to provoke Rousey with defamatory comments in the weeks prior to the fight.
In response, Rousey promised to make an example of Correia, and she did just that by destroying the challenger on the feet. Rousey put Correia on the defensive early on by landing a series of short uppercuts in the clinch and Correia was forced to roll backward after losing her balance. As she returned to her feet, Rousey swarmed on her with punches and knees against the cage. Correia survived the initial onslaught, but Rousey landed a looping right hook behind the ear that sent an unconscious Correia crashing face-first to the canvas.
Following her latest title defense, talk turned again to a potential super fight between Rousey and Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane Justino. Both Rousey and UFC president Dana White have expressed an interest in making the fight happen at 135 pounds, while Justino has requested that the bout be contested at 140 or 145 pounds.
Whether the Rousey-Justino fight ever takes place remains to be seen, but Rousey’s next opponent has already been determined and she will soon battle Miesha Tate in a trilogy fight. Rousey submitted Tate in each of the pair’s first two meetings, but Tate has given the champion her toughest tests to date and remains the only woman to take Rousey out of the first round.
Gadelha spoils Aguilar’s UFC debut, wants strawweight title shot
The UFC 190 PPV card kicked off with an intriguing strawweight contender’s bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who signed with the UFC earlier this year and famously proclaimed that she had “decided to become UFC champion.”
Gadelha, who dropped a controversial split decision to reigning UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in December, got right back into title contention by shutting down Aguilar’s offense en route to a one-sided unanimous-decision victory. Aguilar was never able to get anything going in the fight and suffered her first defeat since September 2010.
In Rounds 1 and 2, Gadelha controlled the action with stiff jabs, right hands and slam takedowns. She bloodied Aguilar’s nose with punches and hurt her with a right hook early in the second stanza. Aguilar’s only success came in the form of leg kicks in Round 3, which she used to slow down Gadelha’s offense. Gadelha still scored with knees and one-twos, and she took Aguilar down once more before the final bell to seal the fight in her favor.
All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Gadelha, who campaigned for a rematch with Jedrzejczyk in the coming months once both have recovered from hand injuries. Aguilar, who held the top spot at 115 pounds for two years while a planned Invicta FC title bout between Gadelha and Carla Esparza was scrapped three times, now faces a difficult road ahead in order to get back into championship contention in the talent-rich UFC women’s strawweight division.
Jessica Eye vs. Julianna Pena announced for UFC 192
Bantamweight contender Jessica Eye (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) looks to rebound from her disappointing decision loss two weeks ago when she steps back into the cage on Oct. 3 at “UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson” in Houston, Texas. Eye is set to battle “TUF 18” winner Julianna Pena (6-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who has won back-to-back fights inside the octagon.
Eye debuted for the UFC in October 2013 and scored a huge victory over former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman, but the win was later overturned when Eye tested positive for marijuana metabolites. She has since dropped two of three fights against the bantamweight division’s elite, and most recently suffered a one-sided unanimous-decision loss to Miesha Tate at UFC on FOX 16 on July 25. The setback dropped Eye out of title contention for the time being, and she is in need of an impressive victory in October.
Pena has endured three serious knee injuries that have kept her on the sidelines for the better part of the past six years, but the 25-year-old persevered and became the first-ever female winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013 when she stopped Jessica Rakoczy at the TUF 18 Finale. She was kept out of action for all of 2014 due to injuries and returned to the cage with a dominant first-round TKO win over Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 63 in April. She now takes a step up in competition to face Eye, but a victory would vault Pena from prospect status into a legitimate contender at 135 pounds.
Quick results
Strawweight – Silvia Gonzalez (2-0) def. Carina Cabanas (0-1) via KO (punches) at the 24-second mark of Round 1 at “The Fight Club: Pilsen Submission MMA 3” on July 17 in Asuncion, Paraguay. 16-year-old Gonzalez picked up her second first-round knockout victory of the year by stopping Cabanas, who stepped into the fight as a short-notice replacement.
Flyweight – Mabelly Lima (2-0) def. Debora Oliveira (0-1) via unanimous decision at “Limo Fight Championship 16: Morada Nova” on July 17 in Morada Nova, Ceara, Brazil. Lima kept her unbeaten record intact with her second win under the Limo FC banner.
Flyweight – Kaline Medeiros (5-4) def. Sarah Payant (1-1) via submission (kimura) at the 3:24 mark of Round 1 at “Bellator 140: Lima vs. Koreshkov” on July 17 in Uncasville, Conn. Medeiros has won four of her past five fights and she is set to compete again on Sept. 11.
Featherweight – Zarah Fairn dos Santos (3-1) def. Liubov Belyakova (2-1) via TKO (punches) in Round 1 at W.I.N. Fighting Championship on July 18 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Dos Santos has won back-to-back fights since returning to the sport in March.
Atomweight – Jenny Huang (2-0) def. Elena Pashnina (0-2) via split decision at “ONE Championship 29: Kingdom of Warriors” on July 18 in Yangon, Myanmar. Taiwan’s Huang made a successful atomweight debut with the three-round victory.
Strawweight – Silvania Monteiro (3-1) def. Caroline Silva (0-1) via submission (armbar) at the 2:32 mark of Round 1 at Corujao Fight on July 18 in Sao Joao Batista, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Monteiro made a quick return to action following a win in June and picked up her second straight victory via first-round armbar.
Flyweight – Polyana Viana Mota (5-1) def. Giselle Campos (3-2) via submission (armbar) at the 1:32 mark of Round 1 at Maraba Combat 1.0 on July 18 in Maraba, Para, Brazil. Viana Mota bounced back from the first loss of her pro career with the victory. She has finished her opponents in all five wins.
Atomweight – Jenna Serio (2-1) def. Rachel Sazoff (1-5) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at “Cage Fury Fighting Championships 50: Smith vs. Williams” on July 18 in Atlantic City, N.J. Serio got herself back on track with the victory after suffering her first defeat in January.
Bantamweight – Kelly Faszholz (2-0) def. Summer Bradshaw (2-3) via submission (guillotine choke) at the 1:55 mark of Round 3 at “Sparta Combat League 42: Evolution” on July 18 in Castle Rock, Colo. The stoppage win earned Faszholz the SCL women’s bantamweight title.
Flyweight – Aline Nery (4-5-1) def. Nayara Hemily (1-2) via unanimous decision at Favela Kombat 15 on July 19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was Nery’s first fight since September 2012 when she dropped a decision to current UFC contender Juliana de Lima Carneiro.
Atomweight – Jenny Silverio (3-1) def. Maria Lopez (0-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:06 mark of Round 1 at “Real Fighting Championships 34: It’s Time” on July 24 in Tampa, Fla. Silverio has won three straight fights since dropping a decision to unbeaten prospect Julia Jones in her February 2014 pro debut.
MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.
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